The Longest Post Ever/The Last Leg of my Wisconsin Trip

I started to post last night, but I was in a hurry, and it was disjointed, and I was starting to use bullet points... Okay, so this may be disjointed, but I will try to avoid bullet-pointing.
I spent... four nights in Appleton. I hung out at the co-op (RIP, Hulbert House), where I saw old friends and met new people, and--I'm so bad with names, but will remember a face forever--finally attached Clare's face to her name... I got to sit in on the beginning of a house meeting, and personal share was just as I remembered it. Ah, nostalgia.
I hung out at the Greenfire house with Christine, Allyn, and Nissa/Djordj my first night in town, and babbled about my life post-Lawrence over cheap wine and a hookah.
My second night in town, after a wintery-spring day, Keith and I made hot chocolate and stayed up chatting, after which I took a hot bath before bed (yay! hot baths before bed!)
Monday, we rode out to this awesome bike shop in Kaukana, The Recyclist, and found out that they had a nifty machine that could measure me and tell me exactly how my bike should be adjusted, but they couldn't do it until Tuesday. I had been planning on leaving Tuesday morning, but I decided that I could stay another day, and realized that I was relieved to have an excuse to stay a bit longer.
Later that day, after dinner at the co-op, Emily T, Keith, Julia, Leslie, and I formed the "Gelato Possee"--aka, "The Gelassee"... and went for gelato at Brewed Awakenings. Joy met up with us after they closed, and Emily and Leslie went off to be students, and Keith, Joy, and I went back to the co-op, where we schemed about making a movie about... how the new fire chief in town is laying down the law, and consequently, no big parties... but the end scene has a crazy big party. Ha, ha, ha, guess you had to be there... In the midst of this discussion, I taught myself how to play the saw. And subsequently mastered the saw. I mean, really, can you master the saw? I feel like I made some pretty neat noises come out of it, though I couldn't have planned any of them...
Anyhow, post-that, we went to The Nickel to help Mike and Christine celebrate their birthday. Happy birthday, Mike and Christine!
Then, Keith and I left and watched The Triplets of Belleville, which, if you haven't seen it, you definitely should, but, expect the theme-song to get crazy-mad-stuck in your head...
Tuesday, back to the Recyclist. Was it worth it? Meh. Hard to say. The only thing they really adjusted was my seat, which I subsequently re-adjusted, back to where it had been. But, they gave me some things to think about, and I'm still troubleshooting how to make my hands and wrists as comfortable as possible.
Tuesday evening, I got to see Jamie! Keith and I had dinner at Jamie & Justin's place, and I got to see some of Jamie's recent-ish photography, and visit for a while. She even was kind enough to take us out to Woodman's, where I stocked up on bananas and clif and luna bars. Side note--Clif and Luna bars are made by the same people, and for biking, I've decided I prefer Clif bars, because they have twice the carbs. End side note.
Wednesday, after not enough sleep, Keith and I headed out of Appleton. He was planning on biking with me for an hour or two, then heading back. For whatever reason, he decided that Chilton would be a good place to part ways. We left Appleton around 8:30a.m. We didn't part ways until 4:30p.m. Granted, we stopped for somewhat extended periods of time a couple times, but largely, the headwinds were awful. Which leads me to another point of consideration/troubleshooting. The trailer that I'm pulling is designed to pull a kid or two. It loads up with equipment easily enough; the trouble is that it's creating way more wind-resistance than necessary. So, I might need to find a new trailer... Also, Wednesday, I was feeling very woeful, and thinking things along the lines of, "Maybe I should just hitchhick/craigslist/ride the rails out east." Luckily, I'm not there any more; I just wanted to let you know that I was there.
Thursday, I headed south a bit, then decided to take a bike path due-east to Sheboygan--I was so sick of dealing with southerly headwinds. It was a very pleasant ride, and a very short day in the saddle. I knew I was going to camp at Kohler-Andrae State Park, a couple miles south of Sheboygan, so I decided to just chill out for a while. A jogger gave me the name of a local coffee/sandwich shop, The Weather Center, but not the most clear directions. Luckily, I happened upon Sheryl and Sue, who not only rode with me to the coffeeshop, but stayed and had coffee with me while I had a sandwich. They were awesome! Sheryl just got her master's in Art Therapy, and was home in Sheboygan for a graduation party, and Sue teaches all kinds of dance. They're both travelers, and we have plans to go to India in 2009. Okay, they have plans, and I'm hoping they'll let me tag along.
Friday, I rode pretty much all day. The coolest thing I saw was a fox on the path ahead of me. I was like, "What is that? Is that a cat? Is it dead?" and then it got up, and was, very clearly, a young fox. Wowsa!
On my final stretch, I stopped at Rochambo, my favorite east-side coffeeshop, and Broad Vocabulary, Bay View's awesome feminist bookstore (I heart you, Broad Vocabulary!).
And then! I didn't crash, but went out with my friend Joe, and met a bunch of his friends, one of whom (Saad) had an awesome new bike, which I went outside to admire and pet. Yay bikes!

I feel like I've gone on and on without saying much that's important. I briefly mentioned my serious self-doubt... I remember at one point, saying out loud (yes, I talk to myself when I'm biking, and other times, don't you?), "C'mon buddy--self--You can do this. I have a great deal of faith in you," and immediately wondering if that was true.