When I was a teenager I belonged to a Statewide Show Choir named the Showcase Singers. Every summer I would travel to Madison, Wisconsin for a week to practice and then to West Allis, Wisconsin for a week+ to perform on a stage at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Yes, I sang. Yes, I danced. Yes, I ate pork chops on a stick and drank freshly squeezed lemonade with extra lemon and less sugar--always with my modifications--every summer for 4 years.
I would road trip down, picking up other Showcasers along the way. We would make gas station pit stops, fast food drivebys, and on one or more occasions, Lake Michigan and Geneva pauses, all depending on where my wandering heart wanted to go prior to arrival at camp, and post my departure to home.
It was a freedom I was allotted mainly because I would give the date I was leaving and the date I was coming home without receiving many questions. I was a good kid who had and has an affinity for the open road.
Of course I think back to when I believed it safe to sleep at a rest stop or get lost in Milwaukee. Or considered it funny to drive circles in a cul-de-sac in Pewaukee or go for a run at dusk in a housing development where all houses looked the same and GET LOST! They found me by driving around screaming, "NERMAL!" like I was their lost kitten. I guess I was.
I never left the state though. I knew my boundaries, the Wisconsin state line and no further.
I bet you are wondering how these excursions were funded. I worked. I worked a lot, and used all my money for gas, tune-ups and food for trips. I know I should have been saving it for college or whatever kids save their money for in high school but I wouldn't flip one mile on my travel life odometer for the dollar spent or at the current gas price of $3.79 a gallon.
On August 11th-12th I will be making this same trip down to the Wisconsin State Fair to reunite with my former Showcasers and support, with applause, the current Showcase Singers performance (on the main stage!)
Along the way, I'm stopping for cheese and a bloody mary.
Gnome saying? Gnome saying.
Yes, I sang. Yes, I danced. Yes, I ate pork chops on a stick and drank freshly squeezed lemonade with extra lemon and less sugar--always with my modifications--every summer for 4 years.
I would road trip down, picking up other Showcasers along the way. We would make gas station pit stops, fast food drivebys, and on one or more occasions, Lake Michigan and Geneva pauses, all depending on where my wandering heart wanted to go prior to arrival at camp, and post my departure to home.
It was a freedom I was allotted mainly because I would give the date I was leaving and the date I was coming home without receiving many questions. I was a good kid who had and has an affinity for the open road.
Of course I think back to when I believed it safe to sleep at a rest stop or get lost in Milwaukee. Or considered it funny to drive circles in a cul-de-sac in Pewaukee or go for a run at dusk in a housing development where all houses looked the same and GET LOST! They found me by driving around screaming, "NERMAL!" like I was their lost kitten. I guess I was.
I never left the state though. I knew my boundaries, the Wisconsin state line and no further.
I bet you are wondering how these excursions were funded. I worked. I worked a lot, and used all my money for gas, tune-ups and food for trips. I know I should have been saving it for college or whatever kids save their money for in high school but I wouldn't flip one mile on my travel life odometer for the dollar spent or at the current gas price of $3.79 a gallon.
On August 11th-12th I will be making this same trip down to the Wisconsin State Fair to reunite with my former Showcasers and support, with applause, the current Showcase Singers performance (on the main stage!)
Along the way, I'm stopping for cheese and a bloody mary.
Gnome saying? Gnome saying.
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