[at-l] Speaking of Old Cars... Wacky Wisconsin Peeps

[bluetrail at aol.com]

If you're close enough to be eating Usinger's, you're probably close enough to go here http://www.elegantfarmer.com/?for apple pie I can only describe as orgasmic.? 

To make it hiking related:

In October 2005, I had a business trip to Milwaukee.? It involved an all day Saturday workshop and informative sessions Monday thru Wednesday.? That left Sunday free.? A couple of months before the trip, I called the hotel and asked the concerige about nearby places to rent a car.? She started to tell me about great public transportation, and I told her I wanted to get out of the city and go hike for the day.? Turns out that she was a hiker too.? When I arrived at the hotel, she had maps, directions, trail descriptions, etc. all ready for me.? She's the one who told me about the crossroad I'd pass?where I'd find?The Elegant Farmer and the great apple pie.? 

I left the hotel about 7:00 a.m. and happened to get to the Elegant Farmer just as the opened.? Went in and got a cider-baked ham sandwich (with Wisconsin cheese, of course) and an apple for my hiking lunch.? Decided on a wedge of cheese and a slice of apple pie for breakfast.? I got to the first trailhead and sat in the parking lot and ate the cheese and pie.? All my hiking was consumed with schemes for how I could justify going back and buying an entire pie.? I saw Wisconsin woods and tammarack bogs and old apple trees and all I could think about was how good that apple pie was.

Stopped on my way back to town and?bought an entire pie.? Called all my co-workers who were at the meeting and invited them to my room to share the pie.? They were as impressed as I was.

Joan? 


-----Original Message-----
From: Jan Lite <liteshoe at gmail.com>
To: at-l <at-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 1:28 pm
Subject: [at-l] Speaking of Old Cars... Wacky Wisconsin Peeps



Well, sir (or madam, as the case may be),

It's always interesting to see how the life force runs through each of us and lights up different circuits.
This one an dancer, this one an engineer, this a mom starts a worldwide movement, this one a smelly hiker-trash wanderer.

I'm finishing up a fine visit to my mad-genuis brother's place in Wisconsin.
Cool and rainy, for the most part, but we put a little garden in for him, weed-ate lots of burdock and elder around the barn, ate Usinger's bratwurst.

He's always got some cutting egde and improbable idea going, and he works out a way to put into practice.
Usually, I must say, he succeeds.

This year's project was to convert an old El Camino truck to an electric car.
One of the challenges was, when he finally loaded all 48 lithium batteries under the hood, the old springs sagged and the front end dropped so the roof of the wheel well was just above the tire. A neighbor hauled it off to a guy who knew a guy, and the new stiffer springs did the trick - adequate lift.

Well, it works. 
Saturday, we took a load of recyclables to the dump.

Check it out:
http://www.tdlelectronics.com/EV.shtml

Next up - converting the backhoe to electric power.

I should add, his barn roof is covered with solar panels, and he put up a wind tower to capture the abundant prairie winds.
So, his home power is free, and he sells the plentiful surplus to WEE.
So... an electric El Camino was the logical next step, eh?
I mean, a guy needs a truck.
;-)

Say, anyone on here know a guy who knows a guy who needs a bus?


-- 
"The Ordinary Adventurer" 
A new backpacking adventure book
http://www.FunFreedom.com



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