Day 14

I woke up to the sunrise in a clear sky, and looking over Wausau, I could actually see wisps of cloud down below me. Have I mentioned what a great place this is to put a campground? It's like having a campsite on Santorini, or on top of the Sears Tower, except instead of looking down at the Aegean or Chicago, you're looking down at Wisconsin. And it was only $13! Actually, most sites were only $8, but the one with a view that was left was an electric one, and I was more than willing to pay the $5 premium. Oh yeah, and it was a lot of fun rolling down that hill first thing in the morning. I made sure I had my jacket on so I didn't freeze myself to death.

A ways into today's ride, I was able to watch my odometer roll over. That marked ten thousand miles in slightly less than three years. I let out a "woo hoo!" but didn't get much response from the trees, though I'm sure they were silently congratulating me. Sometime after that I passed through the ominously named crossroads of "Big Flats", but my tires escaped unscathed.

I ended my day at Roche-a-Cri State Park, which has a strange similarity to Rib Mountain State Park: both feature a big mound rising out of the flat terrain. At Roche-a-Cri however, the mound isn't nearly as big, although it rises much more quickly; it's made of sandstone instead of quartzite; and the campground is at the bottom, not the top. But, 303 stairs were recently installed to allow you to climb to the top, which I did at sunset again. This time I was all alone up there, but the views were just as impressive. A good place for my last night in the tent, especially since the voracious mosquitos seem to have given up now that darkness has fallen.