Quick Update from Madison, WI

A quick update from Madison, WI on the ground I've covered since I left Deadwood, SD, though I'm short on good pics and good stories because I've spent the last couple days in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain. Haven't had a day without rain in two weeks, but the last two days were particularly bad.

You'll be delighted to know that I did manage to find Mt. Rushmore without any help from Mrs. Garmin (the 200 signs from I-90 to Keystone helped), but when I got there, the torrential rain and dense fog made it impossible to get a picture. No way could I do this trip and not get a picture of Mt. Rushmore--totally out of the question. So, I spent the night at a dingy little motel in Keystone, got my pics in the morning (from under my umbrella after waiting for an hour for the fog to lift) and then hit the road, headed for Madison.

I promised a woman I met in Glacier that I would (a) get a donut at Wall Drug and (b) drive through Badlands National Park on this leg of my trip, so I did, even though it meant not making it to Madison last night. I have to say that the badlands were alright, but the donut blew my mind...best donut I have ever had in my life--crusty outside, but so moist inside it melted in my mouth and it had this grainy, sugary maple frosting--beyond delicious, totally worth the detour. After the badlands, I jumped back on 90 and drove as fast as I could across South Dakota and half of Wisconsin through the torrential rain that never let up the whole way (sidenote: I fell in love with my car all over again yesterday--even with minimal tread left on my tires, I had better traction when I would hit those big puddles at 85-90 than any of the trucks and SUVs trying to keep up with me). I finally ended up in a motel off 90 somewhere outside La Crosse, WI around 11 last night.

I killed today finishing off the drive to Madison, getting my blown fuse and k40 fixed and answering amazing emails (some that honestly put tears in my eyes) from lawyers who just discovered my blog because abovethelaw.com (which I used to read religiously when I was a big firm lawyer, but haven't checked out once since I walked out of my office for the last time) did a piece about it. It feels so strange to be the subject of an ATL piece, instead of being the lawyer chained to my desk at 8 or 9pm, eating dinner from the cafeteria, reading ATL for a few minutes of entertainment and escapism because I have hours to go before I can walk out the door.

Just bizarre to be looking back from here at how my life used to be, as I read through these emails from lawyers (some chained to their desks and hating their lives and others who have recently been laid off too) telling me how inspired they are by what I am doing. I've been so busy just charging forward everyday since I started this trip that I haven't done much looking back. Today was the first day I realized how far I have come in the last couple months from the life I used to live and the person I used to be. Really eye-opening day...thank you for the emails.

Mount Rushmore from under my umbrella...

Wall Drug from under my umbrella...

Soaked mountain goat in the badlands from inside my car...

Badlands from under my umbrella...

More badlands from under my umbrella...