On the Road Pt. 4

I am in Kewauni in my favorite haunted hotel. Seems like since I was here last, it went bankrupt, was closed for a year and was taken over by a new owner. He's going to keep the folksy atmosphere, plus, he put in WIRELESS INTERNET! You would think the town that hosts the Green Bay Packers would be city-like, but nooooooooo. I was told that the nearest place that sells iPhones is Milwaukee. Not stopping there, so it looks like this is my only form of communication for awhile. No TV in my room yet so that Slingplayer is going to come in handy. I visited one sister today and will see a second on Wednesday and maybe the third at a cookout on the 4th. We're not exactly a close-knit family. I'll just have to come up here more often and herd them together. Annnnd speaking of herding, my friend Lorence's daughter Yvonne has a two-year-old son. It was his birthday party that I went to Saturday. Out of all the presents he got, the one he treasured most was a cattle herding paddle. I'd never heard of one before. It looks like a boat oar. The flat end is plastic and it has a bunch of -- I guess -- little ball bearings inside to make it rattle. It seems that farm animals get out of the way fast when they hear this thing or get spanked with it. He would not let that paddle out of sight. He even sleeps with it. It was through much persuasion that he let me examine it, and when I didn't run off with it, he warmed up to me as a good guy. I didn't have a present for him, but I gave his dog one of the bones I brought for the dogs I meet on the trip. I had an extra. Even the farmers said they'd never seen a beef bone that big. They called it a dinosaur bone too. The dog was deliriously happy. I think he is a black lab. Still on prairie time. I'm going to try to read some of that book I brought along and then hit the hay. Hope the ghosts don't bother me. Later.