Day 3 – Part 2: Bloomer, Wisconsin

Dorothy might have been from Kansas, but I think the Tin Man was from Wisconsin.

Who says farmers don’t have a sense of humor? This guy made me chuckle. The ride today was a vast improvement over yesterday. Easy rolling hills, good weather, and food-finds along the way—riding as it should be.

I started out from North Richmond heading east on WI 64. It has a good shoulder and light traffic. I didn’t even need the GPS and put it away for the day.

Main St., Bloomer, WI

After 57 miles (92 km) I stopped in Bloomer for the night. I was planning on camping, so I could set up my radio, but an inexpensive motel called out to me. Hard to believe they had vacancies on a weekend, but they did. A picnic table out front was perfect for using the radio.

After a short nap, I went into town, about a mile, and ordered General Tso’s Chicken. I brought it back to the room. On the way back I stopped by the local Veteran’s Memorial. It seems every town has one and I always feel a connection with those being honored. No matter how small the town, they never seem to forget. The population in Bloomer is 3539. Back in WW I I’ll bet it was only a few hundred, but there they were on the monuments. They even had names from the War of 1812.

After dinner, I went out and threw a wire up into a tree and fired up the radio. Unfortunately, there was so much electrical noise from neon signs and the like that I didn’t have too much success. I talked with one fellow in Pensacola, Florida and then retired for the evening.

One of the unfortunate things about having a successful business in these towns is life suffers in other ways. They have some sort of unique sand in the area that is useful for fracking for petroleum. Digging the stuff up has polluted the local water table and there is a warning in the motel that urges one to not drink the water:

The Chinese food had a fortune cookie: “You will have good luck and overcome many hardships.” I hope so.

 

Author: Dennis Blanchard

Dennis Blanchard was born in Bristol, Connecticut. He and his wife Jane moved to New Hampshire in 1980 where he has climbed thirty 4000-foot mountains, biked the trails and enjoyed the wilderness. Never living very far from the Appalachian Trail, Dennis was always aware of the seductive siren’s call to hike it. Dennis is an electronics engineer who has freelanced for amateur radio, technical and motorcycle adventure magazines. He now lives in Sarasota, Florida.

5 thoughts on “Day 3 – Part 2: Bloomer, Wisconsin”

  1. having trouble with fldigi.
    I will probably purge and reinstall fldigi.
    I’ll assume the call letters 00xrm. (MrX00 backwards)
    what frequency (range) shall I look for you on, once I get up and running?
    Good to see things are a little dryer, and you’re getting the rewards you were after when you set out on this journey.

    I’m keeping track.

    X out

    1. For just receiving on FLdigi, you can use anything for a call letter, maybe even none. In the evenings the best frequency for PSK31 is 7.070 and early on, 14.070 MHz. I talked with a fellow in Pensacola a few nights ago, so I am getting into Florida.
      Currently, as I write this I’m in Wisconsin under a tornado watch and heavy storms. I took shelter in a hotel and will take a “Zero” day. Sometimes doing nothing is best.

  2. Do you ever operate CW? I haven’t used PSK-31 since FT8 came out, and I’m not sure I remember how!

    1. Yes, I was on CW Sunday night on 40 CW, around 7.035 and 7.045. There wasn’t much happening so didn’t find too many folks. There has been so much lightning for the last few days I am careful about throwing a wire in a tree Hi Hi.

  3. hi dennis-
    i think your fortune cookie will be right.
    glad that you had a much better day.
    things are better here also the smoke level
    is lower 40-safe to run outside.

    safe travels***philip

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