A Slight Change of Plans (with hyperlinks!)

One evening as I was on my way to Milwaukee from Madison, I found myself in a fantastic brewery (a 9.5 on the Rinnan scale) in Middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin.  Leaning back in my chair with my paws wrapped around a pint of bourbon barrel brown, I reflected upon the days ahead of me, the roads yet untraveled, the cities yet unvisited, the untold opportunities that will inevitably grace my path, and I arrived at a simple and unassailable conclusion: fuck it.  Ain't no reason to battle the sprawling 'burbs of the Windy City when I have the time and ability to explore the U.P., everyone's favorite non-Olympic peninsular region.

So!  No Milwaukee.  No Chicago.  No Three Floyds brewery.  No brassin' it up with Environmental Encroachment (at least, not till Boston).  No Bean.  And a hearty yes! to autumn-coloured deciduous forests aplenty, isolation and funny accents.

I've spent the last few days taking a ridiculously circumlocutious route through Wisconsin, in a brazen attempt to hit every bike path and brewery between Madison and Michigan.  I'm resupplying in Stevens Point, and then headin' out to the nether regions of the Midwest.  Sorry, Chicago, maybe next time.  Frostbite awaits!