You’re Not Doing It Right

You’re not doing it right. Yes, you. You’re still taking the fast way. You’re still going from point A to point B as if everything in between doesn’t exist. As if the only things to matter in your day to day are where you came from and where you’re going. There are THOUSANDS of books explaining how the journey is more important than the destination. Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, East of Eden, The Odyssey, The Alchemist… I could go on and on. If life teaches you any lesson, it’s to savor the present and enjoy the moment. If you focus too much on the next step, you’re going to miss the best parts of your life. So why should your day to day happenings be any different? Why can’t you take that mini-adventure on your next two+ hour road trip? Why can’t you extend your vacation by 3 extra hours with an out-of-the-way stop? I’m serious. Life is short, you need to make the most of it.

I’m prompted to write this weeks post on this topic due to my recent vacation, and two specific events that happened in the span of that week. I tend to have a habit of making a normal drive into a longer drive just so I can see the backroads and the heart of this state. So when I need to drive 4 hours to a cabin in the remote northwoods, it was difficult convincing those in my vehicle to make two stops on the way up. Two stops that would ultimately add about an hour and a half to the trip. My silver tongue pulled through though and I got the car to agree to the pit-stops. They were, for the most part, still on the way, so that might have aided in my successful lobbying. Regardless, we got to do two things that one normally doesn’t do.

Stop 1 satiated my inner geography nerd, and when you break it down I like to think that if people understand what it is, they’d find it pretty cool too. I’ll do a complete post on this in the near future, but to sum it up, we stopped at the 45×90 Geographic Marker in Marathon Co. This spot is exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole, as well as exactly halfway between the Prime Meridian and the International Date Line. Since our planet is a three-dimensional globe, this is one of four spots that are exactly halfway between a pole, equator, Prime Meridian, and Int. Date Line. The other 3 aren’t accessible though, which makes this spot very unique. For stop 2 we continued up north until we reached Timm’s Hill. Timm’s Hill is unique because it is the highest point in Wisconsin. Only being about 15 minutes off the main highway, this stop was another no-brainer. Another cool item crossed off the bucket list, and a road trip that now seemed slightly less boring. An accomplished road trip. No time was wasted, and at no point did boredom overcome the vehicle.

The other event that spurred me to write this weeks post was a visit to a pair of waterfalls, Potato Falls. While searching for things to do up north that didn’t involve window shopping in a touristy town I stumbled across Potato Falls. After further investigation I read a blog post of someone who said viewing the waterfalls from the platform is all nice and dandy, but if you want to see it even better you need to do some wading and hiking and you can get one of the best views in the state. Ok, I added the “best views in the state” part, but I’m not wrong. At some point I will make a top 10 for best views in the state, and I can promise you, this is making the list. After arriving at the platform me and a few of my siblings decided to get off the beaten path and head down to the river. After finding a suitable (and safe) path to the river, we started wading across it. The rocks that lined the bottom of the river were extremely slippery, and without the aid of a stick I’m not sure I would have been able to cross safely, or at least with my upper body remaining dry. After crossing the river once, a quick hike through a wooded island allowed us to get closer to the waterfalls than you can by remaining at the platform. Truly one of the most breathtaking views this state has to offer, and I can’t imagine living with myself not taking the hard route to see the falls from this vantage point, knowing it was much safer to just stay at the platform.

These falls will also be getting their own post in the future, but for those of you reading this, this is your semi-annual reminder that you need to get off the main route and go explore. Drive that county highway, pour over that atlas for a unique stop, and see what this state is truly about. Live your life to the fullest, make the most of your short time on this planet (and in this state), and go see what you’re missing by ignoring the present.