As with all motorcycle trips, the day begins in hectic mode – get everything done at work run the last errands get some food don’t forget coffee oh shit I gotta run to the bank I didn’t call that guy about that thing do I even have gas do I really need to wear the camel back no I’ll strap it to the bike forget the extra pair of underwear I won’t need it shit I never ate today how did that happen oh man I know I’m forgetting something aw screw it as long as I have La Gigante I’ll be fine.  Let’s go.  The TWAT awaits.

Whew.  We leave Alterra around 1pm, and by the time we hit Lincoln Memorial, hectic mode is over, and it feels like the bike just knows where to go.  I’m along for the ride for a while.  We stick to the tarmac for about 30 miles and then begin south – destination Baumgartners in Monroe, WI.  The riding off the freeway is steady and smooth and we enter the hillier country with a childlike wonder.  You know that feeling you get when you’re finally on the road with that inner knowledge that you’re on an adventure and everything is more colorful than normal, or better said, more full of color?  Like the colors were invented for one use – to give these trees something of there own, a way to show off their inner spirit?  Well, it hits as we swerve over hills and start to see the countryside and all of its bursting changing colors from wide foreign vistas. I giggle in my helmet like nature has tickled my soul with a huge soft feather from some wild bird of prey.  It’s a good tickle – not one you want to push away before you pee your pants but one you want to live in for a while.

We’re welcomed into Monroe by Baumgartner’s own declaration of its supremacy and the quaint center square filled up by the court house and blue blue blue skies.

It's so true. Heaven in Monroe.

Ahhh, sweet Monroe.

Baumgartners, of course, does NOT disappoint.

I swear that this was EVEN better than it looks. Gotta love Baumgartners.

How can a liver sausage sandwich be that good?  Does it have to do with the fact we’re embarking on 500+ miles of dirt road for the next three days?  Perhaps, but I don’t care – it’s always worth the trip.  But, that brings up a good point – what is this trip?  What is this madness of which I speak?  500+ miles of dirt?  A TWAT?  Huh?  Let me briefly backtrack.  The TWAT (otherwise known as the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail) is series of dirt roads going from the Illinois border along the Mississippi and then cutting east up the middle of Wisconsin to Bayfield on Lake Superior.  Yea, I couldn’t believe it existed when some friends invited me along either.  No more questions.  Just be one with the TWAT.

The fun starts as soon as we leave Monroe and head down the Cheese Trail.  This little gem is 60 miles of dirt roads running from Monroe to Mineral Point was just wide enough for our bikes to pass an ATV  slowly.  No cars allowed.

The entire 60 miles was like this.

So excited I can hardly stand it!

Moguls!!  I can’t think of another way to put it.  It was like riding freaking moguls.  So awesome on these GS’s.  Unreal actually.  Some of the bumps were so big that they fast forwarded songs on my iPod  when I slammed by skid plate on the path.  Rad.  And we’re not even on the TWAT yet – we’re just on our way to the TWAT.  Of the 60 miles on the Cheese Trail, we were probably standing up for 40 of them.  It honestly felt like snowboarding through cotton covered moguls on those smooth machines.  The love affair continues.  Over the entire 60 miles, we past all of four ATV’s.  It was insanely good.

Umm, not sure what this is. Brad? I'm scared.

Brad doin the badass thing waiting for me to stop taking pictures and get off the damn bridge!

As it always happens when traveling backroads in Wisconsin (or anywhere for that matter), there is always weirdness.  I mean, why would you turn your building into a shark?  I’m startled because the last time I saw a building shaped like a fish (well, a whale, but you know what I mean), I dumped my bike in Canada.  I’m easily distracted.

So, we continue on our way and decide to stop in Mineral Point, which is a totally cool little town.  Who knew?  We get lucky and find a little B&B above, of all things, a brew pub!  Score! Sometimes the light shines upon you.  Sometimes it don’t.  Tonight, it did both.  We check into our incredibly romantic rooms (Brad, stop looking at me like that, what would Jennifer think?) with hot tubs, fire places, and just goodness.  Even the shower heads are tall!  That never happens! The place is great!  We have a beer downstairs, but the restaurant is a bit quiet, so we head out.  That’s when things get a bit haywire.  I’m pretty sure I was roofied.  Yea, I know, that’s what everyone claims.  But come on, I mean, I sell high octane beer for a living!  I’m like, well, um, a professional.

I’m fairly certain that the bike in the picture to the left is holding me up – not the other way around.  We hit a few bars closing at least one of them and probably two.  I have very little recollection of much of the evening past our beers at the B&B before heading out.  Seriously.

I’m pretty sure I had a great time this night, but I don’t really find out what happened until the next morning.  It’s still quite a blur, but I’m convinced I had a great time.  More on that tomorrow…