We began our day with… an oil change for the Civic. Just routine! We actually were able to go almost 10,000 miles before the car requested the oil change (easy highway miles, we suppose). A quick one hour wait at a local Minnesota Honda dealer and we were back on the road! Also of note: the dealer put the car through the car wash. The front of the car is still covered in bug guts. It will probably take two or three washes to get the front of the car clean.
We then drove to a local bakery, Patisserie 46, where we grabbed lunch (caprese on ciabatta) and a cappuccino for Becca. We also picked up some pastries for our next hosts.
Our destination today was Madison, WI, home of Eneida and Umberto, family friends (basically family) of the Cimino clan. We had a very easy drive on I-94 from Minneapolis into Wisconsin.
Eneida and Umberto both work at the University of Wisconsin, home of the Badgers. They took us on a tour of the very large campus.
Madison is an interesting city from a geographic perspective. A large portion is an isthmus, with Lake Mendota to the north and Lake Monona (pictured) to the south.
Madison is the capital of Wisconsin, so we had to include a photograph of the capitol building.
There was so much live music going on while we walked around town! With all of the outdoor events and such, it was very hard to imagine this place in the middle of winter.
After grabbing drinks at Eno Vino at the top of the AC Hotel, Eneida and Umberto took us out to dinner at Graze. We had fried cheese curds and they were AMAZING.
Along with a wonderful cheese plate and charcuterie (for Sam), Becca had a beet and walnut burger, while Sam got the fried catfish special. No room for dessert! (Who needs it when fried cheese curds are around?) Tomorrow will be a leisurely day in Madison with Eneida and Umberto!
Total states: 24
Total miles: 9,754
Total gallons of gas: 232
Total MPG: 42.0 (for reference the Civic is rated 31 city, 40 highway, 34 combined, and we are doing 99% highway driving)
Becca, Sam, and a Honda Civic 