2012-12-06 44 -91

Location

Carimona Street, near 6th Street, Winona, Minnesota.

Participants

Swensonj, wife, and kids

Plans

We're driving home from Minneapolis to Platteville, WI, at some point. I can't be very specific right now about when we'd pass through Winona: probably not before sunset.

Expedition

This was the second of two long drives after dark. The day before, we'd made a special effort to visit 1977-02-25 43 -90, which is a displaced origin geohash achievement for me, on the way to a funeral in Minneapolis, MN. Now, on the way home, we took a short detour to Winona, MN, to visit my first hashpoint in the Eau Claire, Wisconsin graticule. The formal attire achievement was a freebie, considering.

It was a nervous trip; I could see by comparing the GPS map of the destination to my memory of the Google map that I'd written the coordinates down wrong. Luckily I remembered the right street intersection, and found the right spot: just copied a digit wrong.

I drove right over the hash -- it was in a parking lane in Carimona Street at 6th Street, as expected. Sadly, it was too close to the corner for us to attempt the Speed racer achievement. Initially, I parked right on top of the hash, so I had to move the van.

It took quite a while for the GPS to settle down to the magic number. A passing bicyclist stopped to chat. He clearly wanted to know what I was doing with the camera and the GPS, but couldn't quite bring himself to ask. I probably should have explained, I guess. My wife reports that a pedestrian crossed the street behind me, then stood watching me for a minute or more while I danced around, trying for the proof photo.

Less than 400m up the road (!), we found a convenience store, and celebrated with a GeoSquishy. The successful hash made for a cheerful drive.

Our geohashing detour also put us on the road through La Crosse, Wisconsin, where we discovered the Rotary Lights festival at the riverfront. The display was closing as we arrived, but we woke up the kids, walked through quickly, and had a great time!