“Sittin on the Dock of the Bay” was sung by which famous artist that was killed in a plane crash? If you said Otis Redding you would be correct. Now, do you know where that plane crash happened? I will give you a hint 😊, we have been house sitting here for the last 10 days. If you have been following our blog you will know that I am talking about Madison, Wisconsin. Now, if you got those two questions right, here is one more. What lake did his plane crash into? This is a little bit harder to answer, unless you were a big Otis Redding fan. It was Lake Monona, Madison, Wisconsin on December the 10^th 1967 aged 26. You may think this blog is about Otis, but its about the beautiful city of Madison, Wisconsin. Furthermore, about our house sit with two elderly gentlemanly dogs.

In general, most Aussies won’t know much about Madison, Wisconsin. Hence, I will give you a small introduction to it. Madison is the capital of the State of Wisconsin USA. It is situated 127 kms (79 miles) west of Milwaukee. It was founded in 1829, becoming the capital of Wisconsin territory in 1836. In 1848 Wisconsin became the 30^th State of the Union and Madison became its capitol. It is situated on an isthmus between two lakes (Monona and Mendota). The State Capitol Dome was modelled after the U.S Capitol and sits on the highest point of the isthmus. The capitol building can be seen throughout the Madison area. Madison is home to the University of Wisconsin and their sporting teams, who are called Badgers.

Austin and Logan

Having had a magnificent three week road trip on our way to Madison, we now get to care for Austin and Logan. Two beautiful “old soul” dogs, that have such lovely natures. Even though that are not active like younger dogs, they are very affectionate. They love just lying with you, nudging you to pat them. In addition, when it comes time to cook they are like Carolyn’s shadow, it is so fun to watch. Austin has some amusing little oddities, but my favourite is when he barks out of the blue while he is sleeping. He pops up and barks then lies back down, then he will do it again and sometimes again. Logan loves to have his head and ears rubbed and will nudge you until you respond to him. He reminds me a lot of a cat, he loves to sleep and eat 😊.

Alongside caring for these wonderful canines, we are able to live like Wisconsinites. We have done the weekly shopping at Walmart, used public transport and had dinner at a local restaurant. One of the delightful parts of house sitting, is, you get to live as a local, not a tourist. Our amazing Home Owners Jerri and Jeff have taken us out to dinner, shown as around Madison and allowed us use of their car. Needless to say we are having a great time and would recommend a visit to Madison if you are ever in Wisconsin.

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Take care

Andrew & Carolyn

Travel is Sweet (Dream It, Experience It, Treasure It)

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