Day 98 (8/22): Prentice to Rhinelander, Wisconsin

Mileage: 50.5; 2,882 total

Yesterday, when I realized that I might make it to Prentice, Wisconsin, for the night, I called an old highschool friend who reads this blog and whose last name is Prentice. Not only had he already heard of the town, he told me that many years ago his grandfather had explained that it was named for a relative, Alexander Prentice. My friend had never been to Prentice, but thought it was a small village and was surprised to think it might have a motel.

Prentice is small, 616 people (a constant size, as "explained" below). But in this part of Wisconsin that is a big town: it is the regional center, and has not only a motel, but three restaurants.

At any rate, I told my friend I would find out what I could about the town. At breakfast, my waitress referred me to Clarence, an old-timer seated at the counter, and he told me a bit about Prentice, starting with Alexander Prentice who had come to the area in the 1880s, searching for a site for a timber mill, and ending with a discussion of Caterpillar, whose factory is the largest employer in town. (Clarence also explained that the population stays constant at 616, because whenever a woman gets pregnant a man leaves town.)

On Clarence's advice, I went to the highschool to check their historical stuff, and the high school administrator was very helpful but the school didn't have anything about Alexander Prentice. She referred me to Dale, the local "historian." Dale drove in to meet me at the Village Hall, and gave me a lot of information to pass on to my friend. The townspeople were very friendly and helpful, as people have been on this whole trip.

I didn't get out of town until almost 2 PM, but the ride to Rhinelander was fairly quick and easy. It was memorable for one other act of unusual kindness. I had arrived at a crossroads expecting to find a convenience store, but none was there. I asked a scruffy looking guy in a beat-up pickup truck where I could get some ice water, and he said there was a gas station about 1 or 2 miles on up the road. After pedaling for 4 miles, and beginning to question that guy's sense of distance, a vehicle approached from the direction I was headed, with someone waving and holding a bottle of water out the window. It was the guy in the pickup! He said he realized he had underestimated how far it was to the gas station, so he had driven there and bought a bottle of cold water for me!

P.S.: Happy birthday, Heather!