A new loop, far away from my Old Milwaukee past.

This was full on Milwaukee morning. When I was younger, such a statement usually meant something entirely different than today. Call those Old Milwaukee mornings - in the obvious metaphorical and literal ways. But in this new Milwaukee sense, I was up way too early. My aim was to get in a run to wring out some of the junk ingested and wallowed in as a result of being four days deep into a road trip for research. And to mentally process some of what I'd gathered from sources yesterday. One of those interviews dealt with veterinary science. An awesome and amiable vet offered up a few hours of his overworked time to explain some of the issues at hand for very specialized animal industry populations. Fascinating stuff. Aside from the fact that I've got the working educational equivalent of a Seventh Grader. That's why God invented the iPhone's "voice memo" functionality, I suppose - record the lecture and cross-check thereafter. So I put that in the hopper along with a stew of other thoughts and hit the pavement on a foggy (in terms of weather) morning. Milwaukee as a cityscape isn't familiar ground for me, though. No matter how much I would like to claim that it is.  Thankfully, I took full advantage of a particularly masterful city loop offered up on MapMyRun. I've had luck with the saved loops there before (just search for a location and look for distance and you're essentially on your way). I've also been disappointed before. This time around, however, I glided into the perfect tour. I hit the road a few blocks away from the Art Museum and then spun around Downtown in such a way to come back along Brady Street (where the Old Milwaukee version of me would probably have headed in the direction of Wolski's), thereafter winding through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's campus, up to Shorewood to overlook (and learn about from the park signs) the submerged wreck of the SS Appomattox and back along the Lake Front to end up at the Art Museum. I offer that for those who know enough about Milwaukee to maybe nod approvingly. For all others, consider this a rave for MapMyRun. And Milwaukee, too.  A quick side note worthy of a mention - I passed by a place along Brady Street where I've returned to write before hitting the highway. DryHootch - it's a uniquely inspired coffeehouse/gathering place for military veterans and curious members of the public. Great mission, awesome icon for their place (an over-turned coffee cup made to look like a quonset hut) and downright serviceable coffee as well. I'm damn glad I had the time to come back here to get the story from the folks who run the place. That being said, I offer the full salute to all the above for getting me happily on my way to Madison.