I think Portage, Wisconsin could have done better in choosing a
slogan. As a place, it has quite a history. Back in the 1670’s, Father
Marquette and Joliet were on a search for the Mississippi River by
canoe. They followed Lake Michigan into Green Bay and the Fox River.
At the headwaters of the Fox, they were advised to “portage” a two-mile
marshy section to the Wisconsin River.
This is where the City of Portage was eventually established–between the Fox and the Wisconsin Rivers.
I
drove up to Portage this morning because I decided to buy a small,
quiet inverter generator. I know, I know. Generator are evil, noisy
things, but there are times during periods of cloudy skies (where solar
energy isn’t available) and one is without an electrical hookup…anyway,
my plan was to get one at Tractor Supply in Portage. I had read that
Tractor Supply has an old geezer discount on the last Tuesday of every
month. With a 20% discount, I could get a 2000 watt Champion inverter
generator that had a rating of less than 60 decibels at 20 feet for less
than $400.
Anyone who knows me is aware that I research the heck out of
everything and then try to find the very best possible deal possible.
I’m not cheap (I tell myself), just frugal. Rather than drive straight
up to the store and buy the thing, I decided to go on a hike and think
it over one last time. I knew that the Ice Age Trail went along the
canal between the Wisconsin and Fox, but didn’t really look at the map
to see where it was. How hard could it be to find it?
Well, Callie and I walked awhile in downtown Portage near the canal
and then we walked out Highway 33 and then we walked along the railroad
tracks where Hwy 33 left town. Finally, after walking several miles, we
found the trailhead.
The trail looked wet, due to rain and minor flooding.
Now that I knew where it was, I decided to head back to the truck and
save the actual hike of the canal segment for another day. I was ready
to buy the generator. We were off to Tractor Supply Company.
I loaded the generator into my shopping cart, along with some
required oil. As I walked up to the cashier, I casually asked if many
people were using the 20% senior discount today. “What senior discount?”
the cashier asked. Uh oh. She got on the phone and talked to a
manager. It turns out that there is a Tractor Supply Company in Canada
that uses the exact same logo. The
Canadian Tractor Supply has a 20% discount but not the American one.
I took the generator back to the shelf and took it as a sign that generators are
evil, noisy things.
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