July's Time For Myself - SWAP and Madison day

July's Time for Myself was an enjoyable day in Madison doing several things that had been on my minor bucket list.

I got up early and was in Madison/Verona before 8 am for my first stop.  I'm not sure why but I do love getting up very early and on the road.  I definitely a morning person, but think I like it because it's something not everyone is good at - and I am good at that so it feeds my competitive spirit.  A little weird - but that's me.

First stop was the University of Wisconsin's SWAP.   SWAP stands for surplus with a purpose.   SWAP sells off the items (often tables, chairs, desks, etc) from UW departments that no longer need or will use these items.   This helps keep those items from going into a landfill.   It's mainly open to other UW departments but has public hours on the 2nd Saturday of the month.  A couple times a year SWAP has specialty sales - this weekend was the UW Athletic surplus sales - they were selling off jerseys uniforms, and warm up clothes.   I purchased a vest from the Rowing team (I expect to use this for cold mornings taking the dog out), a softball jersey, and a soccer uniform shirt.   Nothing I needed, but still fun to have a greater connection to Wisconsin.   The Rowing vest is a bit tight.  One of the things about the sale is they are in off sizes - the 'main' size for that sport is taken by the student athletes and this sale is for the stuff no student selected.  The vest still fits well enough for the intended purpose (which is under a jacket and not seen publicly), and it will be a good weight loss target and reminder for me.

The next stop was the Farmers Market at the Capital- although it turned out to be Art on the Square and most of the fruit and vegetable sellers were absent.  It didn't make much of a difference to me since because of my upcoming trips I would not have wanted to purchase much.


I think it was only last year that I got reminded of the very nice observation deck at the Capital, and now no trip to the Capital square is complete without a lap or two on the deck.   Funny, I had a hard time figuring out streets and directions - I ended up pulling out my iphone maps to double check what was what.

My morning at SWAP was planned, but the rest of the day was unplanned and open for any adventure.   Memorial Union called me - as it calls out to so many alumni.  The Union is under construction and bit of a mess but the terrace is still the perfect place to sit out at the lake.  

From the Union I headed out on another of minor bucket list items - Picnic Point!  Surprisingly I never went there as a student or in any of my many trips to Madison.  It's just over 3.5 miles from the Union to Picnic Point.   I had on my sandals, which are comfortable but not the best for walking that far (and back) on crushed gravel.  No major problems, just wished for running shoes and socks a few times as I had to take off the sandals and shake out a trapped piece of gravel.

Even if I had been at Picnic Point as a student it still would have been new to me - it has gone through a major upgrade the last year.  They now have 5 or 6 fire pit areas, some more rustic than others.  The one at the point is very nice and large.   And as a bonus, they have stations of cut firewood ready for the burning; what a nice touch.  Surprising I did not see any picnic tables or places where you could easily seat and eat - a few benches but that's about it.  Maybe that part of the upgrade is still to come.  Overall I'm glad I went, and would like to go another time with a group and have a fire there.  I think that would be fun. There are more trails and woods to explore around the picnic point peninsula - but it didn't feel safe to hike them alone so I skipped them, but it would be nice to discover them in the Fall - beautiful colors and cool weather.

 My last stop was at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens.  This was my second time there; I had gone in winter to see their Christmas Train display and walked through the outdoor gardens - not too much to see in Winter but I could tell it would be nice to see it in full bloom.  It was nice, but a big hot and humid and the pedometer was already at over 10 miles for the day.  And as a bonus the outside gardens are free.  There is a small charge for the conservatory but I skipped that this time.   

All and all it was a good "Day for Myself".  I got to do several things new to me that I had wanted to try (SWAP and Picnic Point), and several things I enjoys about Madison (Memorial Union, Capital Observation Deck, Olbrich).  It was a good exercise day for me - by the end of the day I had walked over 10 miles. 

These days for myself are working to help rejuvenate me.  Without this challenge, I would have gone to SWAP and then rushed home and started working on household tasks - and would have felt tired and overextended.  Well, I felt tired but that was because it was a good physical tireness coming from lots of walking, and while I still have a larger and ever growing to-do list, I'm less stressed about it.   Overall that was the goal of this challenge - take time to 'sharpen the saw' so you can get more done.