nice to meet you all - rockchic

[rockchic]

Hi there, my name is shar, I live in glencoe, mn. My very best friend jerrid is in the redgranite correctional inst. I met jerrid 4 1/2 years ago in an online narcotics annonymous community. I am a recovering meth addict with about 7 years clean! When i first met jerrid he was messed up, in a super bad relationship, struggling so hard to stay away from alcohol. We became the best of friends..we always had feelings for each other, but both knew that with his psycho g/f in the picture, it would never be! We met online and probably only talked online 3x in the last 4 years we always talked on the phone from the first time i met him...I knew he was battling some legal issues of stuff that had piled up over the years! One day he just dissapeared..nothing no phone calls no letters no nothing, then one day there was a message from his buddy on my myspace with his address..i wrote him right away! We are in love! He is comming to mn when he gets out, and i cannot wait...6 years seems like forever!! This is just one of the paths we were meant to take! I cannot wait to meet him in person for the first time the first weekend in febuary, just waiting for my approval! I know weird we have been so close for so many years and never met face to face..the situation he was in back then was not healthy for my own sobriety..i believe this is how it was suppose to happen! I LOVE HIM! HE LOVES ME!! Its a 5 1/2 hour drive from glencoe to redgranite...hes worried that i wont want to make that trip..what a surprise it will be when i show up!! Im really happy you get long visits and multiple, i can go on thursday and visit for 3 hours, and then again on friday for 3 hours and then on saturday for 2 hrs and if i could i would so stick around for sundays 2 hr visit, but you can only visit once on the weekend. Do they make exceptions for long distant travelers? Also is there anything interesting to do in the redgranite area? I will be looking for something to do to occupy my time while im waiting for my next visit. Im a photographer so anything scenic would be great, or live music? thankyou!

Its so nice to have found this site, there are so many questions i wanted answers for and waiting between letters can be brutle..ive found most of the answers here already and i just found this last night!!

[Sarafina]

Hi Shar!
Welcome to the PTO WI forum!

Have your friend contact his social worker regarding a 'special visit'... Each facility has different rules on what qualifies for a 'special visit'... sometime they put a certain amount of miles requirement that you are traveling.. sometime they just require you to be traveling from out of state. They will sometimes give you extended visiting hours.. and maybe even allow you to visit more times during the week/weekend...but he will have to set this up with the officials from within. They usually like to know specific dates as well.
Good luck and have fun visiting,.. and safe travels!

[SummerRae]

Sarafina is right, most give extended visits for long distant visitors... the inmate may only be allowed so many a year though too.
So you may only want to extend one visit each time you come until you max them out.

Looks like Wautoma and Oshkosh are the closest to Red Granite. Oshkosh is a bit bigger, but further from Minnesota. If you don't mind the drive to and from visiting those two towns may offer more to do and more variety for hotels. I've never been to Wautoma, but Oshkosh is a decent size town and it's about 30 miles east of Red Granite.

Google the town for their chamber of commerce to see recommended tourist type things to do. And dress warm and make sure your car is equipped for the snow... it's been pretty cold and snowy over here in WI.

[rockchic]

Thankyou! Ive done some research and i believe im going to stay in wautoma, the directions from wautoma to redgranite seem pretty easy to get there, my biggest concern about getting to the visit is not distance, its more of getting lost, i dont want to get lost and lose any visiting time!

LOL im from minnesota sweet heart, winter is all about snow and cold here too!! But thankyou for the heads up!

[LeaAnn]

Welcome to PTO!

[SummerRae]

Originally Posted by rockchic

Thankyou! Ive done some research and i believe im going to stay in wautoma, the directions from wautoma to redgranite seem pretty easy to get there, my biggest concern about getting to the visit is not distance, its more of getting lost, i dont want to get lost and lose any visiting time!

LOL im from minnesota sweet heart, winter is all about snow and cold here too!! But thankyou for the heads up!

Sounds like fun... if you're here for more than a day, maybe consider one overnight in Oshkosh just to check it out and compare.

I remember when my ex was in Appleton MN, I found that to be small and boring and then ended up staying in Montevideo MN after that....
and the 1/2 hour drive from Oshkosh isn't too bad.

Has anybody been to Redgranite lately that can give her easy directions from Wautoma and or Oshkosh.... any tips for her...

[rockchic]

Originally Posted by SummerRae

Sounds like fun... if you're here for more than a day, maybe consider one overnight in Oshkosh just to check it out and compare.

I remember when my ex was in Appleton MN, I found that to be small and boring and then ended up staying in Montevideo MN after that....
and the 1/2 hour drive from Oshkosh isn't too bad.

Has anybody been to Redgranite lately that can give her easy directions from Wautoma and or Oshkosh.... any tips for her...

Thanks summerRae! Ive got the directions for wautoma, but oshkosh would be cool, maybe after my first visit from wautoma, i can spend some of my down time driving from redgranite to oshkosh, just to make sure i can find it LOL im so nervous, and excited...I want my aproval NOW!! LOL he keeps writing and in the begining he says stuff like "i hope i get your approval today" so the anticipation builds as i read his letters and its not there, so i read them again to make sure i didnt miss it! I want to go next weekend if im approved, otherwise it will be a month before i can make the trip! Ughh! Isnt there another way to find out?

As far as activities, i would really like to check out some of wisconsins musical talent, altho i would be by myself and dont drink..being a live music photographer id so go and take some shots! There was a band from wisconsin that played rockfest last year, id really like to find them! I love nature and street photography as well, but i dont like to be cold LOL!!

OMG im so anxious to go see him..i cant wait! Sorry i dont know what to do with all of this energy i have, so i keep typing!! LOL

[jimmie'smom]

Welcome Rockchic!

I've spent many a summer day at a friends cottage in Wautoma and know the area pretty good. Don't know what highway you'll be coming in on to Wautoma, but the main highway is 21 and if you stay on 21 (South) it'll take you to Redgranite. It's only about a 10-12 min drive. The only set of stop and go lights in Redigranite (nice resturant right on the corner - turn left and follow that street/road to the Redgranite Correctional Facilities. It'll be off on the left hand side. If you stay on Hwy 21 it'll also take you to first Omro (nice small town) and then right into Oshkosh.

You can also call the facility and ask if you've been approved yet. I had to call another facility everyday for 2 weeks to find out if I was approved.

There is also a really good Italian resturant in Wautoma called Christiano's that has excellent food. A few other shops right on Main st also - an all year round Christmas store and a candy store that sells old fashion candy. Enjoy your visit!

jimmie'smom

[myshelle02]

Hi my name is Michele and i go to Redgranite atleast once a month to visit my guy. There isn't much too to do in Redgranite the town is like a couple blocks long. There is a little more to do in the town called Wautoma that is right before Redgranite. I usually stay at the hotel in Redgranite and visit for a couple days myself. It is a laid back visiting room. You can get $10 worth of change to purchase food/drink/snacks in the visiting room. Your friend is allowed 2 extended visits per year, so that adds an additional 2 hours on to your visit. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I live in Burnsville and its a 4 hour drive for me to. Take care and enjoy your visit.

[rockchic]

I got approved!!!

[candy]

Welcome to PTO and enjoy your visits!!

[whisky 23]

welcome to PTO