Having grown up in Milwaukee and gone to law/grad school in Madison, Wisconsin, by heart goes out to you. Calamine lotion is okay. Mostly you just need to ride it out. They suck (pardon the pun). I am so, so sorry.
When I would do my laundry, when I lived in madison, I would have to go from the front door, to the side door to go to the basement. 20 feet tops, and in the summer I would get dozens of bites in those 20 feet, it was horrible.