Wisconsin v. 94

We stopped near Madison for a few days to take in the tasty, the strange, and the historical.  

The National Mustard Museum in Middleton, WI was an easier than expected pit stop.  On street parking was available even for the RV, even though the farmers market took up the nearby lot.  We tasted beer mustard, and blueberry mustard, monkey mustard, and dijon mustard.  There were spreading mustards and dipping mustards.  Our fridge now has all these and more!  We couldn't resist.  National Mustard Day is celebrated in Middleton next Saturday, August 3rd.  http://mustardmuseum.com  

 

OK, so that was the tasty.  This is the strange.  People told us you HAVE to visit the House on the Rock, so, we did. As we drove in we were greeted by huge "Alice in Wonderland" type planters.

They boast the "World's Largest Carousel", which is surrounded by....angels...kind of.  These are mannequins draped in fabric with wings, and they are hanging from the dark ceiling.

There are "music machines" made of instruments tethered together; some familiar, some not, that seem to play by themselves.

I just noticed the monster face- bottom right of this photo- sheesh

What! More mannequins?  It's an orchestra- that plays!  Sort of...

There are unrelated collections throughout- weapons, doll houses, animatronic jeweler displays.  The ladies room was interesting too...

Yes, I know some people love this place.  There is just so much stuff, and a lot of it is pretty odd. It overshadows what started out as an architectural project.  The builder opened it up to the public to make money to complete it.  Now, in my opinion, it is a dusty discombobulated jumble that we found loud and a little creepy.

So here's the historical.  The Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin was the home and winter quarters for the Ringling Brothers Circus.  There is a huge display of old circus train cars, including the stereotypical "Asia" car, and the fairy tale inspired shoeful of children.

We watched a magic show and a 45 minute mini circus.  This young man was a little taken with Rebecca, and did most of his performance right in front of us.  The small cast meant that the performers had many roles, from prepositioning equipment to starring in their performance.  The magician we saw earlier ran the sound board for the circus.

The trip was winding down...  This was our last KOA, and our last campfire on the road.

Bits from Bob v. 10 MN to OH (IO!) with a little AK

The surprises keep coming!

Minneapolis- Jan and I spent our anniversary in the Mall of America... 'nuff said...
 

Milwaukee- We sat right above the Phillies bull pen at the Brewers game.  This was our 21st ball park. Becca has seen a lot, but this was her first taste of "Philly Fans".  You know- the ones who booed Santa Claus.  They were in full Philly mode by the first inning, booing everyone and trying to pick fights with the 80 + year old security guys.  God Bless America and the City of Brotherly Love...

Our last stop was Chicago, where we showed Becca our last home in Palatine.  We stayed with Donna and Jerry O'Brien- great friends.  It was great catching up on old times and great stories!

One of the more unusual ballpark displays....

We tailgated at Comiskey Park (it will always be Comisky!).  Becca got one of Dan's favorite players to sign a SOX t-shirt, "Happy Birthday Dan".  His best birthday present along with a SOX win.

One more tidbit on Alaska:  Jan mentioned we say an incredible display of the Northern Lights one night, but she neglected to tell you the other astonishing phenomenon we witnessed on the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  Along the way we passed through Ferry, Alaska, population 33.  There was a big dispute over use of the bridge that connects both halves of the town, and the railroad won.  So, long story short, as is custom on the 4th of July, or any other time of year, as we sped through town we were greeted by a party of 3 villagers mooning the train.  It was quick and I just caught a crack of it.....

It was below zero out there.  It must have really chapped their A......

That's it

I'm done

It was great

Can't wait for the next trip!

Bits from Bob LA to ND v. 9

As Jan tries to catch up and finish her last segments, I decided to do a 2 part "Bits from Bob" going way back from LA to our final stop in Chicago.  My Highlights up to North Dakota:

LA-  The Santa Monica coast drive... Filming of "American Ninja Warriors" and Becca's reaction to the Freaks of Venice Beach.

Yosemite- The waterfalls were beautiful.  This is a park you must visit in the Spring (and during the week).  Becca's goal- Climb El Capitan!

Oakland- another fun baseball game(seeing the REAL Moneyball).  Great visit with Aunt Delores.

San Francisco- Great bread, great chocolate, great baseball, (Giants vs. Dodgers extra innings), dropping coins off the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz (stay in school kids!), cable cars.  Driving through the city after the game and Jan telling me to turn on Lombard Street with the RV!

Redwoods National Park-The trees are enormous; like giant grandparents of the earth.

great food in Chinatown!

Portland- We arrived the day they rescued the 3 young women in Cleveland who were missing for 10 years.  I remember Gina DeJesus' mother handing out her picture at Indians' Games 8 years after she went missing.  An answer to many prayers.  Great to see Doug, Patty and Jon.  Doug grilled the best steak of the trip!

Seattle- Going to the Mariners game with Pat and Bob (celebrating Bob's 90th birthday) was the highlight.  The Pacific Northwest is a beautiful and special place.

  


Idaho- The bike ride along the lake at Coeur d'Alene was fun- but not as fun as the obstacle course Becca and I did on the way back.  We are the picture of fitness!

Clinton Montana-  On our drive East, we did not have time to stop at the Testicle Festival, or as the natives call it, the Testy Festy.  I wonder what we missed?

Devils Tower- This structure should not be where it is and should not look like it does.  Strong evidence that aliens exist!  Someday we will climb it and see if there are any strange encounters of any kind.

Deadwood and Buffalo, South Dakota- Our last gambling stop.  The only stop where I did not lose money (I did not play...).  About 15 miles west of of Buffalo, on a very dusty road is what the map said the Geographical Center of the United States.  We shared the moment with mommy and baby sheep and a prairie dog village.

North Dakota- No trip is complete without visiting the world's largest cow and bison!

Teddy Roosevelt National Park- What a great park in the western part of North Dakota. Not a big draw for visitors, but it was beautiful.  We saw many bison much closer than Yellowstone, and without any annoying tourists taking pictures and blocking traffic- wait- sorry - that would be me...

Momma has no fear of us.....

...but she keeps baby at a safe distance

Minnesota to home coming up!!

Minneapolis v. 93

OK, so we are truly on the home stretch, and the educational value has decidedly slipped...  3 days at the Mall of America? Sigh... Becca loved it.  

 It wasn't all shopping....  In fact, we didn't do much shopping at all.  There is a lot to do here outside of the normal mall experience.  Becca rode most (all?) of the rides, and climbed around on the "Ghostly Gangplank"- a vertical ropes challenge course with a big slide at the end.  We wondered in Las Vegas how a store dedicated to m&m's could possibly be successful.  Here, they have a "Peeps" store, and a "Mike and Ike" store.  Really???

 This was "Nickelodeon Universe", complete with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shell Shock Ride, Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Collider, and an appearance by Sponge Bob.

Becca joined another family for a while

 Luckily, we were saved from the mall by dinner with friends.  My classmate, John Holland, and his wife Cissy joined us in keeping the staff at Bella Cucina in Bloomington well past closing.  Great dinner, great conversation, great to spend time with friends.

Cissy and John, Becca, Jan and Bob

 We topped off the visit with what else?  A trip to the ball park.  What does baseball and Mall of America have in common?  The mall is built on the site of the Twins' old ball park.  How do I know?  A bronze home plate is embedded in the floor where home plate used to be, and even better, a red stadium seat is mounted at the spot where Harmon Killebrew's 522 foot home run landed in the second deck of the stadium.  Even better?  The distance calculation was made by a physics professor, since the second deck stopped the ball from completing its flight, and inquiring minds wanted to know.  Science in sport- I love it!!  http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/the-mall-of-americas-unusual-tribute-to-harmon-killebrew?urn=mlb,wp6755



Becca loves to get up close and try to get autographs and baseballs.  She's pretty good at it!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park and North Dakota Surprises v. 92

We had never been to North Dakota, and our preconception was of a flat and boring landscape and atmosphere.  Not true!  Our first destination was Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  What a gem! The Badlands are stunning.  Becca practiced using the panorama setting on the camera- better than regular still photos, but still cannot do justice to the beauty of the area.

The first thing we saw as we entered the park was a prairie dog town.  They are marked on park maps, and sometimes road atlases, and are fascinating.  Reminds me of the game, "Whack a Mole", but no one is whacking.  They pop up, look around, race to another hole, look around, escape underground.  We had the added bonus of seeing prairie dog babies.  It was very entertaining to watch them!

The wildlife here was plentiful and mostly open to posing for us....kind of.  

Driving, riding, and hiking through these places always make my start singing the song we all learned in grade school, "Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play....".  Well, North America has no antelope; buffalo either.... How disappointing!!!!  Here is a fun link describing the difference between antelope and pronghorn and the author of that song, Dr. Brewster Higley.  http://www.tcnj.edu/~hofmann/Pronghorn.htm  My favorite line:  "He was married five times, so he must have heard a lot of discouraging words."

We skedaddled when we saw the look in this one's eye!

Reminiscent of Yellowstone, but much less crowded, the bison wandered on and alongside the road.  We saw loads of bison babies as well.

Pronghorn

We stayed at Cottonwood Campground, and  took a trail ride out of Peaceful Valley Ranch, both inside Theodore Roosevelt National Park and about a mile away from each other.  The trail ride included a couple of river crossings, which we had not done before, and the horses spooked when quail flew out of some nearby bushes.  No one panicked, or fell off their horses, so we just chalked it up to another unexpected challenge conquered!  The ranch fully opens when school lets out, since it is run by a teacher and her husband.  This was one of so many examples of Becca's education on the road.  When people hear of our 7th grade "road school", and they have something to share, they do!  As a science center or nature interpreter, a ranger, a fellow bus rider, a surf instructor, an engineer, a zoo keeper, or even a baseball park usher learns of our trip, they interpret for everyone, but it seems sometimes they add a little focus, or ask a few more questions of Becca.  She has truly been taught this year by the people we have met along the way.

One of the highlights of this trip was stopping by quirky attractions.  North Dakota sure has its share!  Salem Sue- the "biggest cow in the world" in New Salem, and the world's largest buffalo (hmmm, bison?) in Jamestown were two of many that Becca chose.  I have to include the "Enchanted Highway" as well.  So many "WHY?s", so few answers.....

I get the farm family and Teddy Roosevelt on the horse and the stage coach- this is North Dakota.  The fish? Hmmm... I probably just don't know enough about the state.

Gotta give the sculptor, Gary Greff, credit for some amazing work.  Hopefully it brought some travelers to little Regent, ND to spend a little cash and stimulate the economy.

 North Dakota.  Truly a place of wonder on so many levels....

South Dakota, Rushmore Reprise v. 91

We gave Becca a choice at Billings: stay north and go straight to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, or cut south and visit Rapid City again.  She chose South Dakota.  We didn't have time the first pass to see  the Crazy Horse carving in progress, or the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore, so we added it to this leg of the trip.  

Our photos turned out a little fuzzy...  Mt. Rushmore was a nice, kind of short patriotic show that honored service members and veterans.  Crazy Horse was an actual light show with music and a historical narrative.

We saw a marker on our road atlas for the "geographical center of the United States" and went for it.  33 miles of red dirt road, much of which kicked up into every nook and cranny of the RV contained the kind of sketchy "The True Center of the Nation".  There was no turning back!  We saw maybe 5 vehicles along the way, and lots of just sheared sheep and lambs. 

Newly sheared and numbered

Even the babies were sheared!

ONWARD to Teddy Roosevelt and North Dakota!