Wrought iron peacock
Giant planters like the ones at House on the Rock
Bamboo wind chimes
Circus style wagon
Quonset building
Boat
Log cabin
Cedar swing
Boomerang
Starting Out
We made a couple of rest stops in Missouri, and John seemed to need to "go" again just minutes after leaving the stop! Todd figured that John just wanted to see all the rest stops between home and motel.
When we went through St. Louis, we were hitting the tail end of rush hour. Mom did some "creative driving" and scared Todd a little swerving across lanes. However, we got where we needed to be. Mom and Dad blamed the big truck that had been driving in front of them for the glitch. It really didn’t end up being a big deal, but it sure scared Todd for a couple of seconds. It also gave everyone something else to joke around about.
The kids were loaded down with things to do, and I only heard a couple of fussy words. This was amazing, because they got to bed late the night before because they were excited and couldn’t sleep. They napped in the van maybe thirty minutes in total the first day, and that was just a little while before we got into Wisconsin!
We stopped at the first Illinois rest stop, and we all agreed it was nicer than our own Missouri stops. There was an attendant, and there were larger, cleaner bathrooms! I picked up a map of Illinois.
We got into Wisconsin, and the sun came out for the first time all day. We had stayed just ahead of a long string of rain storms all day long. (When Mom talked to Jonele, she said that Glenstone had to be partly closed down. When Todd talked to Jane, she said that her rain gauge had overflowed, and then the rain kept coming down hard for another couple of hours!!!) Springfield got over four inches of rain the day we left.
We sat outside in our folding chairs outside of the motel rooms. We stayed near Madison in the Colonial Motel. Our rooms were all ground floor, and we were right next door to the folks. We had a "back door" to our rooms that led to the indoor pool. The kids were thrilled! After we sat outside our doors in the grassy area outside and had a drink, we hit the pool and whirlpool.
After we played in the pool, we had sandwiches outside.
House on the Rock
We all slept great the first night. I got up first, having it in my head to get ready early so everybody wouldn’t have to wait on me for once. That didn’t end up panning out, because my stomach was giving me trouble after being on the road for so long the day before. Then I was trying to help everybody get breakfasts and get ready.
The kids got up and fooled around for a bit, but before I knew it, John was completely zonked out again. Sar fell asleep for a bit (I took her glasses off of her). After a while, she woke up again, and I braided her hair really cute. By some act of God, it managed to stay up in braids all day!
Since we were staying in the motel again that night, we had unpacked all of our stuff and were going to leave it there for the day. Because of that, we were able to unfold our back bench seat and all of us got to ride together to House on the Rock. When we got to House on the Rock, I immediately knew I was going to love it just from looking at the amazing planters that lined the driveway. I thought they were made of metal, but Dad said they were fiberglass.
It cost us about $85.00 for the four of us to take all of the House on the Rock tours. (There were three tours in all.) The first portion of the tour was in the actual house. It was dark, there was carpet EVERYWHERE (including the walls and ceiling), everything was close in a cozy, warm kind of way, and the rooms were kind of layered and split. There were many nooks and low ceilings. There were books and beautifully unusual knickknacks everywhere. There were many, many stained glass windows. There were spots of natural light with trees growing up through the roof. Also there were intricately carved panels on many of the walls, which had blue lights set up behind them. Another thing I found interesting were the giant fireplaces. Seriously, they looked like they were made for entire clans! Or maybe giants!
The problem was the lighting; it was difficult to see everything from the pictures, and it was impossible to feel the imagination of the rooms by just looking at the pics. The highlight of the first tour was the Infinity Room. It stuck out from the rest of the building and narrowed to a point. Close to that point, you could look from a floor window down onto the tops of the trees!
The second part of the tour focused on differently themed areas.
The "Heritage of the Sea" area was amazing as well. (There wasn’t much about the tour that wasn’t amazing, really.) It was dominated by an almost four-story-tall rendering of a whale eating a rowboat while being attacked by a giant cephalopod. (Todd thinks it might have been an octopus…he says there is no such thing as a giant squid, ha ha!) There were giant waves and life-sized gulls. Around the edge of the statue was a ramp where you could see large, detailed, model boats. On the ground floor of this room was an animated machine with sea creatures as musicians.
By the time we were getting really tired and hungry, we started smelling pizza. It wasn’t very long before we got to the pizza place itself. The pizza was good, and they had a Wisconsin microbrew on tap that was quite tasty. After we had pizza, we got the kids some ice cream.
We got on our way and went to the carousel area, which I thought was bizarre. There was a carousel that is allegedly the largest ever made, but the kids weren’t allowed to ride it. We don’t know if something was wrong today with the AC, or if it was because of all of the lights on the carousel, but it was very warm in that big room. On the carousel, there are no animals with horse heads. I heard several people say that they thought the whole House on the Rock was creepy, but the carousel was the only part that I thought was creepy. To leave the room, you had to enter a demon’s mouth.
The next area was the "Organ Room" area. It was interesting to see all of the enormous pipes for the organs, and it was twisty, reminding me of the last scene in "Labyrinth". It was also too warm and felt a little sad. However, I think this area interested Todd and Dad the most. They were the last ones out of this area, and I think it was because it looked so mechanical in there, like the inside of a giant machine or engine. Todd says he and Dad were trying to figure out what all of it was made to do.
Inspiration Point was another snack area with a great view up toward the Infinity Room. It was the first place where we were ever inclined to take pictures of bathrooms. After our bathroom break, it was on with the tour. We took in the doll houses and models of circuses next. Sarai and John went through the doll house area choosing which ones they’d like to take home to play with. The intricacies of the miniatures were impressive.
Next came the Weapons, Oriental, Armor, and Crown Jewel Galleries. Todd wished there had been a little more signage to tell where things came from and when they were made…especially when we got to the weapons galleries. My favorite of this bunch was the Oriental Gallery because of the extremely intricate carvings in wood and ivory.
The "Doll Carousel" area was at the end of the tour, and I thought it was a little creepy too. Maybe I just have a problem with carousels. After that, we circled through the outdoor garden, which had a distinct Asian feel to it.
The kids were excited to get into the gift shop. Sarai bought a glass turtle paper weight, a snow globe for John, some postcards, and a bracelet made of shell. John bought a shot glass in the shape of a mug, and a foam drink cooler. I got a shot glass, some postcards, and a magnet with the image of the Infinity Room on it. Todd was really wanting us to hurry up, because he could tell a storm was rolling in.
It rained a bit while we were there and on the way back to Madison. Once we finished supper, the storm really blew in, and it hailed for a little bit. However, it blew back out pretty quickly, really, and so we went ahead and swam and piddled around in the whirlpool for a while.
Because of all of the flooding here, Circus World had been closed for several days. Dad didn’t know if it would be open the day we wanted to go, so we got around at a leisurely pace waiting for 9:00 – when Dad planned to call and see if it was open today. It was, so we loaded up right quick and headed out.
It was a beautiful day; sunny with a nice breeze. The river was very high, of course, and raced under the bridge linking the place where we bought tickets to the rest of the attraction.
The fact that Circus World exists is pretty interesting. It seems that Barnum and Bailey Circus had a center there where they over-wintered. There were a lot of great pictures, and there were things like a place where you could practice your high-wire balance. There was also a large area where they worked to refurbish and display old-fashioned circus carts. (That was the most interesting part to me.)
When we first got there, we were a little late for what was supposed to be a kids’ show. What I saw of it was extremely lame. I felt sorry and a little embarrassed for the people who were playing in it. After that, we moved to the Hippodrome, where we saw a very entertaining show with jugglers, an acrobat, a balancing act, a "dancing" elephant, a clown, and a family who did some cool rhythmic stuff. I also felt sorry for the players in it, because they didn’t have much of an audience, and I thought they were very talented. I also felt sorry for --and scared of-- the elephant. They had better hope it never gets mad and takes off through the bleachers!
The kids got to ride a bedraggled camel and take a look at some mock-ups of some of the circus’s most famous "freaks". They also rode an extremely worn-down carousel, but I don’t think they really noticed or thought about that. They had wanted to ride the carousel at House on the Rock so badly yesterday that they were tickled at getting a chance to ride today.
We didn’t stay long, and we were a little disappointed. However, none of us considered it a flop experience. We picnicked at the van and decided to drive to a state park close to Madison.
Once we got to the state park, we half-heartedly looked around for a few minutes, then realized that all of us would rather be back at the motel eating pizza, drinking beer, and/or playing in the pool. We went with that plan after John and Sarai played in the sand with some diggers for a little while.
Mom ordered some Pizza Hut, and the kids got to play in the pool for a longer time than they had been getting to, so we were all happy. I think everyone was really still tired from the long, long drive one day followed by the long, long walk the following day.
The Next Day...
After some talking, we decided to visit a cheese factory and store in Gibbsville. We were hoping to see them making the cheese from the viewing window, but you really couldn’t tell what they were doing. The store was very small and was nothing to go on about really, but they did sell some knickknacks and postcards, so Dad was able to pick up an inexpensive deck of cards for a friend of his as a souvenir.
We bought some curds and some "mystery" cheese, which is the end of one vat and the beginning of the next. You could get a very large block of cheese for just $2.00! I picked up one for me, one for Jonele, and one for Jane. (A few days later when we had some during a picnic, we found out that it was very good cheese at a very good price!)
We noticed some deer tracks on the sand and followed them for awhile, and the kids just rolled and scooted and dug in the sand. (Unfortunately, this caused Sar to kill her brand-new camera. The sand there was so fine that it got into her camera and completely ruined it. That evening, Todd and I tried to fix it, but all we managed to do is get zapped a few times by the internal battery in the camera. Sarai cried herself to sleep over it.)
We had a light lunch there at the beach then went on to the Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. The town was pretty, and the museum was just OK. However, part of the museum experience was touring an old submarine! We got to go inside and climb through the doors, and the tour guide was actually an ex-Navy man who had been on submarine crews, so he was intimate with the details of submarine life. We all really enjoyed the tour.
While Mom and I went to scrounge up some supper, Dad got in touch with a Marine buddy of his and arranged to meet with him and another of their buddies the next evening. I had really wanted to get to meet these guys, because I’ve heard many stories about them over the years. Other than getting to see these men, the only plans we had was to be really lazy ‘til noon. We planned on having lunch together and talking about what we might want to do in the afternoon. Todd and I planned on sleeping in and letting the kids play in the pool in the next morning.
The Next Day...
While the kids had been swimming, I had looked through some stuff about the Fox River area cities and what there was to do there. At first we thought we’d go a block or two down the road there in Kimberly and check out the cheese factory. Our next choice was to head to Appleton to visit the history museum there, which was featuring an exhibit on Harry Houdini.
Todd sat and watched the kids in the pool while I called around to get more info and get ready for the day. We had to arrange for a cheese factory tour at least a day in advance, so that was out. I called the history museum, and the price was right, so we decided to go ahead and visit there. I went over and asked the folks if they wanted to come along, and they did.
The history museum was interesting, and the kids had a great time there. The only drawback was that there was no photography of any kind allowed there! They went so far as to watch you lock up your camera in a locker by the front desk. It’s a shame, too, because there would have been a lot of great photos. The kids had the best time of all in the Houdini exhibit, because there were lots of hands-on activities, including getting to do the "Metamorphosis" trick on a stage, which they pulled off extremely well. (They both ended up getting magic kits to fool with, and I bought Jonele a present of a pair of Houdini socks so she could escape work.)
Another interesting thing at the history museum was a little play that was put on near the lobby. It was about the beginnings of the RFD in Wisconsin, and was well done and quite moving. It focused on a personal take on being a mail carrier during WWI, particularly about carrying mail between soldiers and their sweethearts. I really enjoyed it; it made me tear up a bit.
After the museum, we walked down College to find something to eat. It was a pretty, sunny day (for once) and it was nice to get out and walk. We ended up eating at The Queen Bee Café. The food was great, and the service excellent. I ended up getting a mug from there, thinking how appropriate it would be --in my classroom-- to drink my morning coffee from a mug that said "Queen Bee". The people who worked there were unbelievably friendly; for instance, our waitress showed us some literature and gave us some ideas of other interesting things to do in Appleton.
We decided to go ahead and get back to our rooms so Dad could wait for his friends. John Janke showed up while we were – once again – in the pool. He seemed nice enough, but I didn’t talk to him long. Mom stayed in our room with us for a while so the "boys" could visit. We snacked around then went to bed.
Our first official stop in the UP was near Big Spring (Kitch-iti-kipi). We stopped at a rest stop just before we got there so the kids could change into jeans, long sleeves, and jackets. They also traded their Crocs in for socks and sneakers. It was chilly!!! At the rest stop, the kids had their first experience with a scavenging gull. Sarai and I had been joking around, and I ended up throwing a cracker over my shoulder. I hadn’t noticed the gull, but it sure had noticed me and the cracker! Sarai was bowled over by the brazen thing coming up and trying to carry the whole cracker in its beak. We threw it several more, then went on our way. Another thing we noticed at the rest stop was the MUTANT MOSQUITOES!!!
We got to Big Spring, where we sprayed ourselves down. We couldn’t believe that mosquitoes would get out in this chilly weather for one thing, and we couldn’t believe their size for another. Johnny was obsessed with them. They were thick and hungry!
We got down to the main attraction at Big Spring, which was a self-serve ferry. It had a clear bottom so you could see how the water came in at the bottom of the body of water (which was exceedingly clear and greenish) as well as the fish, which Todd and Dad think were lake trout. Johnny loudly stated that he did not want me to hold him up to see the bottom of the boat, because I would probably throw him in. Then he got busy trying to kill mutant mosquitoes.
The lighthouse itself had - naturally - many, many winding steps. (It made me think of the "Far Side" cartoon: whump, whump, whump...) I had to stop and rest a couple of (hehe) times. However, I did not have the worst of it. Todd miscalculated the actual heighty-ness (if you will) of the lighthouse, and decided to climb all the way up into the top and look out on Lake Michigan. Mistake! By the time I got there, he was crouching in what little floor there was, looking much too pale for my taste. We got him down all right, but he felt sick to his stomach for quite some time after that.
That night we stayed in Municing, which was a really nice town. Mom and I went to Muldoon’s to purchase our very first Yooper pasties. We got some veggie, beef, and apple. They were ginormous, delicious, and extremely filling, but the folks figure they could make pasties more to suit their tastes. Todd ate so much of the Yooper food of da gods that I thought we'd have to roll him, groaning, back to our room. (He woke us up early the next morning with the Guinness-award winning gaseous after effects!)
Miner’s Falls & Miner’s Castle
Going Home
Todd started feeling like we were getting close on funds, and the kids were beginning to feel homesick, so we decided to ditch the folks and come home a few days earlier than we originally planned. We started out that morning thinking we'd play it by ear to see how close we could get to home, but the kids were doing so well, and we got so into our audiobooks (Artemis Fowl series) that we decided to just come on home. We left at 5:30 CST that morning and got home a little after 11:00 that night. We came home to a storm, just like when we left.
