Wit, Wisdom… or Whatever!

Tuesday, June 25, 2007

Our final and maybe most adventurous day of the trip. We left Franklin and drove to Murfreesboro. There we visited a Civil War battlefield. Then we drove to Lynchburg and toured the Jack Daniels Distillery. That was a truly entertaining tour. I was pleasantly surprised with that visit.

From Lynchburg, we drove to Falls Mill, a site Melanie knew from her childhood. It is a working grain mill where we bought some stone ground flour and grits, which were delicious.

We dove home through Chattanooga, but not before Tripp suffered a nosebleed
from all the mountain travel. This was a pretty bad nosebleed that would not stop. We had to stop at a huge fireworks stand and get him to the washroom. Tate and I browsed the fireworks for nearly 20 minutes waiting for Tripp’s nose to dry up. I was getting concerned.

We ate Chinese food in Chattanooga, and drove on to the house that evening. We returned the rental car, and looked back on the most enjoyable family trip we have ever taken.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Monday, we visited the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We saw the museum and rode on a tour of the track. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

From there, we went to visit Melanie’s old home in Anderson, Indiana. We saw her house, school and stopped by and visited the church where her father used to preach. We then drove to Nashville and found dinner and a hotel in Franklin.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Sunday was a drive to Indianapolis, Indiana. Along the way, we stopped at the Jelly Belly distribution center in Wis., got caught in a Gay Pride Parade near Wrigley Field in Chicago, passed the Sears Tower, drove inside the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, and got a free upgrade to our room in Indianapolis. All in all, a full, rich day!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Saturday was getaway day from the cabin. it was sad, because we loved it so much. But we did not want to fly thought the trip home like we did on the trip up, so we left with plenty of time to mosey. We stopped for the first night in Racine, Wis., south of Milwaukee. The only pictures we have are of the most interesting ballpark I’ve ever seen: Miller park in Milwaukee.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Friday we ventured in to the metropolis of Hayward, Wis. It was a trip to Walmart and laundry time. The boys and I found the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. What a neat place. Everything you may want to know about fishing you could learn here. Pictures here.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Today was the big trip to the big mall: The Mall of America near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Much like the comparison of the hummingbird nest to the bald eagle nest, such is the Mall of America to Cordova Mall in Pensacola, Fl.

It was a beautiful, slow trip to the mall from the cabin. We drove around the Metrodome when we entered Minneapolis, then on to the mall. The boys were in their heaven. There was an amusement park inside the mall. Tripp and I raced in a simulated NASCAR race or two. Tate visited the Make-a-Bear factory. Both boys rode rides at the amusement park. It was awesome. Pictures here.

That evening we visited with Pete & Apryl. W ate dinner with them and went back to their new house in River Falls, Wis. When we left about 10pm. We never thought that we may not see them again for a long time.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Wednesday we relaxed and explored the lake. The most impressive thing I found was a bald eagle’s nest. If you’ve never seen bald eagle’s nest, you just can’t believe the size of it. We recently had a hummingbird nest on our back porch, it and was about the size of a small teacup. The bald eagle’s nest was about the size of a small car. It was majestic, to say the least. Another comparison was the sandpiper nest I almost stepped on under the bald eagle nest. It was a depression in the sand. Pictures here.

Tuesday, June 19, 8:00am

This morning I walked out into the clean, chilly morning air and surveyed some of the wildlife sharing the lake with me.

The Mullvain’s and we drove about an hour north to the beautiful city of Duluth, Minn. We went to a lookout tower in the hills surrounding the city (and all of Lake Superior for that fact) and saw one of the most breathtaking scenes ever. We spent the morning in the downtown area and visited the shops and such. Then we left Pete & Apryl and drove on a scenic tour of Lake Superior and ended up at a state park at Gooseberry Falls. Fabulous.

Many pictures here.

Monday, June 18, 9:00am

We departed Rockford for the cabin. Soon after we crossed into Wisconsin, we ventured off course to tour the Matt Kenseth museum outside Madison. It housed several notable cars, including the cars for his first Busch Series win, his first Winston Cup win, and the car he clenched his Winston Cup championship in.

On the way to Gordon, we stopped at a store that had just made some fresh cheese. We learned about the aging process and ate some of the fresh cheese, known as curds, which tastes a little like warm string cheese, only it squeaks when you chew it.

In Chippewa Falls, we stopped at a real brewery, the Leinenkugel Brewery. It is apparently the regional beer of choice. It was storming, so we declined to take the tour.

From there we drove to the cabin in Gordon. It was wonderful. Pete & Apryl met us there and stayed the first night with us. We sat around a campfire and talked till midnight.

See some pictures here.

Sunday, June 17, 3:30am

We pull out of our driveway in a rented 2007 Ford Freestyle. We head north on I-75 to I-24 to Chattanooga, Nashville, and Paducah, Ky. We stopped at a roadside park for lunch near Metropolis, Ill. Would you belive that they claim Superman as the town mascot. Pictures here.

We headed north to Rockford, Ill. We bedded down for the night after about 15 hours on the road.