My Quick Wisconsin Tour
It never happens as planned.
I scheduled off Friday, July 29 through Monday, August 1 to take the motorcycle to Glen Flora Days (click the title). The plan was to ride up early on Friday; maybe have breakfast in Appleton at the Queen Bee. The Queen Bee is a diner in downtown Appleton. I worked a couple blocks away for a few weeks in 2002 and we ate breakfast there several times a week. Great food. I'd arrive in Glen Flora in time for the Hog Rodeo and Turkey Trot events and the beer drinking there would surely be. A bed was already reserved at the farm and Dad was riding up on his own.
On Saturday, the parade, cookout, a ride, dinner at the farm, dance in town, and maybe a tavern. On Sunday, just hang out, maybe a long ride and then ride home on Monday, stopping in at the Capitol Brewery near Madison. This was the plan.
At work we're trying to fill one of our Vice President positions and taking advantage of scheduling opportunities, I decided early in the week to schedule two interviews on the Friday I was taking off. If I didn't, it would be a couple of weeks before we could see these candidates and I want to be done with this search by then. I decided to come into the office in the morning, get the interviews underway, conduct my portions, and be gone by 11 - noon latest. When I left at 3:30, I knew I wouldn't be riding all the way to Glen Flora that night.
At home, I made a reservation in Madison (Super8, woo-hoo) and was on the road by 6. Well, this was the road to Mom's so I could get the phone number for the farm and let Dad know I'd arrive the next day. Not like it was a big deal or anything, but didn't want him wondering which ditch I was in. Had a great fish fry in Whitewater and the hotel was fine.
Actually, this part of the trip is better than last year. Last year I left for the Madison stay-over at 10:30pm. So, over 4 hours better than '04 - Yeah! Maybe '06 is the year for the Friday drive-up?
Out the door at 6am on Saturday, rode up I-39, breakfast in Steven's Point, and stayed on the non-interstate roads after that. In fact, for the remainder of the trip, through Monday, we only rode 1 mile on interstate roads. Not a lot of roads in that area with twists and turns (a pain in the car, but fun on the bike). Went through part of the Chequamegon National Forest - A beautiful ride. Got into town just after 11:00 and made the parade at 11:30. Mini Tootsie Rolls seemed to be the preferred candy of the 2005 Glen Flora Days parade - had plenty of them.
After the pork dinner, Dad and I had a couple of beers in the shade next to the track for Glen Flora Days' newest event: Lawnmower Races. It was fun to watch - a couple good crashes and rollovers. And the rest of the afternoon went as planned - a good ride, little cruise through Ladysmith, dinner at the farm, checked out the dance, trip to the tavern in Ingram, hang out at the bonfire.
We decided to make a road trip of the next day. Dad wanted to go to a car show in Stanley and maybe visit Jerry Krisik in Amery. I didn't know where Amery was, but it was far enough away that we packed up everything and said goodbye to our hosts - after a quick toast and cinammon role breakfast - you know you want one right now.
We stopped in Ladysmith and visited some of Dad's friends and headed for Stanley. The car show was pretty cool once we found it. Stanley was a busy place that day with both a car show and a quilt show. The quilt show was well advertised with 13,000 signs along the main drag in town and arrows directing you and everything. One sign had numbers we thought might be GPS coordinates. We saw only 1 sign for the car show. We were pleased that we found the sign, but didn't want to leave town before seeing cars, too. A friendly lawn-mowing man pointed us in the right direction.
The show was great - totally open. Several from every decade back to the '30s - stock and modified. The 'star' of the show was a 1906 Cadillac - gorgeous - and mostly original. We finished by walking through the flea market, bought gas, and headed for River Falls.
Aunt Alice and her husband Ron live in River Falls. On the way we stopped for lunch in Menominee at a place with Spotted Cow on tap so you can't go wrong there, plus the food was pretty good. Found out later that Menominee is a college town - we noted at lunch that the place seemed to have their beers and liquor quite prominently displayed - more bar than grill, you know?
Now, when I ride with Dad, he likes me to lead. The only times when this is funny are when he knows the way to wherever it is we're going and I do now know the way. I have never been to Ron & Alice's. At lunch, he tried explaining which way I should go. Of course, he knows how to get there: "After the bridge, turn left at the 3rd light, take the next left, go down the hill, the next right, and there's is a big house with a driveway and there's a tree in the yard." Oh, and remember this because we have another hour before we get there. So, I'm sure much to his disappointment, I waved him around to lead as we came to River Falls.
But, Alice and Ron weren't home. I phoned my friend Debi in Minneapolis - maybe we could ride there - but she wasn't home. So, on to Jerry Krisic's in Amery.
Dad said we should stop at the Amery airport (Amery Municipal Airport) first. He had tried phoning Jerry before we left Glen Flora in the morning, but he had to leave a message. Jerry's a pilot and Dad thought maybe he was giving a lesson today. As we got close to Amery, Dad took the lead of course, since he knew where the airport was. I saw the airport sign and clicked my turn signal as Dad passed the turn. As I waited for him to double-back, I saw that this wasn't quite as small an airport as I had imagined. I don't think it has any commercial flights, but there were probably 20 small hangers and a couple new ones being built.
Jerry wasn't there, so we went to his house - Dad led from the start this time. After visiting a while, we went back to the airport. Jerry has been building an airplane for the last couple of years and we said we'd love to see it. It's more or less finished, but Jerry's waiting for a final inspection from the FAA. Apparently the inspections of non-commercially built planes are incredibly detailed and difficult - much more so than commerically built planes. Part of the inspection is that you must show proof that you actually built the plane and didn't hire someone to do it for you. Thus, he maintained a photo album of the various stages of building, with pictures showing him there working on the plane. Once the plane passes inspection, he must always prominently display a banner reading "experimental", apparently as a warning to any passengers "no professionals were used in building this airplane."
In Jerry's hanger, he also has a small 2-seater for giving lessons and a Cessna 6-seater. After we'd checked out his baby for a while (and I figured it's time to leave), Jerry asks: "So, you want to go up for a little while?" Well, alright - and he pulls out the Cessna, pumps some fuel in, and we're airborne. 20 minutes later we're back on the ground. And after a quick dinner in Amery, we're back at Jerry's for the evening. So much for my day of 'hanging around at the farm.'
I pulled out the map the next morning and plotted a route through to Baraboo. The worst area was a little construction around Chippewa Falls. The best section was 54 between Galesville and Melrose - it seemed to be almost entirely made of turns - some getting down to posted speeds of 15mph. So it was a great ride overall. Had lunch in Baraboo - again a place Dad likes to go, but I've not been there - get in front!
Stopped at the Harley dealership in Sauk City and the New Glarus brewery in New Glarus and home by about 8 or so. Saw a few deer during the trip; got one bug bite that's now just going away; and put over 1,100 miles on the bike total. And unlike last year, no rain.
Next year - breakfast at the Queen Bee for sure!
I scheduled off Friday, July 29 through Monday, August 1 to take the motorcycle to Glen Flora Days (click the title). The plan was to ride up early on Friday; maybe have breakfast in Appleton at the Queen Bee. The Queen Bee is a diner in downtown Appleton. I worked a couple blocks away for a few weeks in 2002 and we ate breakfast there several times a week. Great food. I'd arrive in Glen Flora in time for the Hog Rodeo and Turkey Trot events and the beer drinking there would surely be. A bed was already reserved at the farm and Dad was riding up on his own.
On Saturday, the parade, cookout, a ride, dinner at the farm, dance in town, and maybe a tavern. On Sunday, just hang out, maybe a long ride and then ride home on Monday, stopping in at the Capitol Brewery near Madison. This was the plan.
At work we're trying to fill one of our Vice President positions and taking advantage of scheduling opportunities, I decided early in the week to schedule two interviews on the Friday I was taking off. If I didn't, it would be a couple of weeks before we could see these candidates and I want to be done with this search by then. I decided to come into the office in the morning, get the interviews underway, conduct my portions, and be gone by 11 - noon latest. When I left at 3:30, I knew I wouldn't be riding all the way to Glen Flora that night.
At home, I made a reservation in Madison (Super8, woo-hoo) and was on the road by 6. Well, this was the road to Mom's so I could get the phone number for the farm and let Dad know I'd arrive the next day. Not like it was a big deal or anything, but didn't want him wondering which ditch I was in. Had a great fish fry in Whitewater and the hotel was fine.
Actually, this part of the trip is better than last year. Last year I left for the Madison stay-over at 10:30pm. So, over 4 hours better than '04 - Yeah! Maybe '06 is the year for the Friday drive-up?
Out the door at 6am on Saturday, rode up I-39, breakfast in Steven's Point, and stayed on the non-interstate roads after that. In fact, for the remainder of the trip, through Monday, we only rode 1 mile on interstate roads. Not a lot of roads in that area with twists and turns (a pain in the car, but fun on the bike). Went through part of the Chequamegon National Forest - A beautiful ride. Got into town just after 11:00 and made the parade at 11:30. Mini Tootsie Rolls seemed to be the preferred candy of the 2005 Glen Flora Days parade - had plenty of them.
After the pork dinner, Dad and I had a couple of beers in the shade next to the track for Glen Flora Days' newest event: Lawnmower Races. It was fun to watch - a couple good crashes and rollovers. And the rest of the afternoon went as planned - a good ride, little cruise through Ladysmith, dinner at the farm, checked out the dance, trip to the tavern in Ingram, hang out at the bonfire.
We decided to make a road trip of the next day. Dad wanted to go to a car show in Stanley and maybe visit Jerry Krisik in Amery. I didn't know where Amery was, but it was far enough away that we packed up everything and said goodbye to our hosts - after a quick toast and cinammon role breakfast - you know you want one right now.
We stopped in Ladysmith and visited some of Dad's friends and headed for Stanley. The car show was pretty cool once we found it. Stanley was a busy place that day with both a car show and a quilt show. The quilt show was well advertised with 13,000 signs along the main drag in town and arrows directing you and everything. One sign had numbers we thought might be GPS coordinates. We saw only 1 sign for the car show. We were pleased that we found the sign, but didn't want to leave town before seeing cars, too. A friendly lawn-mowing man pointed us in the right direction.
The show was great - totally open. Several from every decade back to the '30s - stock and modified. The 'star' of the show was a 1906 Cadillac - gorgeous - and mostly original. We finished by walking through the flea market, bought gas, and headed for River Falls.
Aunt Alice and her husband Ron live in River Falls. On the way we stopped for lunch in Menominee at a place with Spotted Cow on tap so you can't go wrong there, plus the food was pretty good. Found out later that Menominee is a college town - we noted at lunch that the place seemed to have their beers and liquor quite prominently displayed - more bar than grill, you know?
Now, when I ride with Dad, he likes me to lead. The only times when this is funny are when he knows the way to wherever it is we're going and I do now know the way. I have never been to Ron & Alice's. At lunch, he tried explaining which way I should go. Of course, he knows how to get there: "After the bridge, turn left at the 3rd light, take the next left, go down the hill, the next right, and there's is a big house with a driveway and there's a tree in the yard." Oh, and remember this because we have another hour before we get there. So, I'm sure much to his disappointment, I waved him around to lead as we came to River Falls.
But, Alice and Ron weren't home. I phoned my friend Debi in Minneapolis - maybe we could ride there - but she wasn't home. So, on to Jerry Krisic's in Amery.
Dad said we should stop at the Amery airport (Amery Municipal Airport) first. He had tried phoning Jerry before we left Glen Flora in the morning, but he had to leave a message. Jerry's a pilot and Dad thought maybe he was giving a lesson today. As we got close to Amery, Dad took the lead of course, since he knew where the airport was. I saw the airport sign and clicked my turn signal as Dad passed the turn. As I waited for him to double-back, I saw that this wasn't quite as small an airport as I had imagined. I don't think it has any commercial flights, but there were probably 20 small hangers and a couple new ones being built.
Jerry wasn't there, so we went to his house - Dad led from the start this time. After visiting a while, we went back to the airport. Jerry has been building an airplane for the last couple of years and we said we'd love to see it. It's more or less finished, but Jerry's waiting for a final inspection from the FAA. Apparently the inspections of non-commercially built planes are incredibly detailed and difficult - much more so than commerically built planes. Part of the inspection is that you must show proof that you actually built the plane and didn't hire someone to do it for you. Thus, he maintained a photo album of the various stages of building, with pictures showing him there working on the plane. Once the plane passes inspection, he must always prominently display a banner reading "experimental", apparently as a warning to any passengers "no professionals were used in building this airplane."
In Jerry's hanger, he also has a small 2-seater for giving lessons and a Cessna 6-seater. After we'd checked out his baby for a while (and I figured it's time to leave), Jerry asks: "So, you want to go up for a little while?" Well, alright - and he pulls out the Cessna, pumps some fuel in, and we're airborne. 20 minutes later we're back on the ground. And after a quick dinner in Amery, we're back at Jerry's for the evening. So much for my day of 'hanging around at the farm.'
I pulled out the map the next morning and plotted a route through to Baraboo. The worst area was a little construction around Chippewa Falls. The best section was 54 between Galesville and Melrose - it seemed to be almost entirely made of turns - some getting down to posted speeds of 15mph. So it was a great ride overall. Had lunch in Baraboo - again a place Dad likes to go, but I've not been there - get in front!
Stopped at the Harley dealership in Sauk City and the New Glarus brewery in New Glarus and home by about 8 or so. Saw a few deer during the trip; got one bug bite that's now just going away; and put over 1,100 miles on the bike total. And unlike last year, no rain.
Next year - breakfast at the Queen Bee for sure!
posted by Paul at 7:04 AM
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