Day Six

We drove to Aztalan State Park between Johnson Creek, Wisconsin and Jefferson, Wisconsin after breakfast.  This was the place of Mike's and Melody's first dates after meeting in college.  Its an old Indian village site.

Next we drove up to St. John's Catholic Church and School in Jefferson where Mike spent his elementary days.  It is only two houses from Mike's childhood house.

Then we scooted over to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin where Mike went to high school.  Ran into a Farmer's Market in the downtown area.  Lots of good looking veggies.

There are some historic buildings next to the Rock River.  This one was re-purposed for an antique store.

Had lunch at Paddy Coughlin's Irish Pub off of Main Street.  Irish tacos were the special of the day - yum.

Took a quick drive by the Fireside Dinner Theater on the south side of Fort Atkinson.  Mike was a chef here after high school.

Headed back for home in the afternoon.  Good bye Wisconsin - Hello Iowa.

Day Five

Woke up this morning to thunderstorms so did a quick pack up and headed back down to the Madison area for some more fun.

After checking out of Devil's Lake State Park we hit Delany's Surplus and Sales south of Baraboo, Wisconsin along Hightway 12.  Mike's grandpa would always stop here to see what steals awaited us. 

The place if full of all kinds of buys.

The pleasant surprise was finding an iron works sculpture park out back.  The artwork was marvelous.  

Once back in Madison, we hit the Willy Street Co-op.  

Charlie found some righteous sourdough baguettes from Madison Sourdough Bakery also on Williamson or Willy Street.

We had supper at Crandall's Peruvian Bistro.  Mike had a spicy shrimp chowder and Charlie had a cilantro rice chicken dish.  Yumm.

Charlie found a couple of records at B Side resale store on State Street.

Mike and Charlie hiked around University of Wisconsin campus ending up at the geology department building.  The geology museum had a full skelton of a mastodon.  Pretty cool.  

Ended up at Mike's sister's house for rest and relaxation.  

Tomorrow is the last day of our vacation.  We are going to visit the town that Mike grew up in and went to high school.  

Happy trails...

Day Four

Up and ready for day four.  Off to the family cemetery sites and small Wisconsin towns of Mike's childhood.

Having lunch in Leland, Wisconsin nestled among the sandstone bluffs of northern edge of the Driftless Area.  Micki (Mike's sister - Charlie's aunt) meet up with us.  Also grabed a cell tower signal to finish up some work stuff that needed to get done.

After lunch we walked around the Leland millpond.  Mike would spend hours exploring this pond and fishing for bass from grandpa's row boat.  These experiences with nature turned Mike into the environmental biologist that he is today.

Sprechers Tavern has been in Leland for generations.  It is still run by the same family.  Mike and the bartendar swapped old stories.  What fond memories.  

Inside Sprechers Bar.

Next we ran over to Tower Rock School near Denzer, Wisconsin.  Mike's grandpa was the janitor here after retiring from his dairy farm.  The school is being expanded.  Tower Rock is in the background.  Looks like a person's face to us.

We spent a good chunk of the afternoon in the Village of Blackhawk, Wisconsin.  The church cemetery contains many ancestors.  Above is the wooden tombstone of Robert and Clara Hoppe.  Robert and Clara are Charlie's great great great great grandparents.  Robert's parents are buried here too, but their tombstone is quiet worn and difficult to read.  Robert's parents emigrated from Prussia.

The Fingerhuts are another family tree branch.  Fingerhut is the maiden name of Mike's grandmother.  There are a few generations of Fingerhuts buried at the Blackhawk church cemetery too.  They emigrated from Germany.

Mike's mother and Charlie's grandmother is also buried in Blackhawk.  It felt good to visit her grave again.  Looks like Uncle Dick (Mom's brother) and Aunt Gloria continue to keep flowers in the tombstone vase.

See the following for a YouTube video of our ancestors story narrated by Mike.

http://youtu.be/qjfhPIbVbp8 

We ended our day with a chai latte and Americano at a coffee cafe in Baraboo, Wisconsin and then back to the campsite for the night.  Good night everyone...

Day Three

After waking up to another mild sunny day, spent the day in the Wisconsin Dells. 

Had a very nice lunch at High Rock Cafe downtown Wisconsin Dells. 

Here is a shot from our lunch time table along the main drag in downtown Wisconsin Dells.

Then off to our Ducks ride in the Lower Dells after lunch.  

Here our driver and tour guide takes us into the Wisconsin River.  Our guide did a wonderful job and kept us all laughing (and dry).

We went shopping in the tourist shops for the afternoon.  After a high tea, we hit the Tommy Barlett's Water Show.  Its been going for 63 years.  

The grand finale of the greatest show on water in Lake Delton.

Charlie enjoying one of his books by the campfire.

Day Two

For Day Two we drove from Mike's sister's place to Devils Lake State Park near Baraboo, Wisconsin to set up base camp.  

First stop was to tour Circus World Museum.  We read about the history of the greatest shows on Earth.  The day was complete by watching the big top circus performances.  

The elephants came out for the last act.

Next did some taste testing of distilled products from a North American distillery in Baraboo.  Their dry gins were top notch.

Aging spirits in casks.

No visit to Baraboo would be complete without a stop to the free zoo.  

Wolves at the zoo.

Charlie found a nice gaming store also in Baraboo.

We walked around the Baraboo city square like Mike did fifty years ago.

Checked out a good sized used book store.  Only picked up some free book markers.

Ended the day with campfire and listening to the sounds of nature at Devils Lake State Park.