M rode Zeus many more times today, and we took many turns with the go karts:
B solos on Pegasus:
The park also had a small goat petting enclosure:
The kids rode Manticore again. The swing assembly goes all the way to the top:
Trish made theme park-themed funnel cake, which I had never heard of:
We left the park around 5pm and drove south to Madison. We went to Uncle Dennis’ house and went for a walk with him and Grandma DiAnn down to the lake:
For the next few nights we will be overnighting at a Walmart in the Madsion area, and bringing the RV back to Uncle Dennis’ house during the day. See the trip map for today’s drive and out current location.
This morning I got up at 5:15 and went out for an early morning ride in the countryside around Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. This is America’s heartland, folks:
After doing homeschool in the Walmart parking lot under torrential rains, we packed up and drove west to the amusement park town of Wisconsin Dells. Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park had a fifty-eight dollar deal which included one night at their full hookup RV park and two days of admission for four people to the theme park:
We avoided the waterpark half of the park and spent all of our time with the go-karts and rollercoasters:
I’m not a roller-coaster rider, but Trish and the kids rode Pegasus, which has a 45-foot drop:
Pegasus was enough for B, so Trish and M rode Cyclops, with its 76-foot drop:
Trish and M then rode Zeus and Hades 360, with 85- and 140-foot drops respectively. After that, Trish decided she was done riding roller coasters.
The kids rode the Manticore, a giant rotating swing ride:
Shabbos in Appleton was made tolerable by fans that kept the worst of the heat and humidity at bay. Late Friday night we were visited by our friend Jessamyn and her father. Jessamyn and I co-led the Jewish student group at the college and were a quarter of the membership. We talked about old times, Jessamyn’s newly released debut novel Safekeeping which has received many glowing reviews, and her father’s experiences travelling by RV. On Shabbos, our friend Chuck stopped by to say hello. I had the chance to speak to a couple of my professors as well, which was fun.
This morning M broke out his rollerblades:
…And then mocking figure skating. Or something:
We went for a drive and stopped at Skate City, where I was a member of the speed skating team during my college years:
We walked up to the observation tower where I proposed to Trish many years ago:
M and B did a reasonably convincing reenactment for us:
After making googly eyes at each other for a couple minutes, we came down from the tower and walked down to the shore of Lake Winnebago, where there’s a marina:
On our way back to the RV, we stopped at the private school that we used to skate to from the college:
While Trish made lunch, I walked to campus one last time with my camera. We both found the reunion to be depressing, as we found ourselves thinking of all the things we wish we’d done but didn’t, and all the dreams we had that have so far gone unrealized. I found walking the campus alone after the reunion was over to be even more sad. The empty, locked buildings seemed to be telling us to leave.
The dorm where we met:
Main Hall, built in 1853:
Shaking off our malaise, we drove south to the town of Neenah to visit the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass. The museum is currently hosting a temporary exhibition, titled Native Species:
The Mahler collection is composed primarily of European glassware from the past 500 years:
The museum is most well known for its extensive collection of paperweights:
My favorite paperweights were made using millefiori:
Each petal of each flower is made of glass and assembled into a bouquet:
We visited the research library upstairs:
We stayed at the museum until it closed, then walked across the street where the kids played on this great structure:
We drove south to overnight at the Walmart of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.
This morning M and I drove back to the field for an early morning flight. It was cold enough that I put on my flight suit:
Launch of flight #52:
Views from the flight:
The air was bumpy down low, so I climbed to about 500 feet above the ground where the air was smooth. At that altitude, the winds were strong enough that I was’t able to make much headway, so it was another short flight. Shaking out the legs before landing:
I always have the biggest smile post-flight:
Click the Vel and Alt buttons to display the graph. Click the grey bar on the right side to display the stats:
Later in the day, we stopped by Grandpa Glenn’s house to say goodbye to him and Edna and Tricia’s sister. Grandpa Glenn gave the kids an old R/C truck he had for the road. We stopped at Menards to do a bit of shopping:
We told the kids that the old radio ads say “save big money at Menards”, and indeed, M was shocked (perhaps feigned) at the incredible bargains:
After shopping for groceries, we left Wausau (thanks Aunt Diane for hosting us!) and drove to Appleton, where Trish and I will visit with old friends at our college anniversary. The college arranged parking for us in one of their lots:
Tricia’s roommate from her freshman year stopped by to visit us towards sunset. We had a great time catching up!
Good Shabbos from Appleton, Wisconsin! See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.
Today we drove out to visit Uncle Lyle’s Farm, which has been in Tricia’s family for over 100 years. Uncle Lyle loaded up B and Trish and her sister in the back of the utility vehicle, and M and I rode with Grandpa Glenn on the ATV:
While the adults chatted, M and B took turns driving the ATV around the farm:
B and Wren:
It was a beautiful day to be on the farm:
In the evening, I drove out to an ultralight field near Wausau. Between family members and the owners of the field, we had a bit of a crowd:
The wind was strong and changing directions, so the first two launches didn’t work out, but the third one was good:
Launch of flight #51:
There were nice sunset views to be had once airborne:
The ride was not at all smooth, so I came down pretty quick. The landing was just fine:
Click the Vel and Alt buttons below to display the flight graph. Click the grey bar on the right edge of the map to display the stat bar:
I’m hoping to come back for another flight tomorrow morning.
Facebook
Instagram
Email