Tag: Wisconsin

Thoughts from central Wisconsin

i have been in far northern Wisconsin, in Door County, and in southern Wisconsin, but I hadn’t ever been in central Wisconsin near where we are now. A few random thoughts.

1. This place is GREEN. Really, really green. Forests all over the place. Christmas tree farms in large numbers. Green.

2. There are lots and lots of vegetable farms here. Huge storage buildings for potatoes. Canning companies. Fields of green beans. Yup, vegetables all over. The soil is very sandy.

3. There are Amish in the area. We saw two men driving two horses each while cutting hay. We saw another man driving three horses while plowing. Another man was driving two horses down the road while pulling a baler. There are Amish quilt shops, produce stands (not open yet), and home bakeries advertising along the road. I took no pictures, respecting the Amish dislike for photographs,

4. There are lakes and wide spots in the rivers with shorelines covers with cabins and houses. Lots of water, lots of boats, lots of fishing paraphernalia. There is also a lot of good fishing for eating. I ate lunch at a diner in Hancock, and the six fillets of blue gills I had were huge and very good.

5. This place is at least as humid as Iowa, and maybe more so. Temperatures in the upper 70s felt much, much worse because of the humidity. I had thought about bringing the grandkids back here for a vacation, but I think I would melt in the middle of summer.

Feeling virtuous

I finally got my daughter’s quilt (almost) finished. The problem is that I ran out of thread while doing the final 8” of the binding! I have nothing in the stash to even kind of match, so I mail ordered. I have also decided on the pattern for the baptism gown. Now to get the fabric, laces, and ribbons.

We are now in central Wisconsin, just south of Steven’s Point. We had some family things to take care of, so we took a short trip here. We are staying at Oasis Waterpark and Campground, right on I-39 at Hancock. So far it is a lovely place with some trees and roomy enough sites. I imagine the quiet will change tomorrow though. It would be a great place for kids with lots of planned activities and a great water play area in a small pond. I can’t yet go swimming because of the wound from my basal cell cancer removal, so a lot of it goes for naught for me.

I have however done a really complete spring cleaning of the motorhome – floors, cabinetry, even the shower and the corners that never get seen behind the slides. I am not quite so virtuous as to clean the inside of the cabinets though.

Today we visited the Experimental Aircraft Association museum in Oshkosh. What fun! I like airplanes, and I love history, so it is a winner for me. Some pictures might help.

An historically accurate reproduction of the Wright brother’s first powered aircraft, complete with mannequin pilot
A partial reproduction of a 1918 Curtis showing the framework

A special D-Day exhibit opened today also. There were historical re-enactors from all services with lots of memorabilia.

One of the last D-Day transports

There was also a collection of vintage aircraft nose paintings, cut from the original aircraft and carefully conserved. There were some suitable for all ages:

And some were for more mature audiences (these are two of the tamer ones).

Sorry for the glare. They didn’t allow flash to even out the lighting.

We are staying here until Saturday sometimes, then heading home. We have to get ready for another family business trip, this time to Kansas and Oklahoma. We are starting with the Kansas City Quilt Expo though, and I have two classes scheduled. More on those later.