After breakfast we first visited Top Secret, one of the local attractions. Although we had all read some negative reviews of the site, Blake thought it was intriguing, so off we went. The coolest thing about this place is the exterior; it's a large replica of the White House, upside-down!! Inside they have it decorated with all the furniture, etc. on the ceiling so that you feel like you are walking on the ceiling. OK, that's about the extent of what was interesting here; although, as Blake put it, "our guide seemed real nice."
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Blake enjoyed the tour around the site. Chris and Kathy thought it had potential if they just plain hyped it as a "haunted [White] house" attraction. Several times the guide let the visitors walk down very dark tunnels on their own, sometimes with surprises along the way. They could also make use of the basic premise and make more of the fact that something has happened to the White House and we have to gather clues; or we time travel in to the future and find the White House in this condition and discover all these anomalies on the premises, etc. Oh, well, what's a trip to a tourist town without something like this?
Our big planned activity took place during the afternoon. After a lunch at perhaps the largest (and noisiest) McDonald's we've ever seen, we headed over to Bigfoot Zipline Tours. Kathy didn't take part in this activity because the doctor recommended she not do it because of the osteoporosis in her spine. Afterwards, Chris agreed this was probably a good call, after all!
The zipline course has 6 ziplines. You start by climbing 4 to 6 flights of steps to the top of a tower. The zipline course ranged from 462 feet to 1,397 feet. The last and longest course was a race between Blake and myself. Blake was given a headstart and won the race.
Our zipline guides were Gilligan and Jordan. Since Jordan caught us at the other end, he would go first showing us the trick they encouraged us to try. Gilligan would stay behind and attach each of us to the zipline and send us on our way. Our equipment consisted of a harness, helmet and leather gloves with thick leather attached to the palm. We were supposed to hold on to the harness with our left hand and use the glove on our right hand to lightly hold the zipline for control and breaking. Chris tried all the tricks, but had difficulty using the glove to guide and brake because it is too fat and weak. Nevertheless, it is fun.
One of the nice things is that the Bigfoot people let Kathy go out on one of the buses about two hours after the guys left. She was delivered to the final tower and got to go up and see Chris and Blake come zipping toward her on the only double zipline of the course. So at least she got to see what they looked like!
We purchased one of the photos of Blake ziplining and one of their entire group.
Next stop on the vacation agenda was a tour of the Upper Dells on a jet boat! We took the tour with Captain Ron's Original Dells Jet Boats. This is one form of Dells tour that both Kathy and Chris and never done before, so it was another new experience for all three of us! Although the tour itself is much like some of the slower boat tours of the upper Dells, it's the speed that makes it different! And to spice things up, Captain Ron would "put on the brakes" and that would splash many of the passengers. If you want to get really wet on the tour, sit in the first couple of rows in the boat. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we were running late getting there and the three of us ended up sitting in the back of the boat. We still were splashed, but not much.
For supper, we decided to go eat Japanese food at Ginza of Tokyo. We enjoyed watching our food be prepared at the table, and Chris also ordered some sushi. There were two other parties at our table; both from Wisconsin. That made 7 adults and three kids; it was fun watching the kids experiment and try to use chopsticks. Well, actually, Chris was teaching the other adults how to use them too!
Such a busy day... we ended it by going to the nearby drive-in theater, Big Sky Drive-In. Yes, Wisconsin Dells still has a working outdoor theater. Not only do they have a drive-in, but there are two different screens! Annndddd.. each screen shows a double feature of first-run movies for the same price! Blake chose to go to Captain America. We enjoyed it, but Blake was really wiped out after the movie, so we didn't stay for the second feature, the third Transformers movie.
One bit of excitement "hit" when we were entering the theater lot. After paying at the booth, we began driving in and heard a crash. We had no idea what it was! Chris got out and looked and couldn't see anything at the beginning. He finally found the pieces of our lid for our vent on the camper. Come to find out, there was a bar across the entrance and it must have been just a fraction too low for our van!
But wait, there's more! When we got back to the campground it was very dark (after midnight, etc.). Kathy was trying to be quiet in the campground and Chris couldn't hear her directions, plus couldn't see much behind him in the dark. Long story short, he scraped a tree while he backed! This may not have done much more than scrape a little paint, but we had been lazy (and hot!) and had left the louvered windows in the back open. We ended up losing the bottom louver off the back passenger side... Bad words were spoken, testy words were exchanged, life went on...
Saturday, July 30, 2011
On Wisconsin... In Which We Have Seen Kyle, Shawn, Maddie, & Atlas! -- Friday, July 29, 2011
Kyle and Shawn actually had to go to work, like real people (not vacationers!), so we were on our own for the morning. We made plans to meet Kyle for lunchtime before we headed north out of Madison. The guys had some breakfast there at the apartment and then we made a trip to Wisconsin Active Sportswear so that Blake could buy some Badger gear (yes, he's still a Jayhawks fan, but he has an aunt in Madison now!).
The rest of our morning was actually spent in Middleton, Wisconsin. For you Kansas readers, think Overland Park related to Kansas City. (And Madison seems to be a combination of Lawrence and Topeka, only bigger...). Middleton is the home of the National Mustard Museum. The museum is in the basement and shows some history of mustards, plus hundreds of containers of mustard from around the world! The displays are divided by state and country, even. It was interesting to see that some of the European mustards are packaged in a toothpaste tube-like container.
But we really had fun upstairs on the ground floor. This is actually the "gift shop". They have a lot of t-shirts with clever sayings (about mustard, of course) and other unusual gift ideas. The bulk of the shop is mustard after mustard, grouped in various categories. Want a mustard made with some sort of liquor or beer? Look over there... Want one made with fruit? Look over there... The best part is that they have a tasting stand, where knowledgeable staff will discuss the mustards and let you taste-test! Yes, we did alot of that; but we also left the shop with quite a few mustards and assorted clothing, etc!
Back to the apartment for a few more minutes with Kyle, and then we bid Madison "good-bye" for now. For those of you that are asking, "Why didn't you visit all the other cool things in the Madison area?", we have done so (all three of us) in earlier trips, plus we hope to be visiting up there other times in the future!
So, on to our destination, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin! For Kathy's kids, this name conjures up other memorable trips to similar sites: Keystone, South Dakota; Branson, Missouri; and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. What do these four locations have in common (other than the fact that the kids and I have all visited them)?
During the late afternoon we walked around downtown, ate, and visited the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. We do NOT recommend the Wisconsin cheese and beer soup at High Rocks; it was really awful as far as we were concerned. Buyer beware.
We found a nice campsite north of town at Stand Rock campground and will stay here two or three nights.
Earlier in the day we purchased tickets for the Rick Wilcox Magic Show, so we headed over there at 8pm. We had great seats right on the third row, but we couldn't seem to convince Blake to volunteer! This was the second time Chris and Kathy had seen this show, although much had changed. All three of us enjoyed the show.
The rest of our morning was actually spent in Middleton, Wisconsin. For you Kansas readers, think Overland Park related to Kansas City. (And Madison seems to be a combination of Lawrence and Topeka, only bigger...). Middleton is the home of the National Mustard Museum. The museum is in the basement and shows some history of mustards, plus hundreds of containers of mustard from around the world! The displays are divided by state and country, even. It was interesting to see that some of the European mustards are packaged in a toothpaste tube-like container.
But we really had fun upstairs on the ground floor. This is actually the "gift shop". They have a lot of t-shirts with clever sayings (about mustard, of course) and other unusual gift ideas. The bulk of the shop is mustard after mustard, grouped in various categories. Want a mustard made with some sort of liquor or beer? Look over there... Want one made with fruit? Look over there... The best part is that they have a tasting stand, where knowledgeable staff will discuss the mustards and let you taste-test! Yes, we did alot of that; but we also left the shop with quite a few mustards and assorted clothing, etc!
Back to the apartment for a few more minutes with Kyle, and then we bid Madison "good-bye" for now. For those of you that are asking, "Why didn't you visit all the other cool things in the Madison area?", we have done so (all three of us) in earlier trips, plus we hope to be visiting up there other times in the future!
So, on to our destination, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin! For Kathy's kids, this name conjures up other memorable trips to similar sites: Keystone, South Dakota; Branson, Missouri; and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. What do these four locations have in common (other than the fact that the kids and I have all visited them)?
During the late afternoon we walked around downtown, ate, and visited the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. We do NOT recommend the Wisconsin cheese and beer soup at High Rocks; it was really awful as far as we were concerned. Buyer beware.
We found a nice campsite north of town at Stand Rock campground and will stay here two or three nights.
Earlier in the day we purchased tickets for the Rick Wilcox Magic Show, so we headed over there at 8pm. We had great seats right on the third row, but we couldn't seem to convince Blake to volunteer! This was the second time Chris and Kathy had seen this show, although much had changed. All three of us enjoyed the show.
If It Rains, It's Still Fun!-- Thursday, July 28, 2011
We ate breakfast in downtown Amana and headed for the meat market. The restaurant gave us tokens for a pound of brats for $1, so we had to take advantage of that. And, of course, we spent more money there, just as they hoped!
The morning started with thunderstorms, so the temperature was better than the day before, but the humidity it still, naturally, pretty darn high! Chris and Kathy will be ready to return to the much lower humidity of central Kansas before this vacation is over.
Our first planned stop was in Dyersville, Iowa. Since it was still raining we first visited the National Farm Toy Museum. If you ever owned or played with any toy even remotely related to farms and farming, this is the place to reminisce. All companies are represented, even though the Ertl Company began the Museum.
With her love of genealogy, Kathy's favorite part was a whole wall tracing the "genealogy" of present day AGCO . It's amazing how many companies have merged to create this company! Some of the best known names, even to this non-farm kid, are: Massey Ferguson, Gleaner, White, Hesston, etc.
The rain had stopped, so we headed to our "real" Dyersville destination, the Field of Dreams Movie Site. Even though the field was awfully soggy, with standing water, Chris and Blake were able to play a little catch and pose for the photos Kathy wanted to take. [photos to be added] Since the corn is nearing harvest time, we even got to take shots of them entering and exiting the cornfield. (For those of you that don't understand that part, you really need to watch Field of Dreams!)
The site was a little different from when Kathy took her kids years ago, but still is a peaceful stop for families, whether you like baseball or not! There's a new souvenir stand now, but that's about it. I appreciate the simplicity. As stated in the promotional information: "Enjoy the surroundings. Bat a few balls, play a little catch, run the bases or sit and dream on the bleachers."
After leaving the Field, we were officially on our way to Madison, Wisconsin, home of Kathy's daughter, Kyle. But even stalwart travelers need to eat, so we stopped in Dubuque, Iowa, at a restaurant Blake had enjoyed with his folks, Crust.
By the time we arrived in Madison, both Kyle and Shawn were home from work. We had a good visit with the two of them and enjoyed watching the antics of Maddie, the cat, and Atlas, the dog.
The five humans went out to eat and spent the rest of the evening talking and watching the new version of Arthur.
Another high-point of the day was the fact that we got to sleep in the apartment for the night, out of the heat!
The morning started with thunderstorms, so the temperature was better than the day before, but the humidity it still, naturally, pretty darn high! Chris and Kathy will be ready to return to the much lower humidity of central Kansas before this vacation is over.
Our first planned stop was in Dyersville, Iowa. Since it was still raining we first visited the National Farm Toy Museum. If you ever owned or played with any toy even remotely related to farms and farming, this is the place to reminisce. All companies are represented, even though the Ertl Company began the Museum.
With her love of genealogy, Kathy's favorite part was a whole wall tracing the "genealogy" of present day AGCO . It's amazing how many companies have merged to create this company! Some of the best known names, even to this non-farm kid, are: Massey Ferguson, Gleaner, White, Hesston, etc.
The rain had stopped, so we headed to our "real" Dyersville destination, the Field of Dreams Movie Site. Even though the field was awfully soggy, with standing water, Chris and Blake were able to play a little catch and pose for the photos Kathy wanted to take. [photos to be added] Since the corn is nearing harvest time, we even got to take shots of them entering and exiting the cornfield. (For those of you that don't understand that part, you really need to watch Field of Dreams!)
The site was a little different from when Kathy took her kids years ago, but still is a peaceful stop for families, whether you like baseball or not! There's a new souvenir stand now, but that's about it. I appreciate the simplicity. As stated in the promotional information: "Enjoy the surroundings. Bat a few balls, play a little catch, run the bases or sit and dream on the bleachers."
After leaving the Field, we were officially on our way to Madison, Wisconsin, home of Kathy's daughter, Kyle. But even stalwart travelers need to eat, so we stopped in Dubuque, Iowa, at a restaurant Blake had enjoyed with his folks, Crust.
By the time we arrived in Madison, both Kyle and Shawn were home from work. We had a good visit with the two of them and enjoyed watching the antics of Maddie, the cat, and Atlas, the dog.
The five humans went out to eat and spent the rest of the evening talking and watching the new version of Arthur.
Another high-point of the day was the fact that we got to sleep in the apartment for the night, out of the heat!
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!-- Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Chris and Kathy arrived in KC, MO on Tuesday night and stayed at the Jason & Toni's household so we could start out bright and early (?) on Wednesday morning. Although Jason leaves for work even brighter and earlier, Toni had some munchies to start the day and off we went!
This is our second "grandkid" trip. Kathy's grandparents began by taking their 10 grandchildren, one at a time, on each child's own vacation. Their two kids and spouses continued the tradition and now the original grandchildren are taking the next generation! This year it's Blake's turn! Thie challenge for us is to find activities for a pre-teen boy...
The BAD -- Our first stop wasn't too far north of Kansas City, Jesse James' birthplace. The tour wasn't bad, it's Jesse that we're talking about here. The movie shown at the beginning of the tour shows how Jesse and Frank got started in their lives of crime during their lives as Bushwhackers during the Civil War. (Well, they might have called it the "War of Northern Aggression" since they were Southerners in a Union state!).
Several rooms of museum displays are there at the Visitor's Center and then we took a guided tour of the actual house where the James' lived for several generations. One of the main themes seems to be the role of Jesse and Frank's mother in, not only their lives, but as a fiercely protective mother of all her children.
When Jesse was killed (while straightening a picture on the wall of his own home) by a man he considered a friend, his mother, Zerelda, had him buried in the front yard of the family home with a tall monument. She even moved her bed so she could watch out the window and make sure no one came to desecrate the memorial!
Zerelda was actually married three times; Mr. James, a preacher, was her first husband. She lost two children because of Jesse's life choices: Jesse and one of his young half-brothers, Archie, who was killed when the Pinkerton detectives through a "bomb" in to the house hoping to flush out Jesse and/or Frank.
We began with our first of our sports-related trivia here at the James Farm. The family maintained the site as a tourist attraction for at least three generations. One of Frank's sons liked golf, so for awhile the home had a three-hole golf course attached so that visitor's could play a little golf when they came too! We then headed out of Missouri in to Iowa
The GOOD -- Our "good" is an all-American legend. John Wayne was really born as Marion Robert Morrison in the small town of Winterset, Iowa. "Duke", as he became known, only lived in Winterset a few years, but visitors can tour his home and view memorabilia from his long and varied career. As Blake pointed out, people think he was just in Western movies, but he was in a lot of different ones: war movies, one in Ireland, sports movies, "romantic comedy", historical movies, etc.
Our sports trivia of the tour was the fact that John Wayne, as he became known later, played football on a scholarship for the University of Southern California.
Although the house is small, the curators have filled it with movie stills and other mementos of Wayne's career. There are also items from his childhood, even a copy of his parents' wedding license.
If one wants, you can take a photo next to one of the several images of Wayne found in the gift shop.
The UGLY -- Oh, yes, there is no doubt what is the UGLY of our day... the heat!!! There was a disagreement (Chris and Kathy) about whether the air conditioner was working in the camper van. The result is that we rode the rest of the day with the windows open!! It was hot, hot, hot! I believe the gauge hovered around 100 for most of the day with maximum humidity ranging from 62-98!! Maybe it was the humidity, not just the heat.
Even at night when we were setting up our camp at the Amana Colonies Campground in Amana, Iowa, the sweat was just pouring off us (I apologize if anyone's tender senses are offended, but it WAS offensive). In the end, Chris slept outside on the sleeping bag on the ground most of the night while Kathy and Blake slept in the camper. After a cool shower, it wasn't too bad once we actually settled down for the night,
Chris moved inside around 5:30 AM or so when a thunderstorm actually arrived!! That did lower the temperature, but the humidity was awfully high!
A high point of the evening was eating in Marengo, Iowa, at Phat Daddy's restaurant. We saw lots of people entering, including children, so we figured it must be popular. The food was very good. And it had the extra perk of being air conditioned! ;-)
This is our second "grandkid" trip. Kathy's grandparents began by taking their 10 grandchildren, one at a time, on each child's own vacation. Their two kids and spouses continued the tradition and now the original grandchildren are taking the next generation! This year it's Blake's turn! Thie challenge for us is to find activities for a pre-teen boy...
The BAD -- Our first stop wasn't too far north of Kansas City, Jesse James' birthplace. The tour wasn't bad, it's Jesse that we're talking about here. The movie shown at the beginning of the tour shows how Jesse and Frank got started in their lives of crime during their lives as Bushwhackers during the Civil War. (Well, they might have called it the "War of Northern Aggression" since they were Southerners in a Union state!).
Several rooms of museum displays are there at the Visitor's Center and then we took a guided tour of the actual house where the James' lived for several generations. One of the main themes seems to be the role of Jesse and Frank's mother in, not only their lives, but as a fiercely protective mother of all her children.
When Jesse was killed (while straightening a picture on the wall of his own home) by a man he considered a friend, his mother, Zerelda, had him buried in the front yard of the family home with a tall monument. She even moved her bed so she could watch out the window and make sure no one came to desecrate the memorial!
Zerelda was actually married three times; Mr. James, a preacher, was her first husband. She lost two children because of Jesse's life choices: Jesse and one of his young half-brothers, Archie, who was killed when the Pinkerton detectives through a "bomb" in to the house hoping to flush out Jesse and/or Frank.
We began with our first of our sports-related trivia here at the James Farm. The family maintained the site as a tourist attraction for at least three generations. One of Frank's sons liked golf, so for awhile the home had a three-hole golf course attached so that visitor's could play a little golf when they came too! We then headed out of Missouri in to Iowa
The GOOD -- Our "good" is an all-American legend. John Wayne was really born as Marion Robert Morrison in the small town of Winterset, Iowa. "Duke", as he became known, only lived in Winterset a few years, but visitors can tour his home and view memorabilia from his long and varied career. As Blake pointed out, people think he was just in Western movies, but he was in a lot of different ones: war movies, one in Ireland, sports movies, "romantic comedy", historical movies, etc.
Our sports trivia of the tour was the fact that John Wayne, as he became known later, played football on a scholarship for the University of Southern California.
Although the house is small, the curators have filled it with movie stills and other mementos of Wayne's career. There are also items from his childhood, even a copy of his parents' wedding license.
If one wants, you can take a photo next to one of the several images of Wayne found in the gift shop.
The UGLY -- Oh, yes, there is no doubt what is the UGLY of our day... the heat!!! There was a disagreement (Chris and Kathy) about whether the air conditioner was working in the camper van. The result is that we rode the rest of the day with the windows open!! It was hot, hot, hot! I believe the gauge hovered around 100 for most of the day with maximum humidity ranging from 62-98!! Maybe it was the humidity, not just the heat.
Even at night when we were setting up our camp at the Amana Colonies Campground in Amana, Iowa, the sweat was just pouring off us (I apologize if anyone's tender senses are offended, but it WAS offensive). In the end, Chris slept outside on the sleeping bag on the ground most of the night while Kathy and Blake slept in the camper. After a cool shower, it wasn't too bad once we actually settled down for the night,
Chris moved inside around 5:30 AM or so when a thunderstorm actually arrived!! That did lower the temperature, but the humidity was awfully high!
A high point of the evening was eating in Marengo, Iowa, at Phat Daddy's restaurant. We saw lots of people entering, including children, so we figured it must be popular. The food was very good. And it had the extra perk of being air conditioned! ;-)
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