The Road Well Traveled 2013 - 2.1 The Apex of our Journey

We set out once again from Rhinelander and the Hodag.

We stopped to see two sites as we passed.

World's Largest Penny

Driving in the middle of nowhere.

Corrugated Man getting a high five from
Louise - watch out for that gun!

.....and then....

This is what we have been traveling for.
The apex, the height of our journey, the joy, the thrill.......

Phillips, Wisconsin.
Home of Concrete Park!

Everything made out of ..... concrete.

With glass and beer bottles.

Concrete Park was conceived and built by Fred Smith, 

a retired lumberjack.  What is not shared though, is Louise's uncle 

also helped in the creation of this incredible folk art monument.  

All of the sculptures had some meaning, some importance to Fred Smith. We just didn't always understand why he created what he did, so I made sure to take a few photos of what Mr. Smith wrote about the sculptures.

Stella and Louise were so excited to get to the next sculpture!

The mosquitoes were huge!  I think they could have picked up a small child and carried them away... we were batting bugs like crazy!

Louise was so excited, she had to call home!

Lincoln looks like a lumberjack.

 We even found a prospective beau for Stella - tall and everything!  I think the little guy in front was ready to officiate on the spot!  Go Stella!

He looks like a fine,
upstanding gentleman!

The statues may be quirky, but this is a definite stop on the map if you are around Phillips.  This is true, American Folk Art at it's finest.  The work that was put into each piece, creating personality and a sense of character........ and did I mention the attention to detail?

THE END

The trip continues tomorrow!

The Road Well Traveled 2013 - 2.0 Day Two - We're Off!

Late to bed - early to rise.

Yep, that's my motto!  I am not quite sure how my room mates tolerated my tap, tap, tapping on the keyboard at 5:30 in the morning, but I heard no complaints.

We started moving....I drank all the coffee.....I had to get coffee from the lobby.....we ate pancakes...

Side-note:  Have you stayed at a Holiday Inn Express lately?  They have a cool machine called a Popcake Machine that makes a pancake in 90 seconds...yum!

Let's fill the tank, set the odometer to zero and get this day started!

...and we're off!  Look at that gorgeous sky!

We got underway and set out in search for an elusive creature that all the locals talk about.

Not cheese....I just couldn't resist sticking this in here.

 We were off to Rhinelander and in search of the.....

HODAG!

He turned out to be quite friendly and lovable.

Giving hugs.

Look how nice those choppers are...he must brush his teeth.

Oh, the love.

Stella and I loaded up on Hodag treasures.

Let me tell you though, that Hodag hat gave me Hodag hair! Maybe that is why the Hodag comes across all cranky...it's just having a bad hair day!

Louise even got in the spirit of the Hodag and got a tattoo!

 Stella and I thought she should have that spot checked later.  It looked like it could  be (whispering) "cansa" (this is my bad reference to one of my favorite movies - Brighton Beach Memoirs. Watch it if you haven't seen it!)

So much fun....

We set off for our next location and ran across this sign:

...and also saw this.  We had to turn around and get a picture because I could not stop laughing.

It makes you wonder why someone would choose that hospital when there are tombstones lined up along the side wall.  Crack me up...



Tune in tomorrow for the whole reason for our trip.....the reason we chose Wisconsin for our Roadside Adventures.  See you then!

The Road Well Traveled 2013 : 1.3 Four Hundred Miles and Rolling

The wheels are still spinning.

We left Madison and headed toward Waunakee, to check out a Bavarian-themed business.  I knew what we were looking for, but was surprised by the amount of decor.

We were greeted by this Bavarian giant as we turned onto Billy Goat Lane.  That should be your clue right there....we came to see the GOATS!

The kids were adorable and playful.

They even did a little climbing on the rocks for us!

We really wanted to see them climb the tower, but it just didn't happen.  We tried to entice the sweet little goaties, but three Iowa chicks yelling, "Here goatie, goatie, goatie!"  just didn't do the trick.

We loaded up in the car once more to see our final couple of sights for the day. We  were really looking forward to these two!

We jumped back on I-90/I-39/I-94 (Wisconsin is so big, it takes three interstates  joined together to make it all the way through....I think they are there to handle all of the deer traffic!) and northward ho!

We trekked a little bit to the town of DeForest and found....

A Pink Elephant

"No...I don't want to go yet!"

 But right across the road is...Sissy the cow!

 As we crawled back into the car again, we decided we accomplished a lot in one day.  Three more hours to our hotel and a restful night in Wausau.

Looking forward to sharing Day Two of our fabulous trip........stay tuned!

The Road Well Traveled 2013 - 1.2 The Automated Deli

We set off to the north once again.
The Wisconsin sights were incredible....

 A house on wheels!  Cool!

 Do you think the cat comes out or do the fish just walk in?  Maybe it is the beer hatch....reach out and get a cold one?

We were actually headed for Madison when this extra treat came into our view.  Our true destination was....

Ella's Deli!

This was our stop for a cool treat, inside and out!
So many cool things to look at......

Everything is automated in the deli.  Games in the tables, Popeye riding a bicycle over our head, trains whoo whooing on tracks along the ceiling and everything moving.....automated.....animated!

 So many yummies on the menu....

Banana Split

Kugel and Espresso Ice Cream

All the food was HUGE!

Of course - I can never pass up a carousel!  Louise and Stella were a little nervous about spinning in circles after all those sweets.....I was giddy with excitement!

The Ticket House

What in the world?

That doesn't look like holy water....

Stella - so pretty.

Louise riding into the sunset on her camel.

(Tune in tomorrow as we finish of Day Number One of our Wisconsin Roadside Adventure!)