Day 11 Sunday, Sept 3 Lake Delton, Wisconsin to Middlebury, Indiana

258 miles

We enjoyed camping in the Wisconsin Dells and would have liked to stay longer or perhaps return another time. I wanted to get around Chicago, especially since it was Sunday and traffic would be to  our advantage. As we got closer to Chicago, traffic began to build up but with GPS help, we made it through without any mistakes. Once we crossed into Indiana, we began to pay tolls quite regularly throughout the day. Near Madison, we were to find a large pink elephant.🐘 The clues told us to find a Citgo gas station and the elephant would be there. We needed to make some travel time and were unsure about turning our rig around in an unknown gas station so we kept going.  I  began to notice the amount of construction along the freeway under the power lines.  An old fashion wooden "corduroy road" was being built.  The area was low and swampy in some places so the wooden planks worked well. 

After our rest stop, we passed a huge open pit mine.  We couldn't tell what was being mined-it looked like chalk.-gypsum perhaps? We camped 2 nights at the Middlebury KOA.

This sign reads " Crash investigation site". These turnouts are places spread along the freeway for fender bender crash victims not needing police assistance to get insurance information without holding up the  traffic. There were also Texting signs indicating where travelers could pull over and text safely.

On the Indiana section of I-90, there were  "Service Oasis" areas. Getting into the  gas line was a feat.  There didn't seem to be a way to get gas and then find a parking spot. Sonny juggled the truck around and got parked after getting gas.  We crossed the tractor trailer parking and followed the ramps up stairs and into the building built over the middle of the freeway. Sonny was glad to see Starbucks serving coffee. We treated ourselves

to pretzels for mid day snack.

Watching cars speed out from under you is a weird sensation.

Micheal Jackson's childhood  home was on our scavenger list. It was an  easy off-on I-90 in Gary, Indiana.The home was a well kept bungalow in a mixed  economic neighborhood  There were well kept homes  mixed with

damaged, windowless and broken-down buildings.

This large monument has been erected
on the front lawn.

Day 10 Saturday Rest Day to visit Baraboo, WI home of the Ringling Brothers Circus

Today, we took a day trip from our campsite to visit the Circus Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin, the hometown for the Ringling Brothers and one of the activities on our 1-90 list .  First, we had a pancake breakfast at the campground. Other campers were having a rummage sale so we checked that, too before heading to Baraboo. The country road was tree lined and some leaves were beginning to change color.  Very little traffic.  We spent several hours at the museum before heading back to our campsite.  Before we left Wisconsin, I wanted to find a "pasty," a Scandinavian meat pie.  We had never had one but heard people rave about how good they are.  We were referred to the Viking Village grocery store where we hunted for a pasty, not knowing what we were really looking for. Finally, a gentleman directed us to the cooler where they were.  We ate it the next day. Do you know what it is? Garrison Keiller may have mentioned them on his radio show. It's a small plate sized, round dough pastry filled with a meat concoction.  It filled us up along with corn on the cob and salad.

The campground hosted a one man musical show in the evening,  Freddy Ferguson played guitar accompanied by an electronic band and sang songs for 3 hours. There were a couple of dance tunes  so people got up on the floor.  It was an outside venue on a pleasant evening.  However, a camper came and stood just outside smoking an annoying cigar.  We left awhile later to avoid the smoke that blew our way

Hard to really tell but this was a musical stage with organ, bottles, and other noise makers.

Here, the wagon is carrying a few band members. This museum has a huge collection of restored circus wagons. The band members in this wagon are wearing clown outfits, a uniform I would hate to wear.

It's probably too hard to see, but what's wrong
with this picture?  The top three lines of music
are written correctly but the bottom 4 lines
are backwards.  The stems on the notes are
on the wrong side. It looks like   you are
looking through the paper from the back.

This circus band conductor had a long
career with the music. I believe he built up the
largest library of band music
there is over his 50 year career.

This little Subaru is called the "Rug Car"
since it is covered in carpet.

This was a famous circus trumpet
player.  In the upper R corner, you
can see his tiny trumpet,

This was interesting to me.  "Stars and Stripes"
got the name "Disaster Song" because the
band always played it when disaster struck
like a fire in the tent.

Ringling Brothers built several large barns to train
animals in winter. Now, these barns hold various exhibits like the wardrobe collection.   This tricycle was used to train the elephant.

The winter animal housing.

Marching clowns!

This building held more than 20 restored circus wagons.  At the far end was the workshop with windows so the visitors could watch the work.

Looking down the double row of wagons.

Day 9 Friday Austin, Minnesota to Lake Delton, Wisconsin

Drove 211 miles, on the road at 9:20 am-an early start for us!

55*

We had breakfast on the road.  The temperature was cooler and there was dew on the grass. We passed sunflower fields and wind turbines. We had coffee in Eyota, MN.  We crossed the Mississippi and saw a barge pushing its load up river. We admired the huge, well kept lawns with lots of trees and beautiful gardens that we saw in the small towns.

Next on our list was the FAST Fiberglass Mold Graveyard Factory in Sparta,  WI.  These are the beginnings of roadside attractions. Here's a collection of those molds.  

Big dog

Every imaginable thing that could be made was here.

These were most likely swimming pool adornments.

This giant cow was in the shop for repairs.  There's Santa and a pumpkin in the distance,

How about a hippo for your yard?

What an eclectic collection.  That could be John Wayne standing back  to us.

I would love to have a moose stationed in our woods.

Guitars and a car kit ready for paint.

She can't decide on which flavor.

There weren't many choices for camping  but I found a private campground called "Country Roads".  They were mostly seasonal folks who were accepting of the transients.  We had breakfast with them on Saturday and in the evening,  we listened to Freddy Ferguson and his one man guitar show. This garden and bottle tree were in the park.

Day 8 Thursday Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Austin, Minnesota

229 miles

Foggy start and 66*

There was a herd of buffalo in a field close to our campground. Our first stop today was in Garretson to find the park with Devils Gulch in it. The park is known for the time Jesse James and his gang robbed a bank in Minnesota.  His escape route took him to a spot where he and his horse had to jump a ravine in order to avoid being caught.  We spent an hour talking with the docent and walking the trails.

The next stop was in Blue Earth, Minnesota to see the 55' tall Jolly Green Giant.  The docent there gave us a can of  sweet corn for a souvenir. The town is named Blue Earth because the clay around town is blue which has become a favorite with local potters.

We got a campsite and still had time to visit the Spam Museum before they closed.  Michelle spent about 20 minutes with us pointing out a few interesting facts about Spam. We had no idea except our Dad's both had to rely on Spam for meals in the field during WWII.  The museum was recently renovated so everything was spic and span.

We missed a turn on the way and had to to a u-turn to find this park.

Wire bridge across the gorge.  I was leary
about walking across.

We climbed to the upper ledges to
have a look down. There was
no fence or notice of danger.

Down at the water level, we could
see tall ledges along the river bank
and the work of water erosion.

Looking up at the wire bridge
from the river below.

The only section of fencing protecting people from falling.

We try to do about 200 miles a day.

Built in 1979, the giant cost
$5000 to construct.

The red building is a small gift shop.

The new and improved Spam Museum!

Paul Bunyan and Babe

Spam everywhere!  

Who would have  thought!

I hadn't heard of these girls before.

Choices of flavors

It's not lips and butts!  It's from the good cuts.

Musical instruments  made from Spam cans.  They were actually played in concert.

The meat is packaged and then cooked in the can.

What's your favorite?  I bought bacon flavored to put on a skewer with pineapple chunks roasted on the grill.
I haven't had Spam since I was a child.

Dinty Moore is a subsidiary of Hormel. Do you know what ox joints taste like?

Day 5 Hardin, Montana to Rapid City, South Dakota

93* by afternoon

344 miles

We were on the road by 9 AM.  Yesterday, the truck passed its 100,000 mile mark. Weather was warm-81* before 10 AM.  Along I-90, a truck passed us carrying two kayaks and a full size refrigerator.  We wondered what they were doing for vacation. We’ve seen very little wild life but today, we smelled a skunk and saw a deer that didn’t make the dash across the road. In the afternoon, there was a small herd of antelope in the fields near the freeway.  In Wyoming, we drove along at 4500’ through the rolling hills beside the Big Horn Mountains. The town of Buffalo, Wyoming was on our list just as a place to have a beer. We found parking and walked around town looking for coffee and a chance to stretch.  Since it’s Monday, many shops were closed.  “The Busy Bee Cafe” was open so we went in and discovered that Buffalo is Craig Johnson’s (author of the Longmire book series made into a Netflix series) hometown.  We’ve seen the series and hope there will be another story this fall.  Sonny asked the counter girl if the Longmire series was filmed in Buffalo, but no, it’s filmed in Texas.  However, once a year, the cast visits Buffalo for a weekend to sign books.

Back on I-90, we noted the unusual names of side roads and thought about having to write your address out if you lived on Dead Horse Creek Road or Crazy Woman Creek Road or Crazy Horse Creek Road.

Sturgis, South Dakota was on this leg of I-90, so of course, we planned a stop.  The town is quiet compared to early August when the bike rally is happening.  Sonny found me a walking stick emblem  for my collection and he bought an unmentionable bumper sticker.  In Summerland, we found Camping World to look for a ladder and night lights but had no luck.  We got a campsite at Rapid City KOA, sat in the hot tub that nearly drowned me with it’s powerful jets and enjoyed breakfast in the KOA kitchen.

Continuing on I-90

We've passed many fields of hay.  Here's a stack ready for winter. 

Rest stop to stretch.

Buffalo, Wyoming is a small town on our list for no
 particular reason.  After we found 6 streeet parking spots for our rig, we wandered down the sidewalk looking for a coffee shop and  found "The Busy Bee".

The bar was marble decorated with bees.  Note the old

milk shake machine in the right photo.

Poster advertising the Longmire event in July.

Our waitress was a college student from Romania who was on a summer exchange program.

This mural made the creepy bathroom
more attractive.

The town had several statues of relevant events
 like the sheep being rounded up by the dog.

We had to take a cruise through Sturgis for old times. 

One of the hopping hot spots.

Long stretches of road gave me time to  practice my voice drills which  consist of 10 functional phases in everyday living to be spoken at 75 decibels. Another drill is to hold a note for at least 45 seconds and 60 seconds on a good day.
Sonny gets closer to 45 seconds every time we  practice!