What's a Little Melted Butter
Day 8
Pepin & Green Bay Wisconsin
First day hitting the road with my brother found us meandering country roads in Wisconsin to 90's era R&B. Just what you'd expect from a van full of Filipino American kids driving through America's heartland. The last time we went on a road trip together 11 years ago we only meant to go to Pittsburgh from Baltimore but ended up in Youngstown, OH just to cross another state off the list of states he'd visited. THAT was a long day. I'm sure New Edition traveled with us then as they did on this first day of the second week of this road trip.
We left Minneapolis and headed straight for Pepin, WI, former home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House books. I am 100% sure I was more excited for this stop than anyone else in the van. The kids and I have read the first 2 books in the series multiple times and I think the next 3 or 4 books at least once. Others have Comic-Con. I have this little house in the *sort of* big woods. It was a replica of her actual home that she described in her first book. But it was still magical. What's cool is that it's located right off the road in front of a corn field. It is unattended and free. The door was unlocked and ready to welcome visitors day or night. A notice on the community board let me know we had just missed the town's celebration of Laura Ingalls Wilder Days. DANGIT!
Driving through Wisconsin was a welcome change from the long stretch of lonely road that began the Eastern half of Montana and through North Dakota. We wove in and out of farmland and forests along easy hills. The earth was green and landscaped. There was no rush here. No need to keep a pace of 80+ mph. Perfect cruising conditions while shoo-be-doo-bopping our way to Green Bay.
Like 11 years ago when we went to Pittsburgh and visited Heinz Field, we headed straight to Lambeau Field to give it a proper Seahawks greeting. Since the Packers played the Thursday night before, all was quiet when we arrived on Sunday afternoon. We were surprised to find that the stadium itself was surrounded almost on all sides by family homes instead of the shops and bars that usually accompany professional sports stadiums. In fact, the entire town seemed pretty quiet. There were not many folks on the road and fairly empty parking lots beside closed shops. We found our way to a park along Lake Michigan where I was very tempted to crash a huge Mexican family party where they were grilling delicious smelling food. I didn't. And as it was very windy lake side, we decided to find dinner somewhere near the hotel and call it a night.
As far as stops go, Green Bay was almost uneventful. That is, it was uneventful until I discovered I had accidentally set our electric refrigerator/warmer to "WARM" instead of "COOL." It is usually plugged into the cigarette lighter of the van as we drive and does not require ice. At night, I plug it in our hotel room to keep things cool overnight. All our perishables I had so carefully monitored since the beginning of the trip -- the mayonnaise, cheese, hummus, relish, and yes, 2 sticks of butter -- had been on the "WARM" setting since 4PM when we checked in until 8AM when we were about to check out. I had to throw it all out and wash the pool of butter out of the bottom of the cooler in the hotel sink. So that was Green Bay.
Pepin & Green Bay Wisconsin
First day hitting the road with my brother found us meandering country roads in Wisconsin to 90's era R&B. Just what you'd expect from a van full of Filipino American kids driving through America's heartland. The last time we went on a road trip together 11 years ago we only meant to go to Pittsburgh from Baltimore but ended up in Youngstown, OH just to cross another state off the list of states he'd visited. THAT was a long day. I'm sure New Edition traveled with us then as they did on this first day of the second week of this road trip.
We left Minneapolis and headed straight for Pepin, WI, former home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House books. I am 100% sure I was more excited for this stop than anyone else in the van. The kids and I have read the first 2 books in the series multiple times and I think the next 3 or 4 books at least once. Others have Comic-Con. I have this little house in the *sort of* big woods. It was a replica of her actual home that she described in her first book. But it was still magical. What's cool is that it's located right off the road in front of a corn field. It is unattended and free. The door was unlocked and ready to welcome visitors day or night. A notice on the community board let me know we had just missed the town's celebration of Laura Ingalls Wilder Days. DANGIT!
Driving through Wisconsin was a welcome change from the long stretch of lonely road that began the Eastern half of Montana and through North Dakota. We wove in and out of farmland and forests along easy hills. The earth was green and landscaped. There was no rush here. No need to keep a pace of 80+ mph. Perfect cruising conditions while shoo-be-doo-bopping our way to Green Bay.
Like 11 years ago when we went to Pittsburgh and visited Heinz Field, we headed straight to Lambeau Field to give it a proper Seahawks greeting. Since the Packers played the Thursday night before, all was quiet when we arrived on Sunday afternoon. We were surprised to find that the stadium itself was surrounded almost on all sides by family homes instead of the shops and bars that usually accompany professional sports stadiums. In fact, the entire town seemed pretty quiet. There were not many folks on the road and fairly empty parking lots beside closed shops. We found our way to a park along Lake Michigan where I was very tempted to crash a huge Mexican family party where they were grilling delicious smelling food. I didn't. And as it was very windy lake side, we decided to find dinner somewhere near the hotel and call it a night.
As far as stops go, Green Bay was almost uneventful. That is, it was uneventful until I discovered I had accidentally set our electric refrigerator/warmer to "WARM" instead of "COOL." It is usually plugged into the cigarette lighter of the van as we drive and does not require ice. At night, I plug it in our hotel room to keep things cool overnight. All our perishables I had so carefully monitored since the beginning of the trip -- the mayonnaise, cheese, hummus, relish, and yes, 2 sticks of butter -- had been on the "WARM" setting since 4PM when we checked in until 8AM when we were about to check out. I had to throw it all out and wash the pool of butter out of the bottom of the cooler in the hotel sink. So that was Green Bay.
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