Day 6. Better late than never.

 

I've never been fond of flying in air planes, for many reasons. The least is the height - after flying to India I seem to have gotten over that part. The main reason I don't like flying is that you get places too quickly. (India not included in that comment as it took almost 24 hours to get to our destination.)

I love the time you have together in a car, talking about life and watching the landscape change from city to country to city again.

My children have had the opportunity to share in my love of the road. When they were young we spent many hours driving south, east and north of our home. But west - west meant two places. Dubuque, Iowa, or Wisconsin Dells.

Many times our trips included side destinations. Sometimes planned, but most of the time we found new places due to my lack of direction. Most people would call this 'getting lost'. But not in my car, in my car it's called 'ADVENTURE'!  

On this day Andy and I have decided we've had enough of the pandemic and the isolation it caused. We don't want to be taking chances so we've settled on a trip that would require little outside contact with others. The snow from the week has given way to cold - bitter cold. While we would normally choose the RAV4 for it's stability on icy and snow covered roads, today we decided to use the Mazda due to it's heated seats, steering wheel and separate fan for the back seat area since Lyra will be joining us for the trip.

Our goal today is to photograph eagles. Normally this would mean a trip to Dubuque and Eagle Point Park, but due to the large amount of snow this week, we decided that getting to the fence that allows you to look down the cliffs at the eagles would most likely mean traveling through at least waist high drifts. So, instead, we decided to head to Appleton, Wisconsin and  the Fox River Damn behind the Atlas Paper Mill factory. I had discovered this place while accompanying the crew that produces "Around the Corner with John McGivern" a few years back. At that time I was lucky to photograph at least 7 eagles so I was pretty confident that I'd find some today.

But, the eagles had other ideas. I think it may have been too cold, or the water too rough to fish. I was able to see a couple of ducks and plenty of seagulls (of course, and no-I didn't feed any). The eagles, however, stayed away. I guess this was a good thing since on the way from the parking lot to the edge of the water drained the camera battery. I was only able to get a few pictures before it completely died.

Back to the car, Lyra, Andy and I walked (quickly) and set the GPS for our next destination. Yup, Wisconsin Dells. But instead of taking the interstate we decided on the road less traveled and took back roads which was supposed to be only 1/2 hour longer.

Road trips with my boys are quite night and day. With Jimmy a road trip means in-depth discussions of life and story or script ideas, as well as a road trip play list or mystery podcasts. We stock up with snacks, soda, and side trips to fill the time. We stop lots for photos or to check out an interesting land mark. We may even stop for a picnic along the way.

With Andy there is a much more 'business trip' sort of feel. Music is only tolerated until too many commercials come on the radio. CD or Podcast are not allowed. Liquids are kept to a minimum so that we don't need to worry about looking for a bathroom when none are to be found. Our conversation is our entertainment and I love being able to discuss the latest obsession or guess at what people in other cars are talking about or their destination. We both agree we don't like large semi trucks so we avoid them as much as possible.

I don't have a favorite type of trip since both are unique and offer me the chance to connect with my children in a way that I wish I could have connected with my father. 

So - off we were to Wisconsin Dells - backroads all the way - and driving through uncharted area with no idea of landmarks or names of towns. GPS don't fail me now!

We were ready for the fact that we would be on the road for a while and stopped at the first BP we found to fuel and restroom. Snacks were purchased in case we ended up getting lost. Because, even with a GPS I've been known to get into some pretty dicey situations, like the time we were in Canada and the GPS took us through a construction site, or the time in Dubuque when it wanted me to turn right (down the side of a hill), or the time on the way back from the dells when it wanted us to take the ferry - it was winter and the ferry was closed. All of these happened using a GPS - so why are you not surprised when I get lost - even the satellites are against me!

At the gas station Andy was surprised to see a special pump for snowmobiles to use. I'm not sure how if figured snowmobiles got their fuel - but glad that I was able to inadvertently teach him something. He hates when that happens!

Our trip took us past many farm fields. Cows were still out doing their thing even though the temperature outside stated 6 degrees. We traveled through Amish country and saw many horses huddled around each other, their coats were thick and some wore blankets. We decided that a horse or cow is not something we'd like to be reincarnated into....

At one point we passed a farm with Shetland ponies. I said maybe 'lil Sebastian was there, to which Andy pointed out that the ponies were all brown and 'lil Sebastian was white. (Parks and Rec reference for those of you wondering who 'lil Sebastian was).

We went through a couple of small towns I'd like to visit in the summer - they had some nice looking antique stores - Judy - take note!

All the time we spoke of topics that ranged from our memories of getting in trouble in grade school to Andy's need for companionship beyond his mom. The latter is always the hardest discussion, especially during a pandemic with someone that has panic attacks. 

We talked about the possibility of buying Blakes home in Parkway Estates some day - it had a mother-in-law apartment and finished basement. At least it did in the 80's.....it could potentially still be there.

Then things got a little lighter as we spoke about foxes - their habits and habitat's - driving through so many combinations of fields and farms I figured we would see one or two on our way. We kept our eyes peeled - but didn't find any. Andy really enjoys watching the videos from 'Save-a-Fox' in Minnesota. We are hoping he can volunteer there someday. If you have an 'in' let me know.

After many twists, turns, towns and backroads we finally ended up on the main street in the Dells. We parked in the normal spot - not to be disclosed here because there is always a parking spot and I don't want to give up my secrets. Hopped out of the car and took a stroll on downtown Wisconsin dells. We were happy to see that the majority of the stores had made it during the pandemic and some new ones were getting ready for spring. The Italian restaurant is now a Mexican one, I'm looking forward to trying that place out. The Escape room could be booked for private parties, Wisconsin Dells Mining company was still ready for gold miners, and the haunted house that to this day scares me was still operating.

The wind on the street wasn't too bad, but the temperature was keeping people home - except for a mom, her son and their little corgi. We were actually the only people on the street - I was tempted to jump into one or two of the small open shops to warm up, but figured I would end up paying for everything that was at corgi height, so we continued on.

We crossed the street and headed back towards the car, past laser tag, candy shops, t-shirt shops with the latest Meme on their front - yup - Bernie was already on the shirts displayed. Andy noted that the signs of 'yes, we have spinners' was replaced with 'yes, we have face masks'. Signs of the times, I guess.

Once in the car we headed to our second traditional stop. Great Wolf Lodge. Great Wolf has been Andy's favorite vacation destination, second only to Pittsburgh, for the majority of his life. I guess it makes him feel at home and brings back many good memories of family vacations.

Great Wolf  had patrons, but not nearly as many as normal. Lyra behaved well for a corgi that had a 'service animal' vest on. I got a few smiles but no request to leave. The lobby had been completely emptied and plexi glass was now covering the front desk area. This made Andy sad, but thoughtful. This would lead to another discussion on the way home about how he would like to move to the Dells some day, what that would mean, how he would need support and a place to work. We don't discount any idea, I know of many people worse off than Andy who have made the connections and have been successful, it just leads towards many more conversations and planning to have this fall into place. I'll be sure to include that as part of my 365 stories. That way others will be able to learn from my experience

Have you noticed that I haven't mentioned eating? Well, that's because at this point we haven't. Even though travel snacks had been purchased, Andy has never been one for eating while on the road. I am not sure why I purchase snacks, I think out of habit. I was able to make a makeshift dog dish out of the frisbee I brought along so Lyra was able to eat. She wouldn't have understood why we were starving her.

I was surprised that the traffic heading back towards Milwaukee was actually quite light, which you would think was a good thing, but the problem is, when it is light that gives people who have a 'need for speed' the opportunity to do just that, speed. I set my cruise control for 78 (Speed limit 70) and settled in for the ride back. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky and we were worried about the roads becoming too icy for safety. 

Conversation on the way home was almost completely on the trucks and speeders we met along the way. Every now and then you'd get someone next to you that would give you a dirty look for driving so slow, we would laugh and just continue on, knowing that down the road we'd pass them again (as we always did) all the time driving 78 mph on cruise control. I love being able to teach that lesson.

I had to give the Mazda lots of credit. Through not so nice roads and slippery inclines it traveled true. GPS did not get me lost, and gas mileage was amazing. We pulled back into the garage at about 6:30pm. We had been on the road since 8:30 in the morning. We made five rest stops and aside from the livestock mentioned earlier, saw two red-tailed hawks, numerous coopers hawks, a kestrel, 2 mallards, a slew of seagulls and two bald eagles. 

Andy was patient enough to let me stop and take some photos on the back roads. The day finished with us both texting that we were heading to bed. Andy at 7pm and Lyra and I at 9.