Robin joined Milwaukee PBS television some months back. The most lefty thing she's done in a long time. A few months later I noticed a promotion in the members mailings for a motor coach tour based on one of their popular shows. "Around the Corner with John McGivern" A weekly half hour show on communities in Milwaukee and around the state. Been running for 7 seasons or so. The trip was basically visiting the places he's been to on the show. I can't say we watch is religiously but when we come upon it while channel surfing, we always stop. Its a live, work, play theme and two topics I enjoy. Wisconsin manufacturing history and good bars in the town. It was also in Northwestern Wisconsin which I don't know too much about. To Eau Claire WI and back for 4 days if you get the idea. I never expected to blog again until about 10 minutes into this trip.
I suspected that "motor coach" means "senior citizen" but didn't give it much thought at the time. Later it became apparent but didn't appreciate the unique adventure that it would bring Robin and I on. All the people were wonderful to be with, happy at their place in life, no drama and averaged 85 years old. Some traveling alone and recent widows. That gives you something to think about. They have funny ways about them and I mean no disrespect other than that these things that I'm due for someday struck me as funny today.
Things don't move very fast with a group like this when boarding the bus. Imagine waiting at a gate to board your flight. The call comes for pre-boarding for those who "may just need a little more time", and EVERYONE stands up. Then imagine doing that 4 times a day for 4 days.
Most phones were set to "ring", with the factory installed ring tone and at the highest volume level. A few times in a small group presentation a phone would ring, would be answered and they would start talking to the caller.
The most common word on the trip was "what?"
Many guest would tell you all they know. I didn't know there was so much I didn't need to know that I didn't know.
Q&A after a guided tour usually turned into comment and comment.
On a few occasions when we'd enter a room on a guided tour, the guide would say for example... "This is the malting room" and I'd immediately hear someone say..."Is this the malting room?"
One fellow would from time to time poke others in the small of their backs with his cane and say "gotcha" and laugh.
So I think you get the idea. Here's the story.
We boarded on Monday morning at a north side hotel with a kick off breakfast. Here's Robin at check in. The woman in the back is asking where the bathroom is. Next to Robin off camera is her husband who was telling Robin he's a retired truck driver, today's drivers aren't very good, and he's thinking of getting back on the road. The next words Robin spoke to me were..."You owe me."
A first impression was that eating on a motor coach trip is a big deal. We had a big breakfast buffet and greeting from local historian and the TV show regular John Gurda.
Soon boarded the bus and met our host and driver. Nan and Charlie. They were great. Nan was great for me because she would talk on the PA all trip about what this and that was that we were driving by. I could never get the family to read the AAA Tour Book as we drove around the country over the years so I was in heaven. Charlie was a retired paper mill (Fort Howard) worker from Green Bay who drives part time. His part time right now is three, four day tips to Branson MO this month. "Daniel O'Donnell is playing the Lawrence Welk for a month and its packed." Really? .
First stop was the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. I always looked at CWM as the place where the kids who misbehaved on a Wisconsin Dells trip were sent. I remember misbehaving once with my parents in the 60's.
We were there on Columbus Day and here's old CC himself. Although my California cell phone said it was Indigenous People Day. Not sure how we're going to sort out the slave holding history of some native American tribes but that's for another day.
As a kid I never was all that keen on the circus except one part. The Human Cannon Ball. That guy popping out of that cannon at one end of the Milwaukee Arena and landing in a net at the opposite end amazed me. How did they do it without him turning into a ball of mush? That was cool to see.
Baraboo is also home of the company that makes the Cow Pie.
Then off to central Wisconsin for a tour of a cranberry bog. This was an educational trip so I'll bore you with some facts from time to time. The early settlers called the native growing plant Crane-Berry as the blossom looked like the native cranes that flew around the area. In order, after flooding in the fall, here's the raking to dislodge the fruit, the boom to bring crop to the end of the bog and the guys in the Ocean Spray commercials loading them up.
Owners of the bog, Mary and Phil showed us the dry bogs where fruit is grown and a nice map of WI. The last photo is how they used to do it in the old days.
Pretty much every stop came with a gift shop. Here I'm trying to get to Robin but the gals in the foreground have made the sample table their dinner. Like a said. Eating is big. We did buy some cranberry brats and trying tonight.
Then on to the Mead Hotel in Wisconsin Rapids for the night. Met fellow travelers Joe and Vicki in the bar. They were of the 6 or so people on the coach not 85. Joe is a retired Kenosha farmer and hog wrestler. Only did it once but once is all it takes. He took 19th place out of 100 entrants. Not bad. Apparently Caldron Falls Bar and Grill near Crivitz has a competition every July. Vicki said people can't stand up by mid afternoon. I'm thinking of getting a team together.
The next morning was the introduction of a common motor coach tour ritual. Apparently seniors are brutal on the end of trip surveys. Most common complaint is "I didn't have a good seat". So Nan advised us to board this morning with the driver side folks moving forward 4 rows, except the last three and first. The door side was instructed to move back 4 rows, except the last three. The log jam in the picture happened every morning. Robin moved to the last three for the balance of the trip.
Here's a typical guest. Joe Groh. Nice guy. Retired as Port Washington HS principal in 1998. Good to see Nike is getting all that product out to their target market.
We were expected to head to Rib Mountain in Wausau, but fog caused Nan to go to Plan B. Hsu Ginseng was started by Paul Hsu in 1978 after he graduated from UW with an ag degree. He learned about the ginseng business happening in the area and never went back to Tiawan. More education for you now. It grows in Wausau because of the loamy soil (mix of sand, silt and clay), granite, and being at the 45 parallel. 45th is where all ginseng grows in the world. This was the first point where I thought Robin was going to call an UBER.
Nan told the story of business in Wausau and brought up Employers Insurance of Wausau and their famous ad where a kid is in a spelling bee and spells W-A-U-S-A-U. Nan misspelled it when telling the story.
Then went west to Throp and Marieka Gouda farm and cheese plant. This is the second great immigrant story of the day. Marieka and husband, lets call him Ole, were dairy farmers and cheese makers in The Netherlands. Moved here in 2002 as no land there and tons here. They even name their cows and have fit bits (the cows) on their ankles. Check out the comb over on the Brown Swiss. Should have named him Donald rather than Mics. Last pick is a back scrather that rotates when the cow backs into it. I want one.
They won the prize for the best gouda in the USA recently. Trophy in the middle.
Didn't know this but Cadott WI sits near the mid point of two hemispheres. Northern and whatever east/west one we're in. Marathon County Chamber gave us all a nice souvenir. I wonder if 45x90 Club is like The Mile High one. Some poor farmer kicking couples off his land all summer long.
Last stop of the day was in Chippewa Falls and the Museum of Industry and Technology. Remember I said I like this stuff. Took Robin to the Museum of Steel Making and the United Steel Workers Union in Youngstown Ohio this summer and still paying for it. Decided not to ask her to join the selfie.
So there is a remarkable list of things that were made in "Chippewa" as the locals call it. One of note in the museum was the super commuters of the 70's and 80's by Cray Research. Here's Seymour and I, plus the last one he built for Controlled Data before he went off on his own. 100 miles of wire. You're Ipad can do more today. Sick.
This was one of those moments when the Q&A became comment and comment. The tour guide was talking about these super computers being used for code breaking and one gal announced to our group..."That's the movie where the colored girls were doing all that math." Hadn't heard that one since mom's cleaning lady Edna Knack. I suppose I could write a bog about Edna too.
That night we left the group at the hotel and had dinner with our friends Mike and Carrie Halquist. Mike was also a colleague of mine when I worked at Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve in Madison. They're my heroes. Mike as a soldier and Carrie as an Army spouse. Exemplary. That's a $.75 tap you're looking at inside the famous The Joint in Eau Claire.
The third day was the feature of the trip. Being in a shoot for Around the Corner with John McGivern. He and the crew had been in town all week shooting a show on Eau Claire. First you have to do a brewery tour when in Chippewa. Met the big man himself, Dick Leinenkugel coming out of john. Nice guy. Served in the Marine Corps as did his brother. Says something about their family.
Next we played Kubb. Eau Claire is the North American Capital of this 1000 year old vikings game. Robin was a natural. So good she was telling me what I was doing wrong. Robin and the Championship Trophy.
This was also the place where Nan took a group picture. Asking every to "move in a little bit" caused one of us to break their seal. I heard someone fill their pants, fully.
And now the big moment. Shooting a scene at Court'n House Bar and Grill. (Remember the other thing I like about the show). Bar staff and John flipped and served us burgers. Worth the stop. Sequence is owner Jimbo in foreground while John being filmed flipping at the grill. Serving Robin. Chatting with Robin while crew films his grease fire. Looks a little star struck doesn't she?
That night dinner at the hotel included a show from John. He has a stand up routine mostly about growing up in a large Irish Catholic family on the east side. Very fun. He thinks I'm funny too. I mentioned the perspective about this trip and flying. He shared with the crew in their van that afternoon and all were in tears.
This was the morning we left a man behind. Came back to get poor Richard.
The last day was in the Dells. Toured HH Bennet Studios. Part of the State Historical Society. Wedged between the fudge shops downtown. Never knew it was there but it too would be a place boys who misbehave visit when in The Dells. He's a famous landscape photographer for pics like this one. The image of me is through a 1870 camera.
Our last lunch of the trip was at one of my favorite places. This was another time I though Robin was going to call an UBER. Always a trip with my kids and everyone else's during vacations at Dells or up north.
My childhood memory of The Dells was Fort Dells, Which I learn well into my adult life wasn't a real fort after all. Was actually shocked.
Our last stop of the trip was a tour of the Horicon Marsh. Didn't take any pictures. Did get some more education for you though. The tour guide talked about what a bad mosquito season we all had this summer. I've said it was the worst I can remember but that's just me talking. That's another comment in Q&A by the way. (I'm turning into one of them) The guide said the DNR actually measure things like that with some gizmo. Average count under a set of criteria is 200 bugs. This summer it was 5000. Wow!!
We drove by a goose blind I rent every fall and I made the mistake of pointing it out to Nan who was sitting with me. She asked how I prepare the meat. Not having ever actually killed one yet, I made something up. Maybe I shouldn't tell everything I know.
Well that was it. Think I'm looking for a new traveling companion.
Things don't move very fast with a group like this when boarding the bus. Imagine waiting at a gate to board your flight. The call comes for pre-boarding for those who "may just need a little more time", and EVERYONE stands up. Then imagine doing that 4 times a day for 4 days.
Most phones were set to "ring", with the factory installed ring tone and at the highest volume level. A few times in a small group presentation a phone would ring, would be answered and they would start talking to the caller.
The most common word on the trip was "what?"
Many guest would tell you all they know. I didn't know there was so much I didn't need to know that I didn't know.
Q&A after a guided tour usually turned into comment and comment.
On a few occasions when we'd enter a room on a guided tour, the guide would say for example... "This is the malting room" and I'd immediately hear someone say..."Is this the malting room?"
One fellow would from time to time poke others in the small of their backs with his cane and say "gotcha" and laugh.
So I think you get the idea. Here's the story.
We boarded on Monday morning at a north side hotel with a kick off breakfast. Here's Robin at check in. The woman in the back is asking where the bathroom is. Next to Robin off camera is her husband who was telling Robin he's a retired truck driver, today's drivers aren't very good, and he's thinking of getting back on the road. The next words Robin spoke to me were..."You owe me."
Soon boarded the bus and met our host and driver. Nan and Charlie. They were great. Nan was great for me because she would talk on the PA all trip about what this and that was that we were driving by. I could never get the family to read the AAA Tour Book as we drove around the country over the years so I was in heaven. Charlie was a retired paper mill (Fort Howard) worker from Green Bay who drives part time. His part time right now is three, four day tips to Branson MO this month. "Daniel O'Donnell is playing the Lawrence Welk for a month and its packed." Really? .
First stop was the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. I always looked at CWM as the place where the kids who misbehaved on a Wisconsin Dells trip were sent. I remember misbehaving once with my parents in the 60's.
We were there on Columbus Day and here's old CC himself. Although my California cell phone said it was Indigenous People Day. Not sure how we're going to sort out the slave holding history of some native American tribes but that's for another day.
As a kid I never was all that keen on the circus except one part. The Human Cannon Ball. That guy popping out of that cannon at one end of the Milwaukee Arena and landing in a net at the opposite end amazed me. How did they do it without him turning into a ball of mush? That was cool to see.
Baraboo is also home of the company that makes the Cow Pie.
Then off to central Wisconsin for a tour of a cranberry bog. This was an educational trip so I'll bore you with some facts from time to time. The early settlers called the native growing plant Crane-Berry as the blossom looked like the native cranes that flew around the area. In order, after flooding in the fall, here's the raking to dislodge the fruit, the boom to bring crop to the end of the bog and the guys in the Ocean Spray commercials loading them up.
Owners of the bog, Mary and Phil showed us the dry bogs where fruit is grown and a nice map of WI. The last photo is how they used to do it in the old days.
Pretty much every stop came with a gift shop. Here I'm trying to get to Robin but the gals in the foreground have made the sample table their dinner. Like a said. Eating is big. We did buy some cranberry brats and trying tonight.
Then on to the Mead Hotel in Wisconsin Rapids for the night. Met fellow travelers Joe and Vicki in the bar. They were of the 6 or so people on the coach not 85. Joe is a retired Kenosha farmer and hog wrestler. Only did it once but once is all it takes. He took 19th place out of 100 entrants. Not bad. Apparently Caldron Falls Bar and Grill near Crivitz has a competition every July. Vicki said people can't stand up by mid afternoon. I'm thinking of getting a team together.
The next morning was the introduction of a common motor coach tour ritual. Apparently seniors are brutal on the end of trip surveys. Most common complaint is "I didn't have a good seat". So Nan advised us to board this morning with the driver side folks moving forward 4 rows, except the last three and first. The door side was instructed to move back 4 rows, except the last three. The log jam in the picture happened every morning. Robin moved to the last three for the balance of the trip.
Here's a typical guest. Joe Groh. Nice guy. Retired as Port Washington HS principal in 1998. Good to see Nike is getting all that product out to their target market.
We were expected to head to Rib Mountain in Wausau, but fog caused Nan to go to Plan B. Hsu Ginseng was started by Paul Hsu in 1978 after he graduated from UW with an ag degree. He learned about the ginseng business happening in the area and never went back to Tiawan. More education for you now. It grows in Wausau because of the loamy soil (mix of sand, silt and clay), granite, and being at the 45 parallel. 45th is where all ginseng grows in the world. This was the first point where I thought Robin was going to call an UBER.
Nan told the story of business in Wausau and brought up Employers Insurance of Wausau and their famous ad where a kid is in a spelling bee and spells W-A-U-S-A-U. Nan misspelled it when telling the story.
Then went west to Throp and Marieka Gouda farm and cheese plant. This is the second great immigrant story of the day. Marieka and husband, lets call him Ole, were dairy farmers and cheese makers in The Netherlands. Moved here in 2002 as no land there and tons here. They even name their cows and have fit bits (the cows) on their ankles. Check out the comb over on the Brown Swiss. Should have named him Donald rather than Mics. Last pick is a back scrather that rotates when the cow backs into it. I want one.
They won the prize for the best gouda in the USA recently. Trophy in the middle.
Didn't know this but Cadott WI sits near the mid point of two hemispheres. Northern and whatever east/west one we're in. Marathon County Chamber gave us all a nice souvenir. I wonder if 45x90 Club is like The Mile High one. Some poor farmer kicking couples off his land all summer long.
So there is a remarkable list of things that were made in "Chippewa" as the locals call it. One of note in the museum was the super commuters of the 70's and 80's by Cray Research. Here's Seymour and I, plus the last one he built for Controlled Data before he went off on his own. 100 miles of wire. You're Ipad can do more today. Sick.
This was one of those moments when the Q&A became comment and comment. The tour guide was talking about these super computers being used for code breaking and one gal announced to our group..."That's the movie where the colored girls were doing all that math." Hadn't heard that one since mom's cleaning lady Edna Knack. I suppose I could write a bog about Edna too.
That night we left the group at the hotel and had dinner with our friends Mike and Carrie Halquist. Mike was also a colleague of mine when I worked at Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve in Madison. They're my heroes. Mike as a soldier and Carrie as an Army spouse. Exemplary. That's a $.75 tap you're looking at inside the famous The Joint in Eau Claire.
The third day was the feature of the trip. Being in a shoot for Around the Corner with John McGivern. He and the crew had been in town all week shooting a show on Eau Claire. First you have to do a brewery tour when in Chippewa. Met the big man himself, Dick Leinenkugel coming out of john. Nice guy. Served in the Marine Corps as did his brother. Says something about their family.
Next we played Kubb. Eau Claire is the North American Capital of this 1000 year old vikings game. Robin was a natural. So good she was telling me what I was doing wrong. Robin and the Championship Trophy.
This was also the place where Nan took a group picture. Asking every to "move in a little bit" caused one of us to break their seal. I heard someone fill their pants, fully.
And now the big moment. Shooting a scene at Court'n House Bar and Grill. (Remember the other thing I like about the show). Bar staff and John flipped and served us burgers. Worth the stop. Sequence is owner Jimbo in foreground while John being filmed flipping at the grill. Serving Robin. Chatting with Robin while crew films his grease fire. Looks a little star struck doesn't she?
That night dinner at the hotel included a show from John. He has a stand up routine mostly about growing up in a large Irish Catholic family on the east side. Very fun. He thinks I'm funny too. I mentioned the perspective about this trip and flying. He shared with the crew in their van that afternoon and all were in tears.
This was the morning we left a man behind. Came back to get poor Richard.
The last day was in the Dells. Toured HH Bennet Studios. Part of the State Historical Society. Wedged between the fudge shops downtown. Never knew it was there but it too would be a place boys who misbehave visit when in The Dells. He's a famous landscape photographer for pics like this one. The image of me is through a 1870 camera.
Our last lunch of the trip was at one of my favorite places. This was another time I though Robin was going to call an UBER. Always a trip with my kids and everyone else's during vacations at Dells or up north.
Our last stop of the trip was a tour of the Horicon Marsh. Didn't take any pictures. Did get some more education for you though. The tour guide talked about what a bad mosquito season we all had this summer. I've said it was the worst I can remember but that's just me talking. That's another comment in Q&A by the way. (I'm turning into one of them) The guide said the DNR actually measure things like that with some gizmo. Average count under a set of criteria is 200 bugs. This summer it was 5000. Wow!!
We drove by a goose blind I rent every fall and I made the mistake of pointing it out to Nan who was sitting with me. She asked how I prepare the meat. Not having ever actually killed one yet, I made something up. Maybe I shouldn't tell everything I know.
Well that was it. Think I'm looking for a new traveling companion.
Tim loved your description of the trip. You and Robin learned a lot of stuff. Stuff most people will never know.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, Dad! See, I can read.
ReplyDelete