Circus World Museum - Baraboo, Wisconsin - Lot's of Photos!

July 6, 2017

Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin - Part one

(Remember, you can click on any photo to enlarge it - Enjoy!)

Circus World Museum was everything I had hoped it would be. In our quest to do everything we can while anchored in one area, we decided to go to the "Circus World Museum" in Baraboo, Wisconsin which was about an hour and ten minutes away from the KOA in Hancock, Wi.

In a word the museum and big top were "brilliant."  The price of admission was $37.00
(one senior and one adult ticket). Plus we had lunch on the grounds and bought a few postcards so we added another $18.00 to our tally but, overall it was a great day at a reasonable price.

The ticket entitles you to the museum where they have the largest collection of restored circus wagons in the world. There are hundreds of original circus lithograph posters too. But the piece de resistance is the real live circus performances under the big top.

This is a very worthwhile and unique experience. If you are in the area of Baraboo, it's well worth spending a half day or so there.

I will let our pictures and videos do the talking.

The largest collection of Restored Circus Wagons on the planet! Get ya some that!

Pawnee Bill (click me

New wagons were commissioned to carvers during the winter months while Ringling was wintering in Baraboo. The performers would work on their acts and new acts would audition there.

The Royal American Shows Gavioli Band Organ

Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and girls, Welcome to the Big Top!

Stay tuned for part 2, I need a faster connection to edit and post our videos.

July 4th & 5th - Wisconsin State Park Exploration - Picture heavy

July 4th and July 5th 2017,

Happy July 4th to our readers. This is a day for family and reflection. Martha and I are taking a leisurely morning to drink coffee and to write in journals and plan our day. Sitting here in the campground watching all of the campers wake and come out to see what their day looks like. We both like watching people and especially the young kids having fun at the campground.

We decided to visit some nearby State Parks today. First on the list was "Roche-A-Cri" state park near Friendship, Wisconsin.  While on our way we passed a rock formation called "Ship Rock."

Ship Rock is a rock edifice out in the middle of the sand plains of Wisconsin. The sand plains were originally "Pine Barrens."  The barrens are largely gone due to extensive farming in this area. This bit of sandstone bluff was left behind by the glaciers. Geologists say that the top of this rock was above the glacier during the ice age.

"Roche-A-Cri Mound" meaning "rock with a crevice" contains old growth pine and oak trees. The "mound" is the remains of a Cambrian sandstone mesa rock outcrop and was one an island in a sea of glacial ice. The summit of the mound is about 300' above the adjacent sand plains that surrounds it. Looking at it from the plains below it has a large cleft in the south face and a flat top. It was a landmark for early settlers who used it as a guide post. Native American petroglyphs and pictographs at the base of the southern face.

There were petroglyphs on the south face of the mound.

The petroglyphs were presumed to have been carved into the sandstone by an unknown group of Native Americans

Martha climbed the three hundred stairs the top of the mound while I stayed back with Jack our 14 year old Dachshund.  She too the following photos on her way up and back down again. 

 

 I have mixed feelings about Wisconsin State Parks (no, we haven't stayed in one yet). The state has gone the extra mile to keep the parks as natural and pristine as possible. However, the camping areas are to small for big rigs and limbs are also too low for them. I'm guess that this is probably done on purpose.

Another thing that strikes you right away is the lack of modern amenities such as power at the camping sites. In fact there is no water at the campsites either. This results in your hauling in water. There are water spigots dispersed about but if you are there for more than a few days you will need to haul water to your rig.  

The pads are all gravel. No surprise or big deal with this bit. Most of them are level and have a fire pit. 

At Roche-A-Cri the no impact thing encourages the production of biting insects. We were assaulted by mosquitos, black flies and no see ems. This is largely due to the undergrowth of the forest being left intact no doubt to aid the eco system. I have a different take on this. My contention is that that understory not only produces annoying insects in abundance but it presents a large fire hazard.  Which would you rather assume liability for: A devastaing fire that closes the park. Or, the fact that west nile disease is a real possibility for those that choose to camp there? Sorry for that rant but this is why we won't be using a Wisconsin State Park anytime soon unless it's a one night stay.

If you choose to visit this park be prepared to deal with frequent spraying of deet based bug spray or you will become a succulent target quickly. 

More later

Our One Month Full Time Anniversary - Drain Line Issues - Visitors - Winery

July 1, 2017

Our One Month Anniversary On The Road

Well, we just hit our first milestone. One month in our rolling home. It has been a learning curve for certain but I think both Martha and I are settling in now. Occasionally we still find that we need to move things around for convenience sake but I think we are pretty much satisfied with where we have put things. So, tomorrow begins our second month on the road.

Drain Leak

Three days ago I discovered a substantial leak above our fresh water tank in the basement of the coach. This leak has been on-going for some time given the condition of the floor in the area. It is also a leak that is above my pay grade. We have called a mobile RV tech to come look and give us some possible remedies. We'll see if we can afford his fix or whether I am going to have to take it on.

Visitors

We hosted Dan and Alex (Martha's brother and one of his daughters) on Thursday evening. The were on their way to Des Moines to see Martha's sister Beth and her family,

They made a special effort to come see us. I fixed ribs and corn on the cob and Martha made Potato Salad (her Mom's recipe). It was a nice afternoon and evening visiting with them.

Winery 

Today, we are headed out to do some winery tours and need to make a quick visit to Lowes in Stevens Point, Wisconsin and while out we went to "Burr Oak Winery"

Not much else to report today so I will update y'all later.

Keep on, keepin on.

Quick List - Observations on Wisconsin and RV life

1.  Buying something means you have to fix it.   I keep forgetting this when I think we've found freedom.
2.  Wisconsin is cold in June.  I didn't expect this.  I'm not overly upset, but really have I been in the south that long?
3.  Texas and Florida RV parks book up fast for the winter season.  Seriously.  It's not even July and most of the places we've contacted are booked.
4.  We still don't know what to do between August and December.  It's going to be fun to figure it out.  I hope.
5.  Who knew that there was a cult in Wisconsin?  It seems so not-crazy here.
6.  Except for the beer and sausage.  It's scary how much beer and sausage there is here.
7.  And what is up with the Friday Fish Fry?  It's everywhere.
8.  I like spending a little time with a home base.
9.  Next month I promise to actually pay attention to my budget.
10.  I really don't miss having regular TV like I used to.

Queen of the Holy Rosary Mediatrix of Peace Shrine - With Photos

***Updated on June 27 with additional information**

First of all, if you are a super-religious conservative Catholic, you might want to skip this post.  There may be a bit of cynicism mixed in.

Chuck's and my plan for today was to drive to New Lisbon, Wisconsin and taste wines at Burr Oak Winery.  Because we are determined to see every little thing that catches our eye, we were stopping at Historical Markers and other sights along the way.

Approaching the town of Necedah, Wisconsin we saw billboards advertising the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mediatrix of Peace Shrine.  This intrigued me.  Partly because of the thought of a shrine...I don't think I've ever been to one (in the US, maybe in Vietnam)....and partly because the use of the term Mediatrix was so unusual.

(Wikipedia tells me "In Roman Catholic Mariology, the title Mediatrix refers to the intercessory role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvific redemption by her son Jesus Christ, and that he bestows graces through her. Mediatrix is an ancient title that has been used by a number of saints since at least the 5th century.")

So, when the turn-off to the shrine appeared, we turned.  We drove up to a fenced compound with various statues and shrines in it.  We walked up to the Information Building and at the door was a notice that women needed to be dressed "modestly" in order to enter.  We went into the building...just in time to hear the end of a conversation between one of the staff and a visitor about the miracles that had occurred there.  I picked up a brochure and said hello to the other staff member and asked if we could just walk the grounds.  He said yes so off we went.

The first thing we ran across, after the stations of the cross down the sidewalk, was a shrine to Mary along with a plaque.

"OUR HOLY MOTHER.  Queen of the Holy Rosary, Mediatrix of Peace, has bestowed her special graces on the SACRED SPOT for those who here venerate and ask for intercessions.  This cross is a particle of the original marble from the SACRED SPOT."

Next to that was an area where silence was requested because it was THE SACRED SPOT.

Moving into the fenced area, we found a series of shrines to various saints and biblical figures, including a quite interesting shrine that included George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Jesus.

The shrine that described the original apparition was fairly touching, describing a dove of peace being sent from the Mother to the people, and a white light of love surrounding them.

  

Other shrines were a bit more disturbing, including the one of Archangel Michael

and of Jesus' crucifixion

Chuck left the tour before I finished and went back into the Information Building where he was regaled by one of the volunteers with all of the information this shrine is propagating.  Apparently, Mary is quite interested in politics and the supremacy of the United States.  The apparitions began in the 1950's and reportedly continued until the death of Mary Ann Van Hoof, the woman who was "favored with the heavenly visitations."  Besides wanting love and peace, Mary's requests of Mary Ann included building shrines, and preaching against liberals, communists who were taking over the Church, women who wanted to be anything other than a stay at home mother, drugs, pornography, abortions and people who were unpatriotic.  

Please feel free to read the text of the Shrine Handbook for yourself.  

One of our hopes for our travels was to go to new places and see what's going on in America.  For me, this was a combination of a possibly awesome spiritual experience turned into a political instrument for conservative propaganda.  

**So, as a follow up to my post, I did some research on Newspapers.com about the shrine and about Mary Ann Van Hoof.  Apparently, the Catholic Church rejected Mary Ann's claims of seeing the Holy Mother and felt that her claims were false.  She and her followers were called a cult by the church in the 1970's and were prohibited from receiving sacraments.  She apparently formed her own church and formally severed relations with the Vatican in 1979.  She even formed her own order of nuns.  When she died in 1984, her son Richard Van Hoof vowed to continue her work.

Coloma "Chicken Chew" and "The Dairy Breakfast" - With Photos

Martha and I went to the Chicken Chew in Coloma, Wi. on Saturday evening. It was kind of a bust because it was in the mid 50's and windy. We missed the car show, watched a bit of community volley ball (elimination tournament), had a great Lion's Club rib dinner and we agreed that it was too cold to wait for the fireworks show.

It was a typical small town festival with the bully drunks in wife beaters to the overdressed socialite trophy wife wearing all leather and sporting some upper body surgery.  Kids were everywhere having a blast. Sadly, I only got one photo and will post more when Martha uploads hers to dropbox.

Since there is one chicken missing, does that mean we're "empty nesters?"

The "Dairy Breakfast" was just a cut above the excitement of the "Chew."  At very least we got to see the "Spudmobile,"  I mean, where the heck else would you find one?

This part of Wisconsin grows a lot of potatoes. In fact it grows a lot of strawberries, green beans, carrots, soy beans, peas and cranberries too. But potatoes are the big crop. The breakfast was held at University of Wisconsin Extension Ag Station near Hancock. This is a big deal. There were hands down a lot more folks at the breakfast than we saw at the chew.

My beautiful wife

A view of the festival site outdoors. Lots for the

kids to do.

But the Pancakes, fresh hash browns and ham were the "Piece de resistance."

Blogger wouldn't let me upload this video but,  Check out this link and click on the pancake griddle. I mean who does this?

More from our adventures to follow.