Yearly Archives: 2016

Mid-Continent Railway Museum

[I visited in 2014 and these pictures are from that time. The same day I visited Mid-Continent Railway Museum I also visited Natural Bridge State Park and Dr. Evermore’s Forevertron.]

Wisconsin Historical sign at Mid-Continent Railway Museum

Our trip to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum actually started with breakfast at the Railroad Inn Cafe in North Freedom, WI. I only mention this because I wanted to warn you that if you go and order the pancakes they are larger then the plate so don’t order as many as you would if they were a more normal size. The railroad theme and decorations were also a great primer for the museum.

A crossing tower. Someone would be in there watching traffic and trains to know when to drop the gate across the road to keep traffic from crossing the tracks.

It was a gorgeous day and there was a surprising amount to see. If you are at all interested in train cars I highly recommend making the trip to North Freedom. You can even ride on a train (7 miles round trip) down a restored rail line.

Lots of history at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum

A highlight for me was the restored Pullman “fish car”. This car was used by the DNR to restock fish in lakes and streams. It has fish tanks in it. Although we couldn’t actually go inside of it we were able to look through windows. The idea of a train car full of fish makes me smile.

Changing direction at Mid-Continent Railway Museum

The museum has a very informative website. There is also a Wikipedia page about the museum.

North Freedom Depot at Mid-Continent Railway Museum

Natural Bridge State Park

[I visited in 2014 and these pictures are from that time.]

The arch at Natural Bridge State Park

Natural Bridge State park is a small park between Sauk City and Baraboo. It is home to Wisconsin’s largest natural arch. I stopped there to take the short hike to see the arch and find a geocache. Archeologists have found proof of humans being here thousands of years ago. If you are in the area it is worth a stop and short hike.

Vandalism at the Natural Bridge State Park arch.

You can find out more at the DNR and Wikipedia.

My First Montana Rodeo

Sadie and I were able to attend the opening night of the Northern Rodeo Association (NRA) Finals at the Butte Civic Center on October 6th. It was my first rodeo! (It was also two for one admission night which is always a plus.) There were cowboy hats, cowboy boots, a rodeo clown and even a proposal in the crowd (she said yes). The lighting wasn’t working for my camera. My pictures are quite dark so I am only going to add a few of them. Click for a link to a YouTube video of a bull ride (not taken by me but we were only a few rows up from this vantage point).

Cowgirl making a turn while participating in barrel racing.

There were men’s and women’s divisions. A few events even had a junior division. Events included bareback riding, steer wrestling, breakaway roping, tie down roping, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, roping and the main event: bull riding! I liked the steer wrestling. A steer would be let loose and a little later the cowboy would chase on his horse, jump off while grabbing the cow and wrestle it down. I looked it up and the animals are around 500 lbs.

A contestant returns to his horse after completing a tie down roping rodeo challenge.

Bull riding was my other favorite event. Nobody was seriously hurt on the night I was there but there were a few close calls. I think this will be a sport I will watch and not ever try. Some of the contestants were college students from around Montana.

The prize for the best bull rider

I also wanted to share some of the bronco and bull names because they are a lot of fun. Some of my favorite bronco names are Joe Dirt, Triple Respect (there was also a Double Respect), Fun Hater, Lights Out, Slim Shady, Deal or No Deal and Beaver Milk. My favorite bull names were Fender Bender, Olaf and Nut Cracker.

A cowboy hanging on to the bull at the Northern Rodeo Association finals.

I would definitely go to another rodeo. I would like to see one outside in the summer. That sounds like a nice evening out.

Krakow, WI – Poland in Northeast Wisconsin

In May 2014 I was traveling to De Pere (for my brothers college graduation) from Stevens Point. I took the long way and stopped in Krakow, WI. In 2011 I had studied abroad in Krakow, WI so I wanted to see how they compared. Here are some pictures of the Krakow without the castle. Much of the Polish past could be seen in the church and cemetery.

Welcome to Krakow, WI

Old Schoolhouse in Krakow

Church in Krakow, WI. The words say “Kosciol Sw. Kazimierza” Kosciol is church and Sw. is like St. as in Saint. So St. Casimir’s Church

Some headstones

Me at the Krakow sign

Dr. Evermor’s Forevertron

[I visited in 2014 and these pictures are from that time.]

Dr. Evermor’s Forevertron is a sculpture park between Sauk City and Baraboo. It is very cool and completely unexpected. They have a website here. The pictures do not do the place justice and there is so much to see. When I went there was even an active geocache which gave our exploring a focus.

Hiking at Humbug Spires

In July I had the chance to hike at the Humbug Spires Recreation Area with my girlfriend. It was a beautiful day and the the 25 mile drive from Butte to the trail head was pleasant until we got to the washboard gravel roads. A Toyota Camry wasn’t designed for it but we survived, although the CD we were listening to did not. That’s Montana roads for you. There was also a fallen tree near the parking lot so we could only get so close, but I just thought of it as bonus hiking.

Butterfly at Humbug Spires

Trail at Humbug Spires near Butte

The trail was 3 miles one way to the foundations of a prospectors cabin. I am not sure how old this is as there was not a lot of signage. The area is popular with mountain climbers but we did not see any on the day we went. It was a Monday so that might have something to do with it. There were some small hills to overcome, but otherwise the trail was pretty easy. There are lots of rock formations. The area is part of the Boulder Batholith.

The Wedge formation at Humbug Spires

Cabin foundation at the end of the trail

This was a nice hike and it was also close to Butte. I am certain I will be going there again. The above cabin foundation at the end of the trail was a great place to picnic and think about what living here back in the day would have been like. Get outside and find something new near you!

Evel Knievel Days 2016 – Butte, MT

Evel Knievel was born and raised in Butte, MT. Every year they hold an Evel Knievel Days festival featuring stuntmen, motocross, bmx shows, base jumpers and even a flying snowmobile (sorry I didn’t catch a picture of the last one).

Here is Geoff Aaron doing his trials bike show. He climbed over all of these obstacles for about 20 minutes without putting a foot down on the ground. Pretty impressive!

: Geoff Aaron at Evel Knievel Days 2016

: Geoff Aaron at Evel Knievel Days 2016

There were also base jumpers. We watched the lift go up and up and up over the Original Mine Yard. Not for the faint of heart!

: Base Jumping in Butte

: Way to scary for me to ever do!

The festivities included Evel Kross on a course made earlier in the week. Although it was only 5 laps most people, especially the amateurs, looked exhausted by the end of it. A few had trouble getting over the tires.

: Up and over the tires for Evel Kross 2016

: Making it look easy at Evel Kross 2016

There was also a downhill mountain bike course and a pedal drift trike course. Continue reading →

Go to Glacier National Park

My girlfriend and I spent 3 nights at Glacier National Park in early July. If you haven’t been you should really make plans to go. The park was gorgeous and we did some hiking on all days except the day we left. We ended up doing part of the Lake McDonald trail, the Logan Pass to Hidden Lake Overlook, Avalanche Creek trail, and the Highline from Logan Pass to the Loop via Granite Chalet and the Grinnell Glacier Overlook. Along the way we saw beautiful views, many animals (no bears though) and some nice plants.

Entry sign to the west side of Glacier

Lake McDonald is a large, glacially formed lake on the west side of Glacier National Park. It has a few campgrounds around it’s perimeter. We took a short hike along the west side of the lake. A large forest fire swept through the park in 2003. You could tell on the hike where the forest fire ended.

: Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park

: Can you tell where the forest fire line is?

Below are some pictures from Logan Pass to Hidden Lake Overlook. Continue reading →

I quit my job. My last day was Wednesday (Star Wars Day – May the Fourth be with you). As time went on I realized I wasn’t interested in climbing to the next rung of the ladder so the drive and energy was hard to maintain month after month. Working just for the money can be a real grind long term.

I am going to miss the people I worked with at my old job in Middleton. I made a lot of friends and met a lot of cool people over the three and a half years I worked there. I also had the opportunity to help mentor others which was rewarding. Some of those I mentored in turn started to mentor others which is neat to see.

I learned a lot about the insurance industry and saw how hard work can pay off. This was my first “real job” after college and it was a great introduction to the real world. I did well and managed to pay off my student loans last fall which made my current life change possible.

I had been thinking about leaving for about a year or so. The timing I picked worked out well. My apartment lease was up, my girlfriend is finishing up grad school next week, the weather is turning from spring to summer, and I have a round trip ticket to Athens and not enough vacation days.

Future Endeavors
(My previous employer always sent polite notification emails to the rest of the team when people left wishing the departing employee “best of luck in their future endeavors)

Plenty of time for coloring now that I am unemployed.

My immediate plan is tagging along on a 2 week vacation to Greece with my girlfriend and her friend. I do have some other things I would like to do as time goes by. Last year I earned my motorcycle license and bought a small motorcycle so I hope to get some miles in on that. I also plan to kayak and bicycle and enjoy the weather. I look forward to seeing more of my parents and other family members.

The next step is to wait until my girlfriend finds a job and look for something wherever she ends up. I moved back to Horicon to live with my dad to keep the rent low and stretch my savings if I have to while the job search is happening. I know that this change will be a net positive (if not financially then at least where happiness is concerned).

I am excited about the next adventure and hope to share more with you. But if the past is any indication any sharing will be sporadic at best!

2015 Recap & Previewing 2016

I figured with the new year’s holiday it would be a good time to recap 2015 and look ahead to 2016.

2015 Recap

On October 2nd, 2015 (IndeBrendence Day) I paid off my student loans. I graduated in May 2012 with about $26,000 in debt. I am pretty please with the speed in which I paid it off. A lot of this was me putting most of my work bonus towards it. When I first started paying it off I was paying over $3 a day in interest or close to $100 a month. Once I saw that I knew that they had to go.

I signed up for a motorcycle course and got my license in the fall. I also purchased a small dual sport bike (Yamaha XT225 in case you were wondering). This was definitely a splurge. I only rode it a few times (including on Christmas Eve) but hope to put some miles on next summer. My dad and brother ride as do many of my extended family.

I bought a plane ticket to Rwanda to visit my brother who is a Peace Corp volunteer there. I haven’t seen him since fall 2014. I am leaving in about two weeks with my Dad and two family friends. The plan is to spend two weeks exploring the country. I am really excited!

I took a relaxing trip with my girlfriend to the Apostle Island area of Wisconsin. This was the second year in a row of vacationing around Lake Superior. The big water must have a hold on me. We stayed on Madeline Island and in Bayfield. We took a kayaking trip that was a lot of fun. We also went to Big Top Chautauqua for a concert. I highly recommend that if you are in the area.