The weekend of September 7 & 8 - Baraboo, WI

     Were it not for the blistering heat, biking through central Illinois would seem to be pretty easy; the highest elevation we saw from Springfield to the Wisconsin border may have been 50 feet!  Describing the scenery similarly presents no challenge.  Corn.  Corn.  Soybeans.  More corn.
     Getting to Wisconsin, rolling hills started appearing that were dotted with trees.  The corn was still there, but at least there was some variety to the landscape.  Outside of a few rest stops, plus a stop at the Camping World near Madison for another propane fill-up, it was a pretty boring 314 mile drive for the day.
      Around 4:30 we arrived at my brother Kermit's house in Baraboo, WI.  For those who don't know him, he's a really nice guy who has managed some incredible challenges over the past 4 years.  His wife Dorothy went into the hospital for a routine procedure, and while there had an aneurism that has put her in a coma ever since.  Kermit has visited her virtually ever day since then at the wonderful long term care/nursing facility where she is ("Tivoli" in Portage Wisconsin).  They had 2 teenagers still at home then, down to one now.  It really is a tragic situation, particularly where she seems to respond to conversations and his attentiveness.   No one really knows, however, if she is cognizant of what is happening around her.  We accompanied him on his visits while we were there; he certainly is a hero to us for the loving care and compassion he demonstrates.
    After the visit, Kermit took us out for a nice steak dinner, and we spent the rest of the evening sitting around talking until we retired to the RV and air conditioning!  Yes, it was still hot and humid, and we felt sorry for the dogs.  Right.
    Oh, forgot to mention-while we were at the Lincoln Museum we saw a life-sized figure on the front porch of the White House that was a dead ringer (other than the amount of hair!) for Kermit.  We think it's supposed to be Col. Joshua Chamberlain of Civil War fame, but we're not so sure!
     On Sunday morning we woke early, found out that (again) our refrigerator wasn't working on propane and in fact we had just about run out from having the air conditioning on all night again.  The decision was made that Becky would accompany Kermit to his church (which has been a wonderful support for him over the past 4 years) and Jim would try to find propane.  That turned out to be a real challenge, but to make a long story short he located a campground in Portage and then met Becky and Kermit at Tivoli for the daily visit to Dorothy.
      In the afternoon Kermit drove us into Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, for a tour.  Madison is quite a beautiful city, being the state capital and home of the University of Wisconsin.  It's a great place to drive around and visit, unless the annual Wisconsin Iron Man race is being held in the city.  Which it happened to be Sunday!  Traffic was horrific, with numerous streets blocked off, or down to one lane.  We persevered, and a little after 3:00p went to visit Kermit's daughters Amber and Rachel. They live in the city in an apartment with Rachel's husband Adam.  Didn't see him, as he was with friends enjoying opening day of NFL football.
     If you've never heard of the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, it's definitely worth a visit.  This is a photo of Becky, Amber, Kermit and Rachel at the entrance to the Bolz Conservatory, an indoor tropical conservatory and aviary that is at the entrance to the Gardens.  Very well done, with only a nominal fee for the Bolz and no fee for the outdoor Gardens.  
The photo to the left is of Amber and Kermit observing in the Bolz Conservatory.
     The outdoor gardens are magnificent, even at this time of year when most flowering plants have gone by.  There are many different areas, one of which is a Thai meditation house that was given as a gift by the Univ of Wisconsin Alumni Club of Bankok.  It was designed and built in Thailand, boxed and transported to the US, and then assembled by Thai Craftsmen who were flown into the US and were on one of the last planes that landed on that infamous 9/11 date.
     Dinner was at a local pizza and Italian food restaurant, the "Glass Nickel House", and they have terrific pizza.  Becky, Amber and Jim shared one with some great input from Amber.  In addition to the "usual" ingredients, she suggested adding Ricotta cheese (we had never heard of that before) and it was a great addition!
     We picked up the RV from Tivoli on the way home, and after chatting awhile retired to the RV for the night.