June 7

We took time this morning to get the van cleaned out, finish the laundry, and sleep in a bit. The first stop for the day was to the EAA Aviation Center. Though the door said they did not open until 10, Nathan checked and discovered they were already open an hour earlier. We began our tour through the museum until we heard an announcement that the tram would be leaving for the airport. Nathan had been told that they have a program here where children 7-17 can have the opportunity to fly for free with a pilot. So we headed right on over to the airport when they began that program. Taylor, Samuel, and Caleb all had the opportunity to fly a two seater airplane in Oshkosh and log .2 hours of flight. I guess you could say their heads were in the clouds by the time they landed. Caleb says he is going to be a pilot and work here in Oshkosh because he would get to fly an airplane, ride an old moped, and have access to a golf cart. Taylor has added to his bucket list that he too will have a pilot's license which will make it easier to get to his home on Mackinac Island. When I asked him how he intended to finance all of this, he said he was planning on being an engineer still. To which I replied, "You'd better start learning to love algebra!" This was the first time for all three of them to ever be up in an airplane, so we were excited for them to have this opportunity. All three had flights that lasted more than 10 minutes, and the majority of the time they were in the air, they were the ones doing the flying.

We discovered the small town of Red Granite, WI on our way to Burr Oak, IA. We noticed a lot of folks in swimsuits on the side of the road in a large farming area and curiosity got the best of us. There was an old red granite quarry that apparently flooded years ago while they were trying to mine granite. It began filling so quickly that they were unable to get the machinery out, so the locals said the crane is still at the bottom of the quarry. The city decided to turn the new "lake" into a city park, and apparently it is a favorite local swimming hole. However, it sounds like it is also a good place for mischief because people have stolen bikes and thrown them in. People have stolen cars and driven them in. All kinds of unknowns lay at the bottom of this lake, and still the locals jump off of surrounding red granite cliffs into the water. Doesn't sound very intelligent to me (rednecks). Locals say there have been many people who left this lake with broken bones.

Further down the road, Nathan discovered Milty Wilty's 50's  diner where the guys stopped and got old fashioned malts and milk shakes. The younger boys also got a little bit of stretch time out on the old playground.

This part of WI is full of farmland. We are traveling through the central part of the state, but where we have been we really have not seen a lot of cattle. However, the farms and silos are plentiful.

Somewhere betwixt here and there, we discovered ship rock - a rock formation that seemed to just spring up out of the fields. It allowed another opportunity for the guys to get out some pent up energy.

As the sun was beginning to set this evening, we were entering into Minnesota and were greeted by mountains lining the Mighty Mississippi. There are still a lot of barns and silos scattered across the horizon, and I find it humorous that even though Wisconsin is supposed to have as many cows as school children, we only saw one large barn full of cows and a few random herds. Yet barely into Minnesota, we have already seen a dairy farm and several different fields of cattle.

Another thing we have noticed is a lack of creativity when it comes to street names. In Wisconsin shortly after leaving Oshkosk, we saw 7th Ave. In Minnesota we came across 421st Avenue, and as you can imagine we saw everything in between.

Around 9:30 we pulled into Burr Oak. The museum is one tiny little building, and the only thing happening in Burr Oak at that hour was a game of pool at Barney's Bar right next door. We were joking around 8:30 about whose barn we might get permission to sleep in. Now at 10:30 we have driven 15 minutes past Burr Oak and are in Decorah, IA trying desperately to find a place to lay our heads so that we do not have to sleep in the van. I see Nathan gathering towels at the desk now though! What a sweet sight!!