The Baseball Trip 2012 / Day 2

Friday, July 27

Day 2 is just a travel day, so no pressure to be anywhere particular at any given time. We are on our way to Minneapolis, taking in the sights. There is a giant pink elephant in DeForest, WI, in the parking lot of a Shell Station. I don't know why. But you can buy T-shirts and other memorabilia related to this monstrosity inside the station. If you want. Here are 3 different views of the pink elephant, just because.

Why is he wearing glasses? I don't know that either. We are a nation of noise and junk.

We also took a spin through downtown Madison for grins. Here's a really nice shot of the Capitol Building. I jumped out of the car in the middle of the street to get this shot. Luckily, nobody got hurt.

Random observation from Randy:

"It's fun to taunt people."

Favorite sign: Grandpa's Gun Shop

Favorite Town Name: Token Creek

Hey! Another Ron Paul Sign!

Random observation from Randy:

"That place is called The Woodshed. I wonder what goes on in there."

We took the free ferry across Lake Wisconsin so we wouldn't have to drive the whole circumference of the lake. It only took ten minutes, but it probably saved us a half hour in curvyness. Like we care. It's just an excuse to take a ferry. Do you blame us?

Here comes the ferry.

We end up camping at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park in Nerstrand, MN. These tough guys don't cotton to no stinking fire bans. Here's your damn wood and I hope you burn down the state. We get to stare at flame!

Another Ron Paul sign! A grand opening for a chiropractor!

Ron Paul-3

Grand Opening -1

County Fair - 0

Random observation from Randy:

"Do Wisconsin people know what grits are? I think this is going to be our first grit-less trip ever."

The Baseball Trip 2012 /Day 1

Thursday, July 26

There are only two rules on the Baseball Trip:
1) No interstate highways.
2) No chain restaurants.
Everything else is up for grabs.

This will be a long trip.The plan is to find a campground west of Milwaukee, ride into town to see a Brewers game, and zip back to the camp that night. Then on to Minneapolis and the long trek to Denver to see the Rockies. And, oh yeah, my son who lives in Ft. Collins. After that, across the heartland to Kansas City and St. Louis, and then home. About 10 days on the road. Nonetheless, it will be well worth every mile because we intend to stop at every Little House on The Prairie historical site we run into. We means me and my friend Randy. Randy navigates and makes random observations.

Random observation from Randy:
"We are going to see a lot of flatness."

There are always many large things to photograph, many weird signs and strange town names to note, and many interesting people to visit. To occupy the time in between, we like to count things. In previous trips we have counted war memorials, Wal-Marts, cemeteries, women on riding mowers...all symbols of death. This year we are counting these three signs of the apocalypse:

-Ron Paul signs
-County Fairs
-Grand openings.

All fun, in a depressing sort of way.

And oh yes, there will be a lot more pictures to wade through because my friend Steve Leyva said, "When are you leaving? I want to read the blog and I want to see lots of pictures. (He's a visual learner.)

Everywhere we ride, there is nothing but brown lawns and raggedy corn. I understand it's supposed to be as high as an elephant's eye by this time of year, but no luck.  The plan is to find a campground west of Milwaukee, somewhere in the Kettle Morraine. We found a nice spot at Ottawa Lake State Park, but considering the drought, the whole damn state of Wisconsin has an open fire ban. The hypnotic flame effect is our favorite part of camping, but we lose.

Random observation from Randy:
"I guess our entertainment will have to be beer."

Ron Paul for president sighting!

We drove  into Milwaukee later that evening to see the Brewers take on the Washington Nationals. The Brewers were riding a six game losing streak. Oops. They get hammered, 8-2. Make it seven in a row.The park is nice and the weather is cool. Temps have lowered to the mid-seventies. Also, My brother-in-law, Walt Sweitlik, is a bigshot in Wisconsin and he got me free tix from his company. Pretty cool.

OK. Here's pictures:

Wacky Wisconsin tailgaters.

Outside Miller Park.

From center field.

From left field.

Favorite sign:  Beef Village

Favorite Town Name: Wandawego, WI

More tomorrow.

Oh wait....me with Bernie Brewer, team mascot. Bernie shoots down a two-story slide whenever the Brewers hit a home run. (You can see the yellow slide in the second picture.) He used to land in a mug of beer, but not any more. They must have thought that was inappropriate. You know, for a stadium named Miller Park.