Six Month Recap and Wisconsin

First let me say, Happy Father's Day to all who are dads. May the Lord bless you and shine His face on you.

Secondly, My oh my how time flies! Since January, we have been in twelve states (starting in Texas) and have driven 3400 miles. Our map is getting full. People often ask me which state I like the best. I have a hard time answering that question because each state has its own personality and beauty. Right now, if I were to choose which state I would want to buy a house in, so far it would be between South Dakota (the Black Hills area) and Kentucky (Louisville area). This year has been full of fun and excitement. It was amazing to spend time with family and friends. See the amazing sights the Lord has created and watching Him fill the sky with color. We have had our range from snow, rain, wind and seeing the wonderful sun. It is hard to just pick out one thing that stands out above the rest, but a huge highlight was being able to see the grandsons in March and April. During their spring break, they came to Florida, and we went to Universal, it was humid, and I am glad we were there in April and not July, but all in all, we had a great time. 

Missing the Wisconsin picture.

We enjoyed Wisconsin and were able to go to Madison, see the state capital and eat at a place that has won first place for its fried cheese curds. In the past week, I have eaten cheese curds at the KOA, Petite's Lakeview restaurant (twice), and The Old Fashion Restaurant. Wisconsin is called America's Dairyland for a good reason; they love their cheeses and butters.

State Sign

Our site for last week.

Welcome to Milton KOA

I love this big chair.

Thanks for sitting in it with me, hubby!

Madison is the capital of Wisconsin and the seat of Dane county. Madison is Wisconsin's second largest city, and it lies in the south-central part of the state. It is an isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona. Fun fact: an isthmus is a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between two larger areas of land. 
 
Milwaukee, Sauk, Fox, and Ho-Chunk Nation (Winnebago) (a Siouan people) Native Americans were early inhabitants of the area now known as Madison. Madison was founded by James Doty, a former federal district judge and a land speculator who held large holdings in the area and the city was named for President James Madison, who had died the summer of 1863. Doty persuaded the legislature to make Madison the permanent capital of Wisconsin and to establish a university there. The capital building was quickly begun, and late in 1838 the territorial legislature held its first session in a nearby building. Wisconsin became a state in 1848, and, through the efforts of Leonard J. Farwell, a wealthy businessman from Milwaukee, industries began to locate in the city about 1850 and the railroad arrived in 1854.

The Winterbotham Building is significant to the local history of urban commercial 

architecture and was built in 1879. It faces the state capital.

The state capital.

Didn't realize the flowers are in the shape of a butterfly.

The first recorded inhabitants of the Milwaukee area are the Monominee, Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, Ojibwe (all Algic/Algonquian peoples - meaning: an indigenous language family of North America) and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) (a Siouan people) Native American tribes. Many of these people lived in the Green Bay Area before migrating to the Milwaukee area around the time of European immigration. The name "Milwaukee" means "Good", "Beautiful", and "Pleasant Land". French missionaries and traders first passed through the area in the late 17th and 18th centuries. During the American Revolutionary War, the Indians around Milwaukee were some of the few Indians who remained loyal to the American cause throughout the Revolutions.
 
While in Milwaukee we toured the Pabst Mansion. It is a very beautiful home and if it were to be built today it would cost $30 million dollars. Captain Pabst immigrated from the Kingdom of Prussia when he was a young boy. He started working as a cabin-boy on a Lake Michigan steamer. By the time he was 21, Pabst had earned his pilot's license and was the captain of one of the vessels. Therefore, he is known as a captain. During his time on the vessel, he became friends with Phillip Best, the owner of a small but prosperous brewery founded by his father, Jacob Best in 1844. Pabst married Phillip's daughter, Maria, on March 25,1862. For the next year and a half, Pabst continued being the captain of his vessel until an accident ran the ship aground and was destroyed. Best offered him a career change and Pabst bought half of the Best Brewery. Not only did the brewery grow and become extremely popular, but in 1889, Pabst spent $30,000 to take advantage of prime shoreline along Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, Wisconsin's unique location, just north of the city, by developing a popular lakeshore resort, which he called Pabst Whitefish Bay Resort. Maria ran a German home where only German was spoken, she never wanted to learn English. They had ten children, only five survived to becoming adults. Even all their servants were German. They were also her friends, she added them to her will. Each servant was given a stipend of money that equaled five-year salary.

The Pabst Mansion

Three stories tall, plus and attic and basement.

The formal dinning room with beautiful built-ins.

Captain Frederick Pabst.

The lady's sitting room. Real gold is on the ceiling.

Our Wisconsin photo for the map.

Our visit to Milwaukee wouldn't have been complete without stopping to take a picture with "The Fonz". It was a fun quick stop. We were going to eat at a Road Food Book restaurant but decided to start the journey back to Milton. It was an adventure for sure, for we found a cute restaurant and ate there instead. 

"Heeeeey". As you can tell, it was very windy.

Delafield, Wisconsin - cute little town.

Another new state! Here are the state bird, tree, flower and motto status for Wisconsin. 

 

*Wisconsin: American Robin (Bird), Sugar Maple (Tree), Wood Violet (Flower), and "Forward" (Motto). This became Wisconsin's motto in 1851.

 

As Amelia Earhart said, "Adventure is worthwhile in itself." While this adventure has been amazing, it has come with some ups and downs along the way. New tires, new diesel tank, eating healthy, exercising and a scary fall (boy did I go down). Here let me tell on myself. When we first arrived at the Milton KOA, we set up, we watched the Belmont and then we went to take Gus for his walk. Gus went down the stairs, I started to descend and not sure what happened next. My life went in slow motion, and I fell sideways off the stairs. (I wasn't holding on to the handle, because the leash was in my hand.) Hubby was right there, and he was trying to catch me, but I fell, landed on my left side and praise the Lord, nothing was broken. I do have some nice bruises that are still healing, and my left elbow was cut up and bleeding. Hubby was so sweet, he helped me into the RV, took Gus on his walk and then helped me bandage up. You just never know what will happen next, live your life to its fullest. 

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10 (ESV). 

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control".                  2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

If there is something special you would like me to take a picture of, please let me know!
 
Drop a comment for me and let me know your thoughts on the blog.

God, the RV & me...