Day 10: The Great Sibling Trip 2017

About Us

            We are a brother (Detroit, MI) and sister (Houston, TX) who love to travel together to parts unknown. This year my sister flew into Detroit and we began our journey West. Stops include Davenport, IA, the Amana Colonies in Amana, IA, Marengo, IA, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, Grand Island, NE, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, several cities in MN including Mankato, MN, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Marinette, WI, Mackinaw City, MI and back to Detroit.

            We are also stopping for selfies and pictures along the way at some very interesting and unusual out of the way places that you will see in the blog. Enjoy!

Fun Facts:

• Total Miles Driven so far: 2,830 
• Average Miles Per Gallon for the entire trip so far: 56.2 MPG
• Average Miles Per Gallon today: 56.9 MPG
• Car being driven: 2016 Prius 4
• Miles Driven Today: 222 Miles
• Weather: Perfect with temps around 80 

     Today was another busy day filled with driving to a new location, driving around to take pictures of houses that our ancestors lived in a long time ago, planting flowers on the graves of our father and his family, searching for geocaches and eating. Also, emotions ran high today between my sister and I. It is tough traveling together for 10 days and not have differences between our opinions of life and our lifestyle at our respective homes. In the end we love each other but when one is far away from home, sometimes you tend to miss home.

Breakfast at the Chat n' Chew in Wisconsin Dells
     Last year we ate breakfast at a place that had really good bacon and we found it again this year. We asked the waitress about the specials and she said they really weren't specials but a la carte items added together. When we got our bill, it looked like she gave us a senior discount!

Me at Myrt and Lucy's Chat n Chew

The booths all have decorations

Now featuring...

Look at that slab bacon!

Non-Specials

Waiting for our food

     

Grave Maintenance

     It is hard to get down on the hard ground and dig up grass and ground that has really gotten a good start. I brought a mini shovel and really had to work at getting the soil loosened so we could plant the magnolias that we bought at the local Menards. After planting, I watered them really well. We are hoping that they get a chance to root and grow with the local rain because there isn't anyone to water them regularly here.

Geocaching

     We did some more geocaching this afternoon. We were 2 for 4 today. Sometimes it is just too hard to look for them. For instance, one took us deep into the woods on a trail and then I had to go off the trail into deep woods for 50 feet. Did I mention that the mosquito's were really thirsty out there? I didn't feel like doing that with shorts so we gave up on it. On another I did go into the woods for a short distance and found the geocache shown below.

In the woods

Sample Geocache

Eating at Mickey - Lu Bar - B - Q

     Ever since I was young, we would stop at Mickey Lu's to get some great burgers. After all these years, it's still in business and still using fresh baked crispy buns, fresh ground beef (ground daily) and the freshest Wisconsin butter, onions, spicy mustard, ketchup and pickles.

     The owner is Chuck Finnessy and he remembers me by name when he sees me. Today was no exception. I first created a web page about them in 1998. Here is the link: http://jldr.com/micklu.html 
     Here are the latest pictures from today. Take a close look at the butter oozing out of the burger. Today I ate 4 burgers for lunch and 3 burgers for supper. I only get these once a year if that so I starve myself the day before so I can eat that many.

Outside Mickey-Lu's

The Menu (Look at those prices in 2017)

The charcoal grill

Yum!

Chuck Finessy (the owner) and me

A funny waitress

Melting slab of butter

Someone wearing a Mickey - Lu's T-Shirt

Day 8: The Great Sibling Trip 2017

About Us

            We are a brother (Detroit, MI) and sister (Houston, TX) who love to travel together to parts unknown. This year my sister flew into Detroit and we began our journey West. Stops include Davenport, IA, the Amana Colonies in Amana, IA, Marengo, IA, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, Grand Island, NE, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, several cities in MN including Mankato, MN, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Marinette, WI, Mackinaw City, MI and back to Detroit.

            We are also stopping for selfies and pictures along the way at some very interesting and unusual out of the way places that you will see in the blog. Enjoy!

Fun Facts:

• Total Miles Driven so far: 2,509
• Average Miles Per Gallon today: 60.4 MPG
• Car being driven: 2016 Prius 4
• Miles Driven Today: 269 Miles
• Weather: Perfect with temps around 90 

     Today was another day filled with driving, searching for geocaches and visiting relatives. Did I mention I'm getting tired of typing these updates? LOL

Several things you notice when you are on a long trip and every night is spent in a different hotel:
     It becomes difficult to remember where your room is, what number it is, what floor it's on and which side of the bed you are sleeping on. The beds seem to face the opposite direction every night and the windows are on the opposite side each night. We tend to leave the bathroom light on and crack the door open in order to figure out where we are when we wake up in the middle of the night having to make a trip to Aunt Susan. Also, the A/C seems to work differently in each room. Amana seems to be the most prominent wall A/C system. Some have a thermostat on the all; others have the temperature on the unit itself; some have digital temperature readouts while others have a rotating dial for "Colder" and "Warmer". Some run a fan constantly while others turn on and off at intervals.
     While I'm mentioning it, the bathrooms have their differences too. Some have an exhaust fan that you can turn on and off while some bathrooms only have some ventilation system we haven't quite gotten used to. Some have heavy doors while others have doors so light you can hear through them.
     Breakfasts? Some have hot breakfasts with some kind of egg and meat along with cereal, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, fruit but almost all of them have the classic waffle making machine that I love. They all have coffee and juice although we just had one place that had a gallon of OJ in a small reefer.
     The most disappointing stay we had was in Candlewood Suites. We paid an arm and a leg for one night in that hotel and we found out it didn't include any breakfast, there was no ice machine and to top everything off, the coffee machine gave us brown water that wasn't even coffee. When we told the front desk, the girl just shrugged. We stayed at hotels that were 1/3 the price but had all the above mentioned items. I don't recommend Candlewood Suites to anyone.

GEOCACHING
     We had some disappointments today trying to find some geocaches. Sometimes they are easy to spot and sometimes they are really tough.
     Today we introduced another cousin to geocaching and she helped us find a geocache that was in the area.
     Pictures of finds are below.

Colorful Car Wash
     We visited the dealer where I bought my car from and they gave me a free car wash to get the prairie dust off. I have to say, it was the most colorful car wash I have ever seen. Look closely and you can see today's mileage (60.4 MPG). This is a shot of the front windshield as the soap was applied.

Colorful car wash soap

Relatives
     Life is so short so we like to visit our relatives. Yesterday and today was filled with laughter, telling stories and good food. Tomorrow we will visit with another relative during breakfast and then head to Wisconsin.

Bad News
     Our cousin in California Emailed us this morning that our favorite restaurant (Schloegels Bay View Restaurant) that serves superb potato pancakes has closed. They served their last meal last weekend. We were really looking forward to eating those potato pancakes. Well we had to see if Mickey Lu Bar-B-Q was still open but they informed us that it would be there forever.

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Eight

     Today was a travel day. We are heading home now and will make the final drive tomorrow. Today we drove from Mankato, MN to Marinette, WI, a total of 403 miles. We set a new miles per gallon record in my sister's Prius. She hit 66 MPG on the last leg! Do you believe it! The Prius is one of the best designed cars I have seen in a long time. Why pay $32,000 for a Volt that has limited range when you can buy a Prius C for $21,000 and get over 50 mpg and go over 450 miles on a tank?

     At one point I saw a cute little outhouse by a house as we zipped by and made my sister turn around so I could photograph it. The pic's are on my other camera so I will add them later to this blog.
     After arriving in Marinette, we visited the graves of my father's family and the flowers we planted there last weekend are doing very well.

Where My Dad and his Family are Buried

Saying Hello to my Dad

      Next we went to Mickey Lu's BBQ and I ordered four (4) double hamburgers and a malt. The waitress couldn't believe it and said she had to watch me eat them. I did!

4 Double Hamburgers with a Malt

Cooking My Double Hamburgers

First One

Fourth Double!

     And this ends today's update. I hope all of you are happy and healthy as you read this...

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Two

     Today we planned an easy day of travel so we covered around 250 miles from Mackinac City, Michigan to Marinette, Wisconsin. There are several reasons why we always stopped in Marinette on our trips to Minnesota; Food and Relatives.
     But first, let's update you on the clown car. Today I became a believer in the Toyota Prius. Look at this!

Our Mileage!

     As we drove, our mileage just kept going up until we peaked at 62.5 MPG. It only peaked there because we arrived at our destination but I firmly believe it would have gone up higher! Let me tell you two quick stories while at the gas pump. The first time we gassed up was yesterday and we waited and waited while the woman in front of us filled her car. Finally the pump in front of her opened up so I pulled in front of her and filled the Prius. 4.6 Gallons! We got in, drove away but stopped to fill out our car paperwork and when we looked back, she was STILL filling her car! The second story was today. We filled up again and it only took 4.5 gallons. A big Harley pulled in and I asked the guy what kind of mileage he got. He smiled and said 35 MPG. I smiled and said well, we're getting over 60 MPG in that car and then drove away leaving him staring at the car...LOL
     Keeping with tradition, if I see a usable Outhouse, I will stop and take a picture of it and use it. Here is the one we found today. It was actually clean and smelled like fresh wood. It also sported a toilet seat that closed itself slowly when you lowered it. Sweet!

The Self-Closing Toilet Seat

     This Outhouse was next to a waterfall. Here's that picture...

A View of The Waterfall

     Once in Marinette, we went to the city park where we used to camp and then on to the cemetery where our father is buried. His whole family is buried there as well. When we arrived, we noticed the graves had weeds growing in front. We cleaned them out, bought flowers and planted them in front of each family member. Here's my dad's before and after pic's...

 

Before

     Next on the list was food. For years we all went to Mickey Lu's BBQ for the best hamburgers in the world. Chuck Hennessy still owns the place and he still cooks the burgers on an open pit charcoal grill. Wow! They are great. Here's a video of Chuck grilling burgers. I don't think he has any hair left on his arms! 

     You can't get fries there but you can get Brats, Hot Dogs and Burgers. Today I tied my record and had 2 burgers and 3 double burgers! The best! 

     

Me in front of Mickey-Lu's

     Last on the agenda was to go to the park next door to our hotel to take in the first annual Rock Island Music Festival. There were quite a few bands that played and it was very entertaining.

Bridge to the Island

 The 1st Band Playing

 The 2nd Band Playing

     Finally, there are the coolest bronze action statues on the river. They depict a couple of boys having some swimming fun and I could just imagine my dad jumping off that rock to go for a swim. The boy below who is jumping is somehow attached to the rock but when you look at it, you wonder how in the world they attached a heavy bronze boy to the rock. Take a look below.

That could have been my dad years ago

     And so that ends day two of our journey. Tomorrow we will be heading to Stillwater, Minnesota. My gr. gr. grandfather and also my great grandfather ran a local brewery there and we plan to try and find where it was. See you tomorrow...