We are planning on driving down the coast of Oregon, along the beach for a couple of days. I've never spent so much time on the beach! It's going to be so much fun. We might even sleep on a beach! I hope there's seafood involved.
I did get to have freshly caught salmon, twice! My brother in law caught it himself. I wish I could go fishing again. The first time was kind of cheating. It was a fish FARM, and I had help!!!
But I had lots of local treats while I was here, including BURGERVILLE, which is a local chain here in Oregon and Washington. Everything's bought locally, like the produce and organic, grass fed beef. Their milkshakes are THE BEST!!!! My favorite is the Mocha Perk, with real ice cream and espresso, but they also have a vanilla ice cream and WHOLE fresh local raspberries.
We stayed with friends who have their own gardens. The place we are at now even has their own chickens! Apparently chickens are very fond of CHEESE! I had no idea. I wish I could have chickens- my friend says she doesn't feel guilty about wasting food anymore- she just gives all the leftovers to the chickens. We fed them handfuls of raspberries we picked right there. We also fed them macaroni and cheese, which I have to say was one of the weirder experiences of my life.
We ate salads that were entirely made from stuff they grew. I am so envious of that. Not that you can't do that in New York- I have a friend who lives in Queens that does the very same thing. And in fact, sometimes she brings them over to share! But the chickens are definitely a unique portland thing.
It is a little bit sad that we had to go to a funeral while we were here. We visited my friend's grandmother in a nursing home and she died while we were there. But it is a little good as well, since she was very very old and sick, and it was kind of a beautiful moment to be part of. We were singing songs like This Little Light Of Mine and Amazing Grace and she relaxed and then she just went... I felt privileged to have been there.
We also went to a wedding and that was lots of fun. We got some window markers (that I am saving for my classroom, of course!) and we drew all over her car! It was in a park and afterwards everybody put on shorts and stuff. It was really funny.
I really like Portland. EVERYBODY recycles, and uses bicycles, and has the same kind of politics I have, and there's GREAT local food! I wouldn't want to leave New York(they have virtually NO arts programs, and they pay their teachers bupkis) but I'd definitely consider spending my summers here.
So On To California!!! I can't wait to go to Ghiradelli Square! That's where they make the famous chocolate! And I think there are crazy pigeons there too. There are pictures somewhere of me and my sister with pigeons landing all over us. I don't think I was more than five.
I am also looking forward to seeing my friend's baby. I haven't met him yet and I think he's more than a year old!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Monday, 7/9/07
So far, this was the best place. De Smet, South Dakota is where Laura lived and wrote Little Town On The Prairie, where her parents would live the rest of their lives. We got to see several houses that they had lived in, which have been preserved as museums, with some of their real belongings and the rest just items from that time or made to look like they were from that time.
We started at the Surveyor's House, where Pa was offered a job and the chance to take care of the house while the real Surveyor was gone. We had a tour guide who really knew her stuff! You could tell she cared about the facts in the book and history and being ACCURATE! This is important to me!
We then went to the house that Pa built for them to live after Laura got married and moved. That house was pretty cool too.
After that we went to the homestead that Ma and Pa lived on. I will try and explain homesteading in another post, although if anybody wants to in a Comment, that'd be cool. We were excited because we found out you could actually camp right there!
We found out something wonderful as we were browsing in Loftus Store, the actual store that Laura shopped in and wrote about!!! The man at the store said,
"Oh, you're camping at the Ingalls Homestead? Are you staying in one of the covered wagons?"
Now, you have to understand, one of my things I wanted to do at SOME POINT on this trip was to sleep in a covered wagon. In the olden days before cars, people traveled in wooden wagons that had a stretched canvas roof over them. They had to choose really carefully when they moved since wagons were small and they would have to pick the most IMPORTANT items to take with them.
We got to the campground just in time! There was ONE covered wagon left for sleeping in. It wasn't too expensive, either! Cheaper than most motel rooms.
So we slept in a sort of covered wagon. It actually had walls in the front and the back, and the canvas was reinforced, ok, there was also electricity, but we didn't USE it. That would have been WRONG!!!!! DID PIONEERS HAVE ELECTRICITY???
When Ma cooked over a fire, she used something called a "spider". Today we would call it a dutch oven. It's a big pot with a heavy lid that you can lift up and set in the coals for cooking. We have one. We made a stew with some beef, carrots, onions, potatoes, flour, a bit of bacon and some vinegar. It was sooo good, and we cooked it over a fire, just like Ma would have. She probably would have also made biscuits, but well, we did our best.
We also ate cold stew for breakfast, along with some coffee.
We toured the homestead before we left, visiting the school Laura would have taught at (we took a covered wagon ride to get there), the "Little House" where a lady was showing us how to make pioneer toys and crafts, petted a calf in the barn, pumped some water from the well PA DUG HIMSELF, and admired the cottonwood trees he planted as a wind break.
It was SO COOL. You could tell that the people there in De Smet really love what they do. It isn't just about tourists. They love the history and the people and the animals and everything. The staff even had a dog named Jack, and it was a total coincidence. It was so funny. At one point Jack got out, and he wasn't supposed to. You could see him running and romping across the prairie, stalking and chasing badgers or r... r... some animal that starts with R that I can't remember the name of right now. If he had a thought bubble it would have been, "I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!"
We drove from De Smet, SD to Wall, SD. Wall is purely a tourist destination. It started because a store owner and his wife started putting signs on the highway for free ice water. The signs got bigger and sillier and they added silly attractions to entertain tourists as they drove through.
Now it's like an amusement park! It is so weird. I will just have to show pictures. I can't even describe it.
We priced motels since we have a long drive tmw so we didn't want the whole tent deal to slow us down. Also we need an oil change in the car. We didn't like any of the prices, and it turned out that THIS WEEK is the 100th birthday of Wall, SD so that's why all the motels were pricy and full. So we continued on and drove through THE BADLANDS.
The Badlands, I had heard, were some cool rocks. As we were driving towards it, I said to my friend,
"So what's the big deal about the badlands anyway?" She basically said, You'll see.
I was in the middle of saying something when she turned a corner in the Badlands National Park and I literally dropped what I was holding and gasped out loud.
I can NOT describe how amazing this place was. It wasn't just a bunch of rocks. It was...
It was color and light and the amazing power of nature and proof that no matter what we build, nature can build something cooler.
Again, I'll just have to show pictures.
We drove another 80 miles to Rapid City SD where we are staying for the night in a motel. I got to take a BATH!!!! I love baths! I am sleeping in a BED! And my friend will get up early and let me sleep late and she will go get the oil changed. And of course, the best part of staying in a motel is that there is internet, and I was able to post.
There are so many more things I want to say. I've been writing in my travel journal/scrapbook a lot, and if it doesn't fall apart, I'll have a lot to share and show when I get back!
We have been pretty careful about not buying crummy souvenirs, and I think the ones we've got are pretty cool. I was VERY tempted by a charm bracelet at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead- it had a violin and a sewing machine and a book and a horse. Oh well. There will be other cool things.
We've also been pretty lucky about our detours. Seneca Falls was a whimsical detour. So was The Harkin Store. Several other moments that were unplanned ended up being some of the best, like the Eau Galle Cheese Factory. Remind me to show you my souvenir from THERE!
I will try and post more frequently, but hey! If it's only my dad and grandma reading this, I can talk to them on the phone or something! If my students are reading this, SPEAK UP! I want to know that you're out there! I'm lonely!
We started at the Surveyor's House, where Pa was offered a job and the chance to take care of the house while the real Surveyor was gone. We had a tour guide who really knew her stuff! You could tell she cared about the facts in the book and history and being ACCURATE! This is important to me!
We then went to the house that Pa built for them to live after Laura got married and moved. That house was pretty cool too.
After that we went to the homestead that Ma and Pa lived on. I will try and explain homesteading in another post, although if anybody wants to in a Comment, that'd be cool. We were excited because we found out you could actually camp right there!
We found out something wonderful as we were browsing in Loftus Store, the actual store that Laura shopped in and wrote about!!! The man at the store said,
"Oh, you're camping at the Ingalls Homestead? Are you staying in one of the covered wagons?"
Now, you have to understand, one of my things I wanted to do at SOME POINT on this trip was to sleep in a covered wagon. In the olden days before cars, people traveled in wooden wagons that had a stretched canvas roof over them. They had to choose really carefully when they moved since wagons were small and they would have to pick the most IMPORTANT items to take with them.
We got to the campground just in time! There was ONE covered wagon left for sleeping in. It wasn't too expensive, either! Cheaper than most motel rooms.
So we slept in a sort of covered wagon. It actually had walls in the front and the back, and the canvas was reinforced, ok, there was also electricity, but we didn't USE it. That would have been WRONG!!!!! DID PIONEERS HAVE ELECTRICITY???
When Ma cooked over a fire, she used something called a "spider". Today we would call it a dutch oven. It's a big pot with a heavy lid that you can lift up and set in the coals for cooking. We have one. We made a stew with some beef, carrots, onions, potatoes, flour, a bit of bacon and some vinegar. It was sooo good, and we cooked it over a fire, just like Ma would have. She probably would have also made biscuits, but well, we did our best.
We also ate cold stew for breakfast, along with some coffee.
We toured the homestead before we left, visiting the school Laura would have taught at (we took a covered wagon ride to get there), the "Little House" where a lady was showing us how to make pioneer toys and crafts, petted a calf in the barn, pumped some water from the well PA DUG HIMSELF, and admired the cottonwood trees he planted as a wind break.
It was SO COOL. You could tell that the people there in De Smet really love what they do. It isn't just about tourists. They love the history and the people and the animals and everything. The staff even had a dog named Jack, and it was a total coincidence. It was so funny. At one point Jack got out, and he wasn't supposed to. You could see him running and romping across the prairie, stalking and chasing badgers or r... r... some animal that starts with R that I can't remember the name of right now. If he had a thought bubble it would have been, "I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!"
We drove from De Smet, SD to Wall, SD. Wall is purely a tourist destination. It started because a store owner and his wife started putting signs on the highway for free ice water. The signs got bigger and sillier and they added silly attractions to entertain tourists as they drove through.
Now it's like an amusement park! It is so weird. I will just have to show pictures. I can't even describe it.
We priced motels since we have a long drive tmw so we didn't want the whole tent deal to slow us down. Also we need an oil change in the car. We didn't like any of the prices, and it turned out that THIS WEEK is the 100th birthday of Wall, SD so that's why all the motels were pricy and full. So we continued on and drove through THE BADLANDS.
The Badlands, I had heard, were some cool rocks. As we were driving towards it, I said to my friend,
"So what's the big deal about the badlands anyway?" She basically said, You'll see.
I was in the middle of saying something when she turned a corner in the Badlands National Park and I literally dropped what I was holding and gasped out loud.
I can NOT describe how amazing this place was. It wasn't just a bunch of rocks. It was...
It was color and light and the amazing power of nature and proof that no matter what we build, nature can build something cooler.
Again, I'll just have to show pictures.
We drove another 80 miles to Rapid City SD where we are staying for the night in a motel. I got to take a BATH!!!! I love baths! I am sleeping in a BED! And my friend will get up early and let me sleep late and she will go get the oil changed. And of course, the best part of staying in a motel is that there is internet, and I was able to post.
There are so many more things I want to say. I've been writing in my travel journal/scrapbook a lot, and if it doesn't fall apart, I'll have a lot to share and show when I get back!
We have been pretty careful about not buying crummy souvenirs, and I think the ones we've got are pretty cool. I was VERY tempted by a charm bracelet at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead- it had a violin and a sewing machine and a book and a horse. Oh well. There will be other cool things.
We've also been pretty lucky about our detours. Seneca Falls was a whimsical detour. So was The Harkin Store. Several other moments that were unplanned ended up being some of the best, like the Eau Galle Cheese Factory. Remind me to show you my souvenir from THERE!
I will try and post more frequently, but hey! If it's only my dad and grandma reading this, I can talk to them on the phone or something! If my students are reading this, SPEAK UP! I want to know that you're out there! I'm lonely!
Saturday, July 7
7/7/07!
It didn't start off too well. My cell phone got stolen or destroyed or something. I left it charging in the bathroom over night. We were right next to the bathroom, but that didn't matter. The parks guy helped me look and found the charger, stuffed high up in the rafters, the big wooden planks that made up the roof of the bathroom building. It was definitely a prank.
My cell phone company said they wouldn't replace it without a police report, so I called and a police officer came out right away. That was kind of exciting, I guess...
I haven't gotten a new phone yet, mostly because I feel ashamed and embarrassed that I did something so dumb.
We decided to take an unplanned detour when we saw a sign for HARKIN STORE, a historically accurate General Store on the way to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. We were so glad we did!!!
The place was an original store from the time that Laura Ingalls was alive. The man who ran it showed us all the items that were in it and how they would have been used, like slates and slate pencils, which students used instead of notebooks. They looked like small blackboards but you scratched them instead of using chalk. he showed us how to grind coffee by hand in a coffee mill. We tried on old fashioned hats and examined all kinds of things that they would have sold in a general store back then. He was really cool and had a station wagon with radical political bumper stickers all over it and gave us free water. We liked him.
Then we got to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. That isn't actually so important to the real Laura story, but when they made it a TV show in the 70's that's where the story took place.
We decided not to see the Sod House because they were charging too much for admission. That turned out alright because we saw lots and lots and lots of Laura stuff!
We went to the actual site that they lived in a dugout, which is a house dug into the side of a hill. They are cool and easy and inexpensive, but Laura's Ma did not want to live in one. She wanted to live in a REAL house so they didn't stay there. I have a piece of wheat or grass or something in my scrapbook from there.
My scrapbook is falling apart. I bought it because it says Wendy on it, but the pages are perforated. That wasn't so smart. Oh well. Maybe I will staple it all together when I am done.
We then went to see something called FRAGMENTS OF A DREAM, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant. It was a play about the story of her life. Apparently anyone from Walnut Grove can audition and everyone gets at least a walk on role.
The actors were TERRIBLE but the set was amazing and if you love the books you had to love the play just *cause*. It was SO cheesy it was wonderful. And we missed dinner so we bought something there called a "walking taco" which was pretty popular in Wisconsin and Minnesota. It was a bag of nacho chips opened up and tossed with lettuce, ground meat and cheese. I've had that before called a Frito Pie. They're both kept in the bag.
I had to go buy another because I dropped mine on the ground. They were SO nice, they didn't even charge me for another!
The play even had pyrotechnics! They acted out the time in the books when there was a prairie fire. I kind of knew there would be some fire because at intermission, a stage hand came and lit something on the floor and covered it up. I would have been really scared if I hadn't been a little prepared!
After the play I met the cast and asked some of them on video some questions. I even said, "What would you like to tell my drama students back home?" Most of them said "Work hard!!!".
That was a really fun day other than having my cell phone gone.
It didn't start off too well. My cell phone got stolen or destroyed or something. I left it charging in the bathroom over night. We were right next to the bathroom, but that didn't matter. The parks guy helped me look and found the charger, stuffed high up in the rafters, the big wooden planks that made up the roof of the bathroom building. It was definitely a prank.
My cell phone company said they wouldn't replace it without a police report, so I called and a police officer came out right away. That was kind of exciting, I guess...
I haven't gotten a new phone yet, mostly because I feel ashamed and embarrassed that I did something so dumb.
We decided to take an unplanned detour when we saw a sign for HARKIN STORE, a historically accurate General Store on the way to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. We were so glad we did!!!
The place was an original store from the time that Laura Ingalls was alive. The man who ran it showed us all the items that were in it and how they would have been used, like slates and slate pencils, which students used instead of notebooks. They looked like small blackboards but you scratched them instead of using chalk. he showed us how to grind coffee by hand in a coffee mill. We tried on old fashioned hats and examined all kinds of things that they would have sold in a general store back then. He was really cool and had a station wagon with radical political bumper stickers all over it and gave us free water. We liked him.
Then we got to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. That isn't actually so important to the real Laura story, but when they made it a TV show in the 70's that's where the story took place.
We decided not to see the Sod House because they were charging too much for admission. That turned out alright because we saw lots and lots and lots of Laura stuff!
We went to the actual site that they lived in a dugout, which is a house dug into the side of a hill. They are cool and easy and inexpensive, but Laura's Ma did not want to live in one. She wanted to live in a REAL house so they didn't stay there. I have a piece of wheat or grass or something in my scrapbook from there.
My scrapbook is falling apart. I bought it because it says Wendy on it, but the pages are perforated. That wasn't so smart. Oh well. Maybe I will staple it all together when I am done.
We then went to see something called FRAGMENTS OF A DREAM, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant. It was a play about the story of her life. Apparently anyone from Walnut Grove can audition and everyone gets at least a walk on role.
The actors were TERRIBLE but the set was amazing and if you love the books you had to love the play just *cause*. It was SO cheesy it was wonderful. And we missed dinner so we bought something there called a "walking taco" which was pretty popular in Wisconsin and Minnesota. It was a bag of nacho chips opened up and tossed with lettuce, ground meat and cheese. I've had that before called a Frito Pie. They're both kept in the bag.
I had to go buy another because I dropped mine on the ground. They were SO nice, they didn't even charge me for another!
The play even had pyrotechnics! They acted out the time in the books when there was a prairie fire. I kind of knew there would be some fire because at intermission, a stage hand came and lit something on the floor and covered it up. I would have been really scared if I hadn't been a little prepared!
After the play I met the cast and asked some of them on video some questions. I even said, "What would you like to tell my drama students back home?" Most of them said "Work hard!!!".
That was a really fun day other than having my cell phone gone.
Friday, July 6
Friday we got up and started doing Laura Ingalls Wilder stuff! We both love the series about the pioneer girl who traveled with her family from Pepin, Wisconsin all the way to Mansfield, Missouri over the course of her lifetime, also living in California and Florida for short periods of time. She only started writing books about her childhood when she was sixty five! Another thing we learned in our touring was that she was only four feet ten inches tall! Her husband was only five two!
We think it was because people didn't eat well back then, and didn't get enough nutrition. So go eat some vegetables!!!!
We started by seeing a reproduction of the house she was born in, since we were in Pepin, Wisconsin. It was pretty cool but a little corny, and there was a LOT of stuff to buy. It felt touristy.
Highway 14 from Wisconsin to South Dakota is called the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historical Highway, because so many of the places she lived are along that route. We took 14 all the way and saw everything!
But HOOOWEEE those farms smell.
We think it was because people didn't eat well back then, and didn't get enough nutrition. So go eat some vegetables!!!!
We started by seeing a reproduction of the house she was born in, since we were in Pepin, Wisconsin. It was pretty cool but a little corny, and there was a LOT of stuff to buy. It felt touristy.
Highway 14 from Wisconsin to South Dakota is called the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historical Highway, because so many of the places she lived are along that route. We took 14 all the way and saw everything!
But HOOOWEEE those farms smell.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
I'm sorry if I worried anyone! We've just been having such a great time we haven't wanted to stop to get online!
Did I mention that on the way to Niagara Falls, we stopped in Seneca Falls, the birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement? We went to the Women's National Hall Of Fame and I got a neat bracelet with a quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our ***th president. It says,
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
I just wanted to write about that before I forgot.
Our next stop was Menomonie, Wisconsin. Menomonie is the birthplace of one of my favorite literary characters, Caddie Woodlawn. Carol Ryrie Brink wrote two young adult novels about her grandmother, Caroline Augusta Woodhouse, and changed her name to Woodlawn. Caddie is a pioneer girl with lots of spirit and bravery and has lots of neat adventures with her family in Old Timey Wisconsin. We went to see where she really lived. That was neat. There is a park dedicated to her with the house that she lived in, or maybe it was a fake house built to look just like it. I forget. But there was a well there and I pumped water just like a pioneer girl. It didn't taste too bad!
On the way out of town we passed a cheese factory. Wisconsin is FAMOUS for their cheese, so we HAD to stop! We tasted lots of different kinds of cheese, including gouda, muenster, three kinds of cheddar, manchego, goats milk cheese and one made with chocolate and nuts in it. We bought a chunk of cheddar and some white cheddar with sage in it. That is a green herb that made it very pretty! I have pictures but those will come later when I get some help.
One thing I had no idea about was how farm land smells! We are driving through the country, where we drive for miles and miles and miles just looking at corn fields and some other crop- my friend thinks it is soy beans- and guess what?
THEY SMELL LIKE POOP!!!!!
Not all of them, but lots of times we have to roll up the windows and put on the air conditioning so we don't smell it. Is it manure? I don't know why they smell like that, since so far there weren't any animals.
Another thing we did in Menomonie was fish! There was a place called Bullfrog Fish Farms that you could go to and they'd give you the fishing poles and everything, and you could buy soda (they call it "pop" here) or ice cream and sit out by the pond and fish. There were ducks swimming around too and they made me nervous because I thought I was going to accidentally hook one with my fishing pole and hook.
The man taught us how to fish and helped us each catch one fish. Then we caught another apiece and went back to the campground and cooked them. This was a very healthful meal, since we also made steamed carrots and sugar snap peas.
On the way to the fish farm, I saw a little bunny running around in the grass next to the highway. I just wanted to pick it up and kiss it! It was so cute. We would be seeing lots more "wildlife", but this was the first.
Oh, right! We stayed TWO nights in Menomonie. The first night was the Fourth of July, and we went to see the local fireworks celebration. I bought a roast chicken at the store and spilled chicken grease all over my new pants. Oh well. At least it wasn't hot.
So that was Menomonie. We liked it a whole lot. Their motto is: Traditional, Yet Progressive. There was even a Food Co-op! We both said we would go back there again.
Did I mention that on the way to Niagara Falls, we stopped in Seneca Falls, the birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement? We went to the Women's National Hall Of Fame and I got a neat bracelet with a quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our ***th president. It says,
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
I just wanted to write about that before I forgot.
Our next stop was Menomonie, Wisconsin. Menomonie is the birthplace of one of my favorite literary characters, Caddie Woodlawn. Carol Ryrie Brink wrote two young adult novels about her grandmother, Caroline Augusta Woodhouse, and changed her name to Woodlawn. Caddie is a pioneer girl with lots of spirit and bravery and has lots of neat adventures with her family in Old Timey Wisconsin. We went to see where she really lived. That was neat. There is a park dedicated to her with the house that she lived in, or maybe it was a fake house built to look just like it. I forget. But there was a well there and I pumped water just like a pioneer girl. It didn't taste too bad!
On the way out of town we passed a cheese factory. Wisconsin is FAMOUS for their cheese, so we HAD to stop! We tasted lots of different kinds of cheese, including gouda, muenster, three kinds of cheddar, manchego, goats milk cheese and one made with chocolate and nuts in it. We bought a chunk of cheddar and some white cheddar with sage in it. That is a green herb that made it very pretty! I have pictures but those will come later when I get some help.
One thing I had no idea about was how farm land smells! We are driving through the country, where we drive for miles and miles and miles just looking at corn fields and some other crop- my friend thinks it is soy beans- and guess what?
THEY SMELL LIKE POOP!!!!!
Not all of them, but lots of times we have to roll up the windows and put on the air conditioning so we don't smell it. Is it manure? I don't know why they smell like that, since so far there weren't any animals.
Another thing we did in Menomonie was fish! There was a place called Bullfrog Fish Farms that you could go to and they'd give you the fishing poles and everything, and you could buy soda (they call it "pop" here) or ice cream and sit out by the pond and fish. There were ducks swimming around too and they made me nervous because I thought I was going to accidentally hook one with my fishing pole and hook.
The man taught us how to fish and helped us each catch one fish. Then we caught another apiece and went back to the campground and cooked them. This was a very healthful meal, since we also made steamed carrots and sugar snap peas.
On the way to the fish farm, I saw a little bunny running around in the grass next to the highway. I just wanted to pick it up and kiss it! It was so cute. We would be seeing lots more "wildlife", but this was the first.
Oh, right! We stayed TWO nights in Menomonie. The first night was the Fourth of July, and we went to see the local fireworks celebration. I bought a roast chicken at the store and spilled chicken grease all over my new pants. Oh well. At least it wasn't hot.
So that was Menomonie. We liked it a whole lot. Their motto is: Traditional, Yet Progressive. There was even a Food Co-op! We both said we would go back there again.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Day Four
Yesterday was my birthday. We didn't do much other than drive, but I got to have TWO local treats that I have been looking forward to trying! The first is called Poutine, and it's a dish famous in Canada, and it's very popular. It is NOT VERY NUTRITOUS, since all it is is french fries with gravy and cheese on top. I thought it was a special kind of cheese called cheese curds, but the one I had didn't have any of those.
After driving from Niagara Falls, NY to the Canada side, and being a tourist there for a while, we drove to Parry Sound, Ontario. We drove through Toronto, which looks a lot like NYC but we didn't stop in an interesting part. There was a REALLY tall tower that you could take an elevator to the top of but it was more than 20 dollars to go up per person so we decided not to. I got a sausage from a hot dog cart, which also sold VEGGIE dogs! I was really impressed. Pictures to follow.
After stopping at Tim Hortons (which is like Dunkin Donuts, but better donuts and worse coffee) we got on our way.
We camped for the night at a place called Four Mile Creek, and went to put up the tent for the first time. After practicing this amazing new tent a million times before the trip, sure enough, we opened the tent and it was BROKEN!!!!!!!!
We rigged it up the best we could, and went to sleep. The next day we went to The Bad Place, and bought a new, small easy tent. ****art was starting to eat my brain so we had to leave. I think they put secret messages in the music in that store so you feel like a zombie and buy more things.
We stayed that night at a campground called Six Mile Lake. They aren't very creative with their names for campgrounds around here!
The new tent is kinda small and if you don't know, you can't have anything touching the inside of a tent when it rains or all the rain will come through to inside the tent. So that worries me just a little.
The next day was yesterday and that was my birthday. We decided to drive until we couldn't drive any longer!
After we crossed from Canada into Michigan, I was excited for my next Local Treat. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, people call it the U P, or Yoopie. People from there are YOOPERS. A long time ago, people from Cornwall, England settled there, and brought their recipe for PASTYS (pronounced PAST-EEE). They are dough pockets with meat and potatoes and vegetables in them. I had them when I was in England and was looking forward to trying Michigan's version! Also, I had read about them in a book about this area.
The first one I had was AWFUL. I made sure to have another before I left the area and it was everything I hoped it would be. Tender, flaky crust, with tiny cubes of potatoes and carrots and whatever vegetables they were, with bits of ground meat.
Now I am in a place in Eagle River, Wisconsin (Yeahhh!!! We made it as far as Wisconsin!) having a coffee and a cream puff. All the junk food is past me. I am ready for some good VEGETABLES and salad and stuff. Well, maybe a steak when I get to Nebraska.
I didn't expect this place to be as good as it is. It looks very unassuming. But not only was the cream puff AMAZING but they have free WiFi!
After driving from Niagara Falls, NY to the Canada side, and being a tourist there for a while, we drove to Parry Sound, Ontario. We drove through Toronto, which looks a lot like NYC but we didn't stop in an interesting part. There was a REALLY tall tower that you could take an elevator to the top of but it was more than 20 dollars to go up per person so we decided not to. I got a sausage from a hot dog cart, which also sold VEGGIE dogs! I was really impressed. Pictures to follow.
After stopping at Tim Hortons (which is like Dunkin Donuts, but better donuts and worse coffee) we got on our way.
We camped for the night at a place called Four Mile Creek, and went to put up the tent for the first time. After practicing this amazing new tent a million times before the trip, sure enough, we opened the tent and it was BROKEN!!!!!!!!
We rigged it up the best we could, and went to sleep. The next day we went to The Bad Place, and bought a new, small easy tent. ****art was starting to eat my brain so we had to leave. I think they put secret messages in the music in that store so you feel like a zombie and buy more things.
We stayed that night at a campground called Six Mile Lake. They aren't very creative with their names for campgrounds around here!
The new tent is kinda small and if you don't know, you can't have anything touching the inside of a tent when it rains or all the rain will come through to inside the tent. So that worries me just a little.
The next day was yesterday and that was my birthday. We decided to drive until we couldn't drive any longer!
After we crossed from Canada into Michigan, I was excited for my next Local Treat. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, people call it the U P, or Yoopie. People from there are YOOPERS. A long time ago, people from Cornwall, England settled there, and brought their recipe for PASTYS (pronounced PAST-EEE). They are dough pockets with meat and potatoes and vegetables in them. I had them when I was in England and was looking forward to trying Michigan's version! Also, I had read about them in a book about this area.
The first one I had was AWFUL. I made sure to have another before I left the area and it was everything I hoped it would be. Tender, flaky crust, with tiny cubes of potatoes and carrots and whatever vegetables they were, with bits of ground meat.
Now I am in a place in Eagle River, Wisconsin (Yeahhh!!! We made it as far as Wisconsin!) having a coffee and a cream puff. All the junk food is past me. I am ready for some good VEGETABLES and salad and stuff. Well, maybe a steak when I get to Nebraska.
I didn't expect this place to be as good as it is. It looks very unassuming. But not only was the cream puff AMAZING but they have free WiFi!
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