I hadn't taken a road trip by myself in a while. Victoria and I previously drove to Roswell and before that flew to Wisconsin for our vow renewal and second wedding reception. Prior to that, it was April that I had gone cross-country. I decided to change that and hit the road and visit Central Wisconsin.
It seems like Texas didn't want me to leave. It took me two hours to get from the south end of Fort Worth to the north end.
It took close to six hours to get out of the state when it normally should have taken four. It seemed like it was a traffic jam after traffic jam.
After what seemed like forever, I finally made it to Oklahoma.
Stuckey's is up at exit 15 and I was hungry. I knew I could get a great meal there!
I got a burger and some fries.
I can tell you, the burger was great! It was made on the grill right in front of me and it was oozing full of flavorful juices.
The rest of the drive wasn't bad. I was able to stop every here and there and checked out the scenery at an Oklahoma scenic turnabout.
I made my way to a Kansas travel plaza, where I spent the night.
The next morning was kind of wet and rainy.
It started to clear up later in the day and the further north I drove.
I finally made it to the infamous Dudley's Corner (you'll definitely want to read about this place here).
After Dudley's, I stopped and checked out the cool Iowa Welcome Center.
The drive through Minnesota and Wisconsin was very scenic, but eventually got really foggy.
I spent the night at my parents' house, and the next morning I went to visit a friend in Friendship, WI. It was still kind of foggy but was scenic.
My parents were throwing a Packer party so I went back there before the game. They had everything ready to go.
The Packer tree was lit up.
There were brats waiting.
My dad made his homemade "potato pack."
Of course, there was plenty of cheese curds and summer sausage.
As you can imagine, I loaded up my plate with all the goodness of Wisconsin.
My parent's dog Jordy was also in a festive mood.
After the game, I decided to take the scenic route to the hotel I was staying at. By scenic route, there's a cow crossing.
I stayed at the infamous Neva Jean. I needed a good internet connection to work on things and they delivered. They actually delivered on everything and I hate the reputation they have.
Between working and visiting with family, the week was a blur. I still managed to cover a lot of ground and explore Central Wisconsin. I made sure my Cougar was doing well.
I got lunch at World Buffet one day with my mom.
I explored Marshfield at four-in-the-morning to see what was open.
With that 4AM exploration, I rewarded myself with some Kwik Trip breakfast.
I decided to drive over to Thorp and get some good jerky at Nolechek's Meats.
While in Thorp, I meandered over to Marieke Gouda to try some of their cheese.
On the way back to Marshfield, Smith Bros. Meats caught my eye.
I then had dinner with my friends Andy and Kate at Perkins. I'm not sure if you can get more Midwestern than pot roast.
One morning I needed to use my ice scraper that had otherwise been dormant in my trunk.
On another day, I drove to Wausau to hang out with my friend Jake. We feasted at Hmong Eggroll.
We then did some exploring and first saw the Hmong-Lao Veterans Memorial.
Next was going into the core of downtown and checking out Downtown Grocery, The Square, and Janke Book Store.
Downtown was cool, but so is the nature around Wausau. We went to Barker Stewart Island Park and Big Bull Falls Park.
Followed by Isle of Ferns Natural History Park.
Jake had to get going, but I had a little time to kill. I drove back to Marshfield on the county roads with Highway O being the main road I took.
I stopped by George's Landing and watched the sunset and then made my way back to Marshfield.
The week was pretty much done and I had to make my way back to Texas. I said my last goodbyes, including the Jordy and then hit the road.
I had made it to the last rest stop in Missouri and I figured I'd sleep for the night. The next day would be a bunch more driving.
I did get a chance to check out the Bazaar Cattle Pens in Kansas. It's basically a scenic parking area.
The driving was uneventful until I hit Southern Oklahoma. There was traffic jams like crazy.
Being hungry in Southern Oklahoma brought me back to Stuckey's to get some chicken strips this time.
I ate quickly to then be stuck in some not-so-quick traffic in Texas.
I finally made it back to Austin when the sun was setting. Overall, this trip was uneventful, but it was much needed to get out for a while. The time flew, but I did cover a lot of ground.
