In last week's Wednesday Weekly I gave you a preview of what I was doing. Victoria came up with me to visit family for the 4th of July weekend. We also did some wedding planning for our Wisconsin reception. Between visiting family, wedding planning, exploring, and just relaxing a bit, I was swamped for time.
As I write this, I'm up in Canada. By the time you read this, I'll be camped out in a tent a in the middle of a field at Rockfest in Cadott, Wisconsin. This July is turning out to be as busy as last July in terms of travel.
The last time Victoria was up was last July. We went up for my buddy's wedding. We did plan to go up for Christmas, but some unfortunate circumstances kept us in Texas.
Planning this trip, it looked like things were going to be good for us to travel north. The plan was for us to leave June 28th and stay until the 4th of July. On the 4th, we'd head up to check out Duluth, Minnesota. From Duluth, we'd head to Minneapolis where we'd spend the night. On the 5th, Victoria would fly back to Austin and I would drive to Thunder Bay for Bluesfest.
Now we were told it was going to be a scorcher in Wisconsin. It was supposed to be in the 90's (around 32C). The funny thing is, that was still cooler than the 100's (around 38C) we were leaving in Texas. Victoria and I got in the car and started driving. We fought the Austin traffic and started heading north. It was also a very windy day.
We made a pit stop at Slovacek's. I topped off with gas and got a Frito pie.
After eating, we drove into the evening and ended up at the La Quinta in Guthrie, Oklahoma. When Victoria rides up with me, this is our usual stop for the night.
The next morning's sunrise was nice. We hit the road and tried to make as good of time as possible.
In Missouri, we made a pit stop at a Casey's. They make good pizza and this one has a good view by the tables.
We drove the rest of the way and finally made it to Wisconsin as the sun was setting.
The next morning on Saturday, we had coffee on the porch. Jordy kept us entertained when she would chase birds on the lawn.
After coffee, Victoria and I headed to North Wood County Park (Richfield). It's only a few miles from my parent's house. It has a suspension bridge, campground, and a lot of good nature to take in.
Later that day, it looked like we were going to be hit with some strong storms. Lucky our next activity was indoors. We watched my brother's band Husky Trumpet at the Chestnut Center for the Arts.
The Chestnut Center for the Arts doesn't have air conditioning. It was hot for Wisconsin standards, but still better than Texas.
After listening to my brother's band, we met up with my buddy Jake and his fiancee and also my friend Caleb. We sat for a while at the brewpub and then headed to Nutz Deep.
On Sunday, we headed to church and said hi to the deacon who would be doing our Wisconsin wedding ceremony. From there, Victoria and I visited my grandmas and then had a late lunch at my parent's house. My brother and his girlfriend also came out.
Monday morning we first talked with the wedding venue. Then we decided to get some Chip's for brunch.
We drove around a bit and explored the area while our food settled. Of course we ended up getting stuck waiting for a train.
Once our food settled, we headed to Hub City Ice Cream.
From there, we headed to Neillsville to talk to a caterer. We got to see the old historic downtown.
Since we were in the area, we drove over to Hatfield. I showed Victoria Russell Memorial Park. I used to camp here all the time as a kid. They were working on the dam so the water was much lower than I remembered.
It didn't take long to get through the campground and we still had a little time to kill. I took the scenic way back and swung by Pray. I took some of the gravel roads and showed Victoria the place my buddies and I hung out and shot shotguns. We made sure to look out for Amish buggies along the way.
On Tuesday, we went to Five-O-One and had a pizza.
We did some more exploring around town. We went to Wildwood Zoo.
Our visit to Marshfield went fast! Wednesday was the 4th of July and it was time to head up north to Duluth. The weather was nice in Marshfield, but started turning kind of nasty after our pit stop at an A&W.
By the time we got to Superior, it was clear.
The clear weather didn't last long when we parked in Duluth. It was a bit cloudy and eventually got foggy. We checked out the Maritime Visitor Center. We then walked around the shipping pier and Canal Park. We tried to go to Electric Fetus, but it was closed. Overall, it was a nice scenic walk and we enjoyed the views of Lake Superior.
Looking at the radar, it seemed like we were going to hit some storms on the way to Minneapolis. The drive itself was decent and we ended up at the La Quinta we stayed at last time.
After all the driving, we were tired. We also had to be up at 3:30am so Victoria could get to the airport on time. We fell asleep and the morning came fast. I was soon dropping Victoria off at the airport.
I had a long day ahead of me driving to Thunder Bay. I should have those blog entries written for next week, but I can tell you my visit there so far has been great! You'll have to stay tuned for that adventure, along with my adventure at Rockfest!