Pumpkin Farm

A few weeks ago a small group of us went to the Homestead Pumpkin Farm, which is located near North Lake.  Leah and Nick, Heather and Scott, my sister Judi, her daughter Amy and 2 sons, Lawson and Weston, Amy Pizur and her niece Julia, Suzie and her friend Stacy and son Evan and myself. 

 

Upon arriving we went directly to the barn to pay for what we wanted to do.  We all paid to pet the animals, go on a hay ride and go into the corn maze. 

First, on to the animals.  There were quite a few goats, a calf and some donkeys that were standing picture perfectly, chickens, geese (Goose Stay Away!) and turkeys. 

The donkeys seems very sedentary, they did not    
     move much but with so many very young kids running around them, their disposition was great.   

After we all had our fill of the animals, it was time to go for a hay ride.

We all climbed in (except Amy and Julia decided to sat this one out).   The hay ride chugged along, with pictures of things posted for passengers to find along the way. 

After the hay ride,

we went into the corn maze.  For some reason we split into two groups.  There were questions at checkpoints along the way with two answers (one being the correct one), each answer had a letter and all the letters spelled out words.  I believe there were 12 checkpoints, but with the unseasonably warm weather, and the two year olds that wanted to be carried, neither group finished all the checkpoints.  But it was fun to just walk and really have no idea where you are.  We all made it out and then it was time to pick out pumpkins and have a group picture of all the kids (and Amy).

A Successful Outting!

Aztalan State Park

Aztalan State Park is located in Aztalan, off highway Q, south of Johnson Creek shopping area.  It is listed as a National Historic Landmark.  It contains Wisconsin's most important archaeological site, an ancient Middle Mississippian village that thrived between 1000 and 1300 AD.  It is along the Crawfish river and some ancient mounds and stockade walls have been restored.

It was a wonderfully warm day that Jackie, Kathy and myself decided to go check out Aztalan State Park.  When we got there we found we were the only people in the whole area.  There is a daily fee (self serve) to pay to park in the State Park.  We drove to the end of the road which was closest to the river.  We saw a rustic walking path that lead us to the water, and then alongside it. 



Jackie climbing a tree along the Crawfish River



We basically walked around the whole park, up the three mounds that are there, all the while reading the historic signs that are placed throughout the park.  I thought that the mounds were burial mounds but when archaeologists dug in these mounds in the 1920s, they didnt find burial remains but found a large post set in a pit in the center, surrounded by gravel and soil. Corn was found in the pits. The larger of the two mounds may have been the storage facility for the entire village; or storage for food just for the top village officials; or it may have been used for ceremonies and rituals.  In the northern mound, ash was found.  This mound may have been used for a death ritual.  A small building was constructed.  The floor was covered with a mat of cattails, on which ten people were placed side by side, with their heads towards the doorway, and the bones of another person were bundled together with cord. Once this construction was complete, and the bodies were inside, the building was burned.

The stockade have been restored in various areas.  The stockade is a wall of logs set into the ground vertically. The stockade was then finished by weaving flexible willow branches through the posts, and plastering the whole with a mixture of clay and grass to fill in the gaps.  It is believed the stockade surrounded the whole village.





Kathy, our big game hunter, now known as snakelady, found a grass snake and picked it up.  This was pretty much the only wildlife we saw this day along with a few chipmunks.

hssss

Hope you all feel smarter now that you know a little more about ancient Wisconsin history.  Though Aztalan State Park is not listed as a hiking trail, but we really enjoyed the area and the paths around the Park worked for us!







Glacial Lake Cranberries

Slight change, this escape involved my husband and myself.  We traveled to Nekoosa, WI, where the Glacier Lake Cranberries, Inc. is located. Glacial Lake disappeared thousands of years ago and left behind this 6100 acres of property used to grow cranberries.   It is just south of Wisconsin Rapids in the center of the state.  Great Tour!!!  If you ever wanted to know all there is to know about cranberries, this is the place to go.  First, before you go you need to sign up for a tour time.  I had called a week earlier, and the 11am tours were already booked so we signed up for the 10am tour.  At 9:45 am we arrived and went into the Visitor Center, where we were greeted by a women who's great grandfather started working in these cranberries bogs when he was 12 years old.  Her husband drives the "Berry Bus" which is what we all boarded after each one of us sampled a cranberry dipped in carmel.  It tasted just like a tart carmel apple, very good!  Her son currently works in the bogs and it was mentioned that many of the cranberry marshes are run by 5, 6, even 7 generation families, basically cranberry growing stays in the family. 

We drove in the bus between the "bogs" or "marshes" for a close view of the harvesting operation.  The "bogs" (which are filled with sand, peat, gravel and clay) are flooded.  A machine resembling a large lawn mower is driven up and down rows in each bog, pulling the cranberries off their vines and then floating onto the surface.  Cranberries float because there are air chambers inside each berry.

 

Then the cranberries are corralled, using the same floating devise that contains oil spills.  They are then racked towards a conveyer belt that separates the berries from any leaves, one truck gets the berries the other truck gets the debree.  Once harvested, they move onto a processing facility. 
We got out of the bus to watch the guys racking the berries  Anyone who has seen an Ocean Spray commercial would truely enjoy these guys, wearing their waiters in the thigh high water.

 

We then drove to a cranberry bed that hadn't been flooded yet and we got out to pick our own cranberries. We also saw some Trumpeter Swans, since this area provides a ideal stopover for migrating species.

The whole tour was very well run, lots of information and hands on fun.  We went back to the Visitor Center where we purchased some wine, jam, and chocolate covered cranberries. 

Tidbit: A daily portion of cranberries can promote good health, as they contain a anti-adhesion effect the remains in the body for up to 10 hours.  Cranberry Bogs can be seen from Hwy 39, around Wisconsin Rapids as well.  Not all cranberry farms have tours, Glacial Lake does it right.

Loved it!





Prairieville Park

A warm, sunny fall day, time to escape outside.  An escape does not always mean we have to travel far.  We can find fun in our own backyard.  This past Wednesday, Jackie, Kathy and myself went to Prairieville Park in Waukesha, to play some mini golf.  The course is well maintained, and has enough bumps and curves to make it a challenge for anyone.  We had some almosts, and a few opps, some balls that decided to leave the course, and a few that didn't quite make it over the hill on the first try.  No one broke the course record (if there is one) but we did have fun putting our purple, blue and red golf balls.  And Hurray!!!  Kathy had a hole in one on number 13.  Then after we returned our putters, we went to the batting cages.  No, we are not too old!  They had all different options, Slow Baseball, Medium Baseball, Fast baseball, Very Fast Baseball, Slow Softball, Fast Softball.  We thought long and hard and decided to try the......slower softball.  IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!...12 balls for $1.00.   The park is open for the fall until October 24th.  Monday through Thursday 11:30 am - 9pm; Fridays 11am - 10pm;  Saturdays 10am-10pm and Sundays 10:30 am - 9pm.
A stop after at MacDonalds for two smoothies and one shake and to laugh about the missed putts and the over the hut homeruns.