Off the Beaten Path

Our trip is winding down, a few more days with Auntie Jody in Minneapolis and then back to Tucson on Tuesday.  As usual, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Madison with the Krieghoffs.  We got our shopping fix on State Street, and of course, ice cream at the Union.  There are now two Big Chairs, and the girls chose to take their requisite Union photo on the new one, gets the lake in the background.  We did a little more campus this year, walked up Bascom Hill, and then ended our extended tour at the Lakeshore dorms.

The highlight of Madison this year was the show the girls put on for us our last night.  My goddaughter, Carlen, choreographed dances to 6 or 7 pop songs, and after the girls got the giggles out, the performance was actually pretty impressive.  We've had a number of these shows over the years, but this year's was by far the best.  I recorded the whole thing, so I can bust it out any time I need to properly embarrass the girls.

The drive from Madison to Minneapolis is usually nothing to write home about it, or in this case, blog about, but this year was a little different.  While flipping through radio stations, we came across a show on public radio about tourism in Wisconsin.  A woman called in and raved about a graveyard of wacky fiberglass animals and shapes at the F.A.S.T. Corporation in Sparta, Wi.  Meg was intrigued and checked the map.  When we realized we were only a short detour away, we decided to check it out.

The graveyard is full of fiberglass animals and shapes, the kinds of things you see at water parks, restaurants, cheesy tourist sites.  The place reminded me of a Midwestern island of misfit toys.  We walked around for a bit, took a bunch of pictures, then hopped back on the interstate.  It may not sound like much, but we went off the beaten path as a family, and I have a feeling this little stop will be remembered for a long time.