Caving just the way we like it

Just a short walk from the tasting
room to the cave entrance

Packed up in the rain and made our way to Cave Vineyard in St Genevieve, about an hour south of St Louis.  As you can probably work out, it is a vineyard and there is a cave there.  The cave is set up with tables and chairs for picnicking

Sister in the mist

with an entry fee of one bottle between 5 people.  After tasting some of their wines, we chose a bottle each to take down to enjoy lunch with.  The rain had stopped but it was still damp and misty in the cave.  Perfect we thought.  It was with a bit of reluctance that we left there a couple of hours later.

Sue & Jean enjoying an underground picnic

Santa is everywhere in
Santa Claus, Indiana

Leaving St Genevieve we made our way back into Indiana.  Parked up for a few nights on the banks of the Ohio (hands up who hummed the old tune).  Spent one day relaxing at the campsite and one day visiting Santa Claus.  The town of Santa Claus that is, where it is Christmas all year round.  The Christmas shop they have there is huge and has a great range of decorations and ornaments.  A definite reminder though that summer is coming to an end.  A lot of the kids are back in school which means a lot of the attractions are just open on weekends.  Still, that’s a good way to save some money.

The last of the sunset over the Ohio River

Total bridge length is 460'

We left the south of Indiana and made our way to the north of Indiana, stopping off at various attractions along the way.  Our first port of call was at USA’s longest covered bridge.  When we first approached it, it didn’t look any longer than the bridges we saw in Madison County.  As we got closer we revised that opinion – at least twice as long.  There was a decent sized car park and turn around area so stopped for lunch as well the ubiquitous photo shoot.

There is this much room in here

We bypassed the Interstate and made our way to Columbus by way of the very scenic Hoosier National Forest.  Sure we would’ve got there twice as quick if we'd travelled on the Interstate but, wow, what a great piece of road to drive on.  Not as narrow as the Tunnel of Trees in Michigan but just as gorgeous and a lot longer.  Not too many blooming tourists either. 

At Columbus we stopped at Kids Common, an interactive museum for children.  I know, a kids museum, but we are kids at heart especially when we know they have the World’s Largest Toilet on their premises.  We even had a personal guide to explain all about the museum (I’m sure it wasn’t because we were unaccompanied adults J).  Again, I lamented the fact that we never had museums like this when I was a kid.  Jean got swallowed by the toilet while we were taking the photos.

Sue sits demurely on the edge ...

... while Jean annoyed the toilet gods and got swallowed

If you recall when we were in Iowa, we drove down a road that had a huge tree in the middle of it.  Indianapolis has gone one better – they have a road with a grave in the middle of it.  The family of Nancy Kerlin Barnett

The road is split by a grave

didn’t want her grave removed when the county put a road through back in the early 1900’s.  The rest of the cemetery was relocated.  Initially the grave on the roadside wasn’t too much of a problem but became one when the road got widened.  Again the family stood staunch and now the grave neatly divides the road in two.

Artspark in Indianapolis

After finding an RV park just outside Indianapolis we ventured into the city to check out some more of the weird and the wonderful (are you getting the feeling that we just don’t

Imploding cube at Artspark

do normal very often?).  Found another park with some funky artwork and another children’s museum (how come kids museums get all the good stuff) where they have some life-sized dinosaurs both breaking in and breaking out.  Awesome. 



Dinosaurs breaking out of the museum ...

... while others are trying to get in

Sycamore stump that is
57' in diameter

Continuing north we stopped at Kokomo and, yes, the Beach Boys tune played over and over and over.  Stopped at Highland Park for lunch.  This park is home to a huge sycamore stump, a taxidermied bull from

Ben has been taxidermied
for 104 years

the early 1900’s, a civil war cannon and yet another covered bridge although it was chatting to a local who was out walking his dog that was the most interesting.  We also swung by a couple of great buildings and a very large praying mantis.  What a place.

 

Woohoo!  Another covered bridge.

Story Book Express - the outside of the building is funky, the inside is ... a grocery store

Fell in love with Seiberling mansion the minute I saw it



Did not fall in love with this giant praying mantis but did think it was pretty neat though

Stopped off at Elkhart just before heading back into Michigan where we visited an RV & Motorhome Museum.  Did not think we’d enjoy it as much as we did.  Wow!  What a fantastic walk down memory lane – and even further back down the lane as the earliest travel trailer they have is dated 1913.  Who would’ve thought. 

This baby dates back to 1913



1958 Airsteam - they still look pretty much like this today from the outside
and there are a lot of them out there

Jean showing the size of the 1957 Serro Scotty Teardrop Trailer
- seen a few of this type out there too

A 1937 Hunt Housecar built by cinematographer and producer Roy Hunt
(you'll have to Google him if you want to know more about him)

Funky looking Star Streak II built in 1988

Was Skyping with Mum & Danny earlier this evening and, while we were chatting, Dan Googled the museum – turns out it was a walk down memory lane for Mum too.  Hope the Scottish Country Dancing went well for you Mum.

 

Happy birthday to our nephew Caleb.  We've put on an All Blacks v Wallabies game to mark the occasion.

We say “see ya” to Wally

You have to imagine the
music playing

The night we stayed in Zeeland we returned north a few miles to Grand Haven to have dinner and watch their musical fountain.  We only recognised a couple of the tunes – Theme from “Friends” and Orinoco Flow.  Thoroughly enjoyed sitting on one side of the Grand River and watching the show on the other.

Stumbled across a distant cousin of the Loch Ness Monster while in Grand Rapids.  How do they keep missing the one in Scotland when it’s this size?

We spotted Nessie - she's in Grand Rapids

The Dead Baron

A little further south, in Benton Harbour, we came across what has to rate as one of the more unusual attractions that we’ve visited – Skellville.  In a yard behind the old family

Elvis is alive and well and
performing in Skellville

agriculture supply store are a number of plastic skeletons in various poses, a lot of it alongside rusting cars and farm equipment.  Inside the old store the owner is setting up a museum of oddities that he’s collected over the year.  All in all, an interesting place to visit.



These chaps are just waiting for the right inspiration

Once over the state line we visited a cemetery in the small town of Hamilton where there is a grave of a man who lived in 3 centuries – born in the 1700’s and died in the 1900’s.  Subsequent research hasn’t been able to confirm the validity of this grave site but we like to think it is.

What do you think - did he really live to be 110 years old way back then?



Mmm, chocolate

Stayed the night at a town called Merrillville.  Probably would’ve just passed through but discovered the Albanese Candy Factory and spent way more time there than intended.  I think they needed an extra shift in the factory to rebuild their stocks after our visit.

Visited Wolf Park at Battle Ground just out of Lafayette.  Wolf Park was created in the 1970’s when a local scientist wanted to study the wolves in a 

Socialised or not, they still
live behind huge fences

natural environment but without the stress (for the wolves) of constantly being around humans (we all know that stress).  This entailed socialising the wolves from a very early age to the point that when you get close to them … they ignore you.  I think they have turned into cats.

Jean at Wolf Park

Montgomery County Rotary Jail

Our next visit in Indiana was to Crawfordsville where we stopped at the former Montgomery County Rotary Jail.  There were about 18 of this style jail built in the USA and this is the only one where the cells still rotate.  Cells are a wedge shape and there was only one door per level.  This was done in order to manage the

This light fixture was put in
before electricity arrived at
Crawfordsville - the candle-looking
light was gas operated, the other
was electric

prisoners easier and to cut down the risk of escape.  The whole cell floor would rotate

A few turns on a lever
and the entire
cell block rotated

with a few turns of a lever.  The rotary cells though, had to be discontinued when a number of prisoners crushed arms and legs that were hanging through the bars when the cells were turned.

Not much room in there - the circular area at back was the toilet

Sue gets some time out

World's Largest Wind Chime -
even the people at Guinness
World Records agree

 

We then stopped off at Casey to get an ice cream and happened upon the World’s Largest Wind Chime.  Bonus!  A number of places claim to be the World’s Largest but these guys have a certificate from Guinness World Records to 

We found Wally - he was in Casey

prove their claim.  When you pull on a rope to make them chime it sounds like bells pealing.

 

Just for Wally we spent his last night in a Walmart car park to the accompaniment of idling trucks.  Don’t think that’s how he envisaged his last night in the USA, for this trip anyway, especially when one pulled up right next to us in the middle of the night, with the engine right by Jean & Wally’s open window.  Sue slept on, blissfully unaware of the cacophony going on around her.

 

Cruised back into St Louis and the same spot at the same RV park we left 3 weeks earlier.  A couple of hours relaxing then it was off to brave rush hour traffic and get Wally to the airport.  Made it in plenty of time and he was soon winging his way back to New Zealand.  Hope you enjoyed your visit Wally.

Yoopers for a day

Found ourselves another Harley Davidson museum to visit. 

The General Lee keeps popping up
in our travels - this time being
chased by Sheriff Rosco P Coltrane

This one is called Doc’s and is west of Green Bay in Wisconsin.  Not only is it a museum, it is a

Yep, boys sure love
their Harleys

retail shop, gift shop, zoo, antiques store, pirate ship, saloon and bar and, really, just an all round great place to visit.  Plus you get a free ice cream.  Doc built a 10-seater Harley known as the Timeline Motorcycle.  It features all the air-cooled Big-Twin motors from 1909 to present.  Looks pretty impressive. 

Who would've thought - a zoo
at a Harley Davidson shop

We could’ve gone for a ride on it if one of us had ordered the 24½” long, 7 lb burger and eaten it in less than one hour.  Yeah! …. Nah.

 

 

 

Look hard and you'll see a couple of pirates at the helm



Doc's 10-seater Timeline Motorcycle and yep, it runs

Thought it was time we left Wisconsin so made our way north to Michigan.  First stop was Iron Mountain where we visited the bat cave.  Wishful thinking – it was just a colony of bats that now live in an old mine shaft. 

Blooming bats wouldn't hold still for photos

Every night around dusk they leave the shaft en masse for feeding.  We were hoping to see an explosion of bats from the shaft but got to see a mere trickle of a couple of hundred before being beaten back to the pick up by those darned mosquitoes.  They just love the Mills sisters.

Had lunch on the shore of Lake Superior before visiting a sculpture park east of Marquette, called Lakenenland.  Some interesting works here and, like some of the other parks we’ve visited, not without controversy.  Local Planning & Zoning officials are definitely not welcome here.   Luckily for us, Joe Public is more than welcome.  Spent a good hour wandering around. 

Some political sculptures ...

 

... many fun sculptures - Wally & Jean weighing each other up

... and a bunch of just plain interesting ones.  Sue finds a seat in the forest.

The boat you pull along yourself
across the spring

Next we headed to Manistique and Indian Lake.  There’s a huge fresh water spring on the lake that you can cross via a boat that you propel yourself.  The clarity

The water is bubbling up through
the sand.  Mmm, trout.

of the water is amazing and you wouldn’t believe the size of the trout that were in there.  Always the way when you don’t have a line with you.  Settled for purchasing some smoked trout and salmon a bit further up the road.  So today we lunched on the shore of Lake Michigan.  Not much of the salmon left.

Lots of steps to the top - rewarded
with a great view

Got a bit of exercise in on the climb up to Castle Rock.  Not too onerous but enough to get a bit of a glow on by the time we reached the top.  Great views of Lake Huron and Mackinac Island.  Left the Upper Peninsula by way of the Mackinac Bridge.  A need for the bridge was established as early as the 1880’s but it wasn’t until the 1950’s that it was built.  One of the longest suspension bridges in the world at the time, it’s 5 miles across the Straits of Mackinac.

Mackinac Bridge, connecting the Upper & Lower Peninsulas of Michigan

Headed west to Cross Village where we stopped at Legs Inn. 

Legs Inn - named for the upturned
stove legs on the roof - that's
those white things sticking up

We had decided on coffee or beer, whichever came first.  No prizes for guessing which one that was.  The Inn is quite unique in that it has a whole lot of upturned stove legs on the roof (hence the name).  Don’t ask why, google it and let me know.



Interesting front door of the Inn



Hmm, does Sue let them in?

From Cross Village we took the very scenic Tunnel of Trees road down to Harbor Springs.  Only 20 miles but very narrow and very windy.  Probably not the best road to take an RV on but we got to the end unscathed a mere 40 minutes later.  I think a few of the vehicles travelling towards us may have needed a change of underwear after coming round a corner to be faced with the monstrosity that was us.  I swear I could hear them thinking “who would take one of those on this road?”  Just some mad kiwis.

Check out the width of this road that we took the RV on - it's not one way either

We followed Lake Michigan south from the Sleeping Bear Dunes to just before the state line.  Had a glorious day to visit the dunes.  We hit it at the right time too.  When we came down off the dunes at lunch time the sand was getting very hot on our bare feet.

Everyone still smiling - but this was only the first dune

Spent the night in the small town of Zeeland.  Quite an appropriate place to stop for the night don’t you think.

Anyone figured out what a yooper is?  Think Upper Peninsular – U.P.