Category: Mat’s Musings

I really like lake life. Waking up and having coffee on a back porch with Murphy chilling in the yard is pretty sweet. Just missing my girls, and their presence would make this perfect.

My sister had to get back to real life, so after kids go to school and hubby goes to work, we do our own separate chores. Laundry, showering, grocery shopping, etc. But she did take me to a delicious lunch at Rosie’s cafe in downtown Noblesville. I love small IN towns. There is a square with the county courthouse in the middle, lots of old trees and unique shops and restaurants everywhere. I even got some Christmas shopping done!

After lunch, I took an hour and went for a paddle board journey down the coast of the lake. By the time I got back, the family had returned from their days. We went back out on the lake, where I successfully surfed behind the boat with no rope! This might be my new favorite water sport. It was really fun and challenging. Kevin, the neighbor, successfully completed a 360 spin, that Tim and Whit tried to match unsuccessfully.

After getting cleaned up, we hung out all night on Kevin and Monica’s porch while listening to the live band playing at the club across the cove. The theme was wedding reception music and we heard all the classics: “Twist and Shout,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Brown Eyed Girl,” and even more. I loved hanging out with Colts fans that I can talk shop with. We had awesome pizza and breadsticks for dinner. Had a great day!

Plans for wings and college football tomorrow.

… in Indiana! Whitney and I burst out in the state song when we crossed the IN/IL state border, just as family tradition dictates. It kind of amazes me I still know the words!

We left Champaign this morning for the short shot (120ish miles) to Noblesville, IN where Whitney resides. We got Crystal parked in their neighbor’s driveway (thanks Kevin and Monica!) since Whitney’s has too much elevation change and we bottom out.

After getting settled in, Tim (my brother in law) was home and we went out on the lake. They love to surf behind their boat (it’s designed for it), and I gave it a whirl. It was awesome, and I even got up and into the wave! I wasn’t able to drop the rope… yet. But I will give it another chance for sure.

After shredding the lake, we came back, got cleaned up, then headed to their club across the cove for dinner. The food and company was great! My sister and her family have a pretty good set up for their everyday life.

After staying up late for 3 nights in a row, Whitney and I called it an early night. Sleeping in a real bed is pretty sweet, as is a non-public shower. Can’t wait for more water sports and a reading day tomorrow.

Goodbye Dells! You were a fun place to visit…

Whitney and I woke up and got Crystal packed and ready to roll. Our destination is Champaign, IL. We were surprised at the lack of dairy farms we saw on our drive. Lots of corn and other agriculture, but no cows. Very pretty and spacious though.

The drive was uneventful, just the way I like it. We arrived in Champaign around 4 pm, and we were delightfully surprised by our campground, D & W Lake campground. It is on a small lake surrounded by soybean fields. It might be one of the prettiest views from a campground of the trip.

After getting Crystal squared away, Whitney and I drove Peggy into Champaign to see the downtown and to find our favorite burrito chain, La Bamba’s Burritos. Champaign is where the University of Illinois (student population of roughly 51,000) is located. The downtown was very quaint, and the burritos delicious. Well worth the effort, plus I had a blast from the past… an old video game I used to play in Sydney.

Back to Crystal, where we watched the sun set, played backgammon, Qwirkle, and listened to more Bob and Tom. Tomorrow, it’s back home again in Indiana, and I get to see my niece, nephew and brother in law.

Whitney and I had a relaxing morning sitting outside Crystal enjoying our coffee and Diet Dew. We read the news, got caught up, and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Because we knew our afternoon was going to be adrenaline packed!

We decided to take the plunge, and we bought tickets to a big foot themed zip line adventure that was followed with a jet boat adventure. Our guides, Ryheim and Dawkins, were young men from Jamaica, working in the Dells for the summer with a bunch of their other friends (how fun does that sound as a young adult!). It was just Whitney and I with Ryheim and Dawkins, as well as Jessica, who had never zip lined before.

Whitney and I were concerned that Jessica wasn’t going to make it, but she overcame her fears and had a blast. As we supported and cheered Jessica on, she began to open up to Whitney, perhaps a bit too much. Whitney heard all about her current relationship problems.

There were 7 zip lines that we climbed stairs to (745 all together), and 2 of them were racers. That means 2 people could go on separate, parallel zip lines and race to the bottom. It was really fun! It was neat to see the water/amusement parks, the local owner’s house on an island in the lake that has burned down twice, and zip line over their stagnant pond. Ryheim and Dawkins were funny and answered our silly questions about their experiences in the Dells.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) the photographer couldn’t get us in focus, so we don’t have any pictures from the zip line. After completing the lines, we ran to Walmart for a quick errand and home to Crystal to walk/feed Murphy.

We drove back to the zip line place to take their shuttle to the jet boat. Who did we see when we got there? Jessica, who insisted that we sit together. After a short, but wild, bus ride to the jet boat, we boarded and began our trip.

The jet boat is 38 feet long, 14 feet wide and can take 58 passengers, although we only had a few dozen. It rides almost on top of the water, allowing for quick turns and 360s, and power stops. It was really fun, although we didn’t realize that we would be completely soaked. We knew we would get wet, but the quantity of water was impressive. The captain drove towards another jet boat’s wake, then power stopped the boat into the wake, plowing the bow into the water and a massive wall of water washed over the passengers. It was unexpected, but very awesome. We took a tour of the Upper Dells (cool canyon-like shores and rock formations), and experienced more tricks. Although freezing since the sun wasn’t reaching the bottom of the canyons, we still had a blast!

As we shivered in the bus on the way back to base, we decided sushi/hibachi was going to be for dinner. We drove back to Crystal, got dried off and went to Kyoto (the restaurant, not the Japanese city).

Dinner was delicious, and the chef even had a few moves we hadn’t seen before. We went back to Crystal after dinner and listened to more Bob and Tom.

I chose this feature photo because I thought it fitting. It reads: “Fernweh — German word meaning an ache for distant places; missing places you’ve never been. ‘Craving for travel.’” I have definitely experience Fernweh!

50 days. I’ve been on the road for 50 days (minus the Ranch days)! That seems like a big number, but it has both flown by and taken forever. Kim and I talked about how each day was like 2 days in one. Driving in the morning and playing in the afternoon/evening. It is fun!

Murphy and I had coffee and breakfast on our patio, and I left to pick up my sister Whitney from the Madison, WI airport, about an hour away. She will be accompanying us as we head to Noblesville, IN, where she lives. After a successful pick up, we drove back to the Dells. We did a lap up and down the main drags to get an idea of what’s around. Lunch was quick at a local place (B-Lux), and we parked to explore on foot.

We discovered the Torture Museum. For $8 a person, you can tour a 3 room museum with different torture devices on display, placards explaining what they are and how/why they were used, and even had a serial killer corner. It was… memorable? It is disturbing that humans can come up with devices whose sole purposes are misery and pain, but also fascinating. I am glad that I went, especially with Whitney. We had several good laughs that you can only have with family/spouses/old friends (morbid, I know).

We also found the flying simulator type ride at the Wilderness Resort. It is very similar to Soarin’ at Epcot. You sit in a chair buckled in and then the whole bench moves out until your shoes are hanging off the edge of the balcony. You are in front of a massive screen and you fly through national parks and other world famous sites. The benches move with the video so it feels like flying.

The absolute highlight was going to the Rick Wilcox Magic Show. Rick has been performing in the Dells for almost 25 years, and he has his own theatre. He and his assistant (his wife) amazed the mostly sparse crowd with sleight of hand and big illusions. He had a really good audience participation illusion involving folding and ripping up a few playing cards, trading the pieces with your neighbor, discarding them until you had one half left. Then you swapped with your neighbor and the cards matched. It worked for both Whitney and me! If you like magic shows and are in the Dells, I’d recommend this show for sure.

We found a local Mexican restaurant for dinner and discussed how we thought he accomplished the tricks. After eating too much chips and salsa, we headed back to Crystal to hang out for the rest of the night.

I grew up in southern Indiana, where a local radio station had a morning show called the Bob and Tom Show. My mom LOVED that radio show, so I listened to at least some of it every morning of my childhood. They had comedian guests who would do bits, wrote and performed their own sketches, and laughed the entire time over all of their stuff. Multiple times a year, they would release a CD with the highlights since the last CD. My mom would then gift us these CDs for whatever holiday was next. It was awesome.

I have saved these CDs (some are probably 30+ years old) because they are hilarious and provide a lot of memories for me. Whitney brought a portable CD player, and we listened to these CDs for a couple of hours. We laughed and laughed at how we could remember the songs and punchlines, and also at the jokes we never got as kids because they were over our heads (they can get very racy). We were also amazed (and horrified) at the some of the content that they never could/should do today as it is mysoginistic, homophobic, and racist.

Looking forward to our full day in the Dells tomorrow!

I had a lazy morning, as I couldn’t leave too early for Wisconsin Dells. They don’t let you check in until 1 PM, so I finished packing up, took a shower, and did some campground acrobatics to get Peggy hooked up to Crystal.

The ride to Wisconsin was pretty decent, minus the evasive maneuver needed to avoid suddenly stopped traffic. While pulse-pounding, it was good to know that I could handle Crystal in that situation.

The KOA in Wisconsin Dells is in good shape, and I got settled in very easily. I will be here for 3 nights, so having a “deluxe patio site” is a nice perk. I got Crystal set up and Murphy walked, so I decided to drive into downtown Dells to do some reconnaissance.

If you’ve never been to the Wisconsin Dells, think of it as a slightly nicer, much bigger Hampton Beach or equivalent to Pigeon Forge. Parking was interesting, as they park on the sidewalks here. I had a small moment of panic since I had to pull up on the sidewalk in front of a cop. Very weird. During my explorations, I counted 4 old time photo shops, several candy/fudge shops, and many cheesy souvenir t-shirt shops. I even stopped in a few places…

The Dells does have an arcade, so I played Big Buck Hunter, NBA Jam, pinball, and some more Big Buck Hunter. I then found a local watering hole and had a surprisingly delicious burger.

I caught the sunset downtown, then headed back to Crystal to perfect my fantasy football strategies and go to bed. Big day tomorrow as Crystal gets a new guest!

Kelly and I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed, thanks to Murphy’s tail wagging and hitting the side of the RV. It’s kind of like waking up to someone beating a drum… thump, thump, thump.

We made amazing breakfast sandwiches (bacon, sausage, egg and cheeses on croissants — thanks Emmy!), and Kelly left to do some family errands. I took the time to do some laundry and swim in the heated salt water pool. After a shower, I voyaged to Target to provision for the next guest of honor, my sister Whitney.

After chores, Murphy and I drove into Minneapolis to visit Kelly and his family at their home. I haven’t been to a city in while, so it was good to see lots of civilization.

I got to catch up with Heather (Kelly’s wife), and his kids, and Murphy met Kelly’s black lab, Beau. We got to converse, eat some great Asian take out, and laugh a lot.

After dark, Murphy and I piled back into Peggy and drove back to Crystal. I wasn’t feeling tired, and the internet connection was pretty good since we were in civilization, so I proceeded to dive head first into fantasy football preparation. Lots of reading, mock drafts, and strategy creation occurred. Look out fantasy competitors, I am coming in hot!

Off to Wisconsin tomorrow!

New state today! After a breezy but thankfully uneventful drive, I arrived in Savage, MN to the Town and Country RV Park in the mid-afternoon. It is a cute little RV park where it is obvious that most guests know each other and stay for the summer. The people are super nice, and it is a great location.

I am excited that my college roommate, Kelly, is coming to have dinner and sleepover… yay guests! But before guests, Crystal needed a quick once over. I broke out the broom and clorox wipes and gave her a cursory cleaning. She looked great and ready for guests.

Kelly arrived around 5 pm with groceries in tow. We had a few adult pops (when in Rome…) and I grilled dinner. Kelly got handmade burger patties and habanero brats that were cooked to perfection, and we had baked beans and tots/fries as well. As Dora would say — delicioso!

We sat together outside, and while swatting mosquitos, reminisced about our college days and caught up on our personal and professional lives. Visiting in person is so much better than over the phone.

It’s nights like these, where you hang out with someone you haven’t seen in a while, and it’s like time never passed, that make me appreciate my friends and family. I am a very lucky guy to have people and opportunities that enrich my life…

It was a quiet night and I slept well, excited to continue my trek home.

Woke up and got my breakfast burrito! It was everything I wanted it to be…

Today was an uneventful day, which is what I was looking for. The 5(ish) hour drive to the Sioux Falls Jellystone campground was relatively flat and smooth, with a little bit of wind. One stop to get gas was all we needed, and we got there in mid-afternoon.

This Jellystone isn’t as grandiose as the one in VA, but it served its purpose as a safe place to sleep. Big zero entry pool, but the comfort station near my site was closed, as was the hot tub. I took Murphy to the dog park again for about an hour, where he got extensive ear and belly scratches. A dinner of leftovers made a quick meal that hit the spot. I read my book, got caught up on emails, bought tickets to 3 Halls of Fame for later in the trip, and did a bit more logistical planning.

Not much else to report, but looking forward to a new state tomorrow and seeing my college roommate in Minneapolis.

Now that Kim and the girls are flying back to NH, it’s just me, Murphy, Crystal and Peggy. Not going to lie… it’s really weird to be all by myself after spending 1.5 months straight with other humans.

After dropping off the family, I returned to where we parked Crystal and did some provisioning. Back to Badlands KOA! The 2(ish) hour drive was uneventful, and it was easy since I knew where I was going. After getting setup, I raced to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (and forgot my mask as you can see in the picture at the top of blog).

It is a small building off the same exit as the Badlands that has a museum and a 30 minute movie about the Minuteman Missile program, the Cold War arms race, and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). It was terrifying, fascinating, and left me wanting to do the 2 other tours of a Launch Control Facility and a missile silo (you have to get reservations for these tours and they book out immediately).

The scariest stories are the numerous close calls to nuclear Armageddon. The Cuban Missile Crisis is well known, but there were other stories that I hadn’t heard. Stanislov Petrov, a USSR soldier, is known as the “man who saved the world,” when he defied orders and refused to report that his radar showed missile launches from the US. It turned out to be sunlight reflecting off high altitude clouds that triggered his radar. If he had told his superiors, I’m not sure we would be here today. His military career was ruined, but he knew that it was a false report. Then there’s the story of NORAD seeing simultaneous ground and naval missile launches from Russia, only to find out that a technician had mistakenly played a training video.

I can’t imagine being a missileer in the military. Pulling 24 hour shifts in a buried capsule with 10 missiles at my fingertips that can eradicate a country in 30 minutes is beyond my comprehension. I also can’t imagine growing up with a missile silo in my backyard. Well worth spending 90 minutes to check it out.

After the missiles, I cruised (get it?) back the campground and took Murphy to the dog park, where he sniffed around for a while. I wanted to take a bit of a longer walk, so I returned him to Crystal and walked the perimeter of the campground.

The KOA is right on the White River, so braving the long grass, I walked to the middle of the mostly dry river bed. I walked down a bit, checked out the bridge from underneath and watched the sun set. It was peaceful and beautiful, but made me wish that I could share it with Kim and the girls.

I grilled up a burger and some tater tots, and played some Mario golf on the Switch. Look out Emmy, I’m getting good!

Off to Sioux Falls tomorrow.