Automotive Playgrounds (and other cool stuff)

August 9^th, 2026

Beloit, WI

Woke at 8:00am, but was so tired, I reset alarm for 9:00am and sat in large chair.

Alarm woke me up, had actually fallen asleep in the chair.

Still very tired, but needed to get going.

Showered and dressed and gathered the cameras and batteries, then left to see if breakfast was still being served.

I was in time since it was a weekend, they run an extra hour on those days.

Had a small plate of scrambled eggs and some juice.

Then went out and uncovered the bike and put things in place.

Rode out of the hotel and back onto the interstate for a few miles, then pulled off again shortly after entering the state of Illinois.

The first stop for the day was right off the freeway, tucked into a small industrial area.

The Historic Attractions Museum.

This museum has a large focus on automobiles, but also lots of other historical artifacts as well.

Spread across 2 large buildings, the size of 3 American football fields, and divided into several sections with a common theme, there is enough here to easily use up 2-3 hours, and longer if you like to read every sign and really stare at things.

The entrance is also the gift shop, full of lots of stuff, but I went up to buy my ticket.  A couple had gone in just as I arrived, and 4 older gentlemen showed up right as I was going in as well, and were just in front of me.

One of them asked me a few questions about they bike and my travels when he found out I was not local.  Talked a bit while they were buying tickets, then I too went up to buy one.

Girl at the counter offered to sit my helmet behind the counter so I did not have to carry it.

I also decided to go put the riding jacket in the pannier, was already hot inside.  Since this place was a bit isolated, and not that busy, figured I would risk it being in the pannier.

I entered the doors and the first section is the old west area.  Lots of artifacts from the mid to late 1800s.  Looked at a few of the wagons and some guns on display.

Conestoga Wagon - Late 1700s

Then you go into the Elvis room.  Lots of original clothing, and other period pieces.  Some smaller displays on other artists and actors of the same time.

The next room focuses on the cars of world leaders.  A few interesting vehicles in here and some history and details about them.

Gorbachev's 1991 Mercedes Benz SEL 540 Limo

Then you have the US Presidential car gallery.  Several former presidential limos from FDR to Trumps first term.  These are the actual cars too, not replicas.

Jimmy Carter's 1976 Cadillac Limo

The next gallery is gangster cars.  Some of these are replicas, some generic, and a few traced to a particular gangster.

Jack "Legs" Diamond's 1929 Lincoln Model L

Then you enter a gallery of one-off oddities.  Car’s custom built by people that are more art than vehicle in many ways.

1969 Roeling 1

The back galleries have various racing vehicles, land and water as well as one of the largest Big Foot monster trucks built.

1999 Ford Big Foot Monster Truck

There is also a gallery of land speed vehicles and huge section on Illinois stock car racing and some other stock car artifacts.

1975 Bonneville Boss Custom LSR Hauler (replica LSR car)

Now you head back up toward the front of the building, first going into the War Room gallery which was focused on military, mainly having lots of uniforms, some dioramas and various artifacts.

Hollywood Prop Ship used in various films in 50s/60s

A small gallery next details the story of a new Plymouth Belvedere put into a time capsule in 1957, to be opened in 2007 and the car would then be awarded to the winner (or their heirs) of a contest.   But sadly, the supposedly water proof vault was not.  It leaked in water and flooded, pretty much ruining the car and much of the other stuff placed with it.  The car is on display here, and a few small items.

Then you have a small rest area, with restroom and vending machines.  I definitely needed the restrooms at this point.

Next up was the Journey through Time room.  Lots of clocks dating from the 1800s on up.  Some interesting time pieces.  Also, the walls are lined with various types of organs and similar musical contraption.

You the find a small gallery of Egyptian themed pieces.  There are several movie props from the films Cleopatra and The Ten Commandments, but much of the stuff in here is just generic replicas.

You then get to the 911 Memorial room.  This is just information and names of those lost on that day.

The next gallery is the Hall of Christ, which has a wax figure recreation of the last supper along with various information on the walls.

The small gallery next is dedicated to Abraham Lincoln and has some interesting items from his personal life.

Back into the front building you find the WWII cars room.  Mostly vehicles of Nazi Germany and various other artifacts.

You then have the Kennedy gallery.  This is 3 separate rooms detailing the assassination, including an exact replica of the limo built by the same company that made the actual car, and the original support car that was following the limo on that day.

1956 Cadillac Secret Service Limo (the one following JFK the day he was shot)

You also find the actual taxi that Oswald took when he left the area, and the actual ambulance that carried Oswald to the hospital after he was shot.

Lots of history on the signs and other artifacts as well.

Next is a small gallery of furniture taken out of the White House over the years.  Mostly post WWII stuff.

You then get a small gallery for NASA.  There is an Apollo capsule (I believe this was one of the many test flight capsules used before the actual missions.  Also, a mockup of the Mercury Freedom 7 capsule.  Few other replica or actual space items as well.

The following gallery is the super hero gallery.  It has cars from various films in it, mostly Batman, one of them being the screen used car, one a promotional car that was used to promote film and other a replica built using original blueprints.

1989 Promo car built by same company that made the film cars.  This car
was also the prize in a contest at that time.

The TV Land gallery is also cars, all from TV and film.  Many are promo cars, not necessarily the screen used cars, others are just cars based on TV characters, but not from any particular film.

Flintstones Movie car (Screen used?)

The final gallery is the Animals.  A few dozen taxidermy animals shown in various poses.  Some interesting species, and the elephant figure is one of the largest African elephants ever seen.

While I was going into the Animal gallery, I ran into (almost literally) Tony Farrell, Sr, who is the chief historian of the museum.  He was zipping around on a scooter to tell everyone in the place about a short presentation he was going to do in the Kennedy section in a few minutes.

However, we got to talking and he told me several background stories of some of the TV land cars as I had aske about them.  Had some great conversations and let me know I would review the place on Google as they are looking for ways to increase attendance and knowledge of the place’s existence.

I told him I would be writing about it and also the film I had taken that day would go into a YouTube video.  He gave me his card in case I had questions later, and I gave him mine so he could see what I put up in a month or so.

While we were doing this, he got a call and the girl up front said they were having a large group of 50 that were being brough over for a 45-minute tour.  Sounds like they just found out about it, so they had to scramble.

I decided I would just leave then, and went up and the bus was already there unloading.

The girl was standing out handing out maps and I asked if it was okay to walk behind the counter to grab my helmet since she was busy and she nodded it was.

Grabbed it and then went outside.

Thankfully the rain had stopped.  Heard it twice while in the museum coming down hard on the roof and winds blowing like crazy against the walls on one side.

I had seen rain was a high chance today, maybe I missed it and it has passed.

I got on the bike and rode down the road to the fuel station to fill the tank, then got back on the side road that Maps was telling me to use.

I was next heading to the small town of Volo, Illinois, just over an hour away.

The ride over was routed down lots of small, two-lane, country roads.  Was nice, but also strange that it did not find a better highway.

The rain managed to stay off on the horizon, so made it to Volo without getting wet.

Parked and walked over to the ticket signs and followed the path up to the building.

You walk through a series of small hallways with stuff in them to reach the ticket counter.

Once there, they started to tell me about the various ticket options and the different attractions.  Beside the Volo Automobile Museum, I had come to see, they also had a Titanic Exhibit, and the Jurassic Gardens.  Not really knowing what the others were, I decided to just see them all, which cost me $75!

Once they put the wrist band on me and gave me two token to use for access to the Crime gallery, I entered the gift shop area where the entrances to all 3 attractions is.

I of course started with the auto stuff.

This is divided into 5 galleries, some smaller side buildings and various outdoor items as well (mostly under covers, but still outside).

The first gallery was lots of really nicely done up classic and muscle cars.  The gimmick here is that most of these cars are also for sale!  Yeah, it’s a glorified car lot, just really special cars.

2013 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Final Edition
(Yeah, I actually thought about buying it for 2 seconds, but that
would end the travelling)

If you liked a car, the price was on it, along with down payment and expected monthly payments as well.  You just talked to one of the sales people in offices along the wall.

Or you could just look at them and enjoy them.  Though they were parked a bit close so hard to see more than one side of each car.

Off to the side of this first hall was the military building.

They had it all setup with diorama type displays and several military artifacts and a few vehicles.  Lots of multimedia displays showing historical footage or movie scenes about historical events.

The actual GAZ-46 used in the Indiana Jones film (4th one)

Once I had seen that stuff, I went back into Hall 1 and found the exit to hall two.

This hall again has cars for sale, but also the cars around the outside wall were now movie and TV cars.  Some were actual screen used cars.  Others were replicas built in many cases by the same builder, or using original plans, and a few were creations from animation or other shows.

Screen used stunt car from James Bond Die Another Day.
(Aston Martin Vanquish, but really just a Jaguar with body panels)

Once you leave this hall, you get to the small building of Snow Vehicles.  This has a several special vehicles built to tackle snow in various ways.  Some interesting things in here.

1956 Tucker Sno-Cat (Recreation?)

Also along the outside wall of the main building are some fiberglass boats from the 50s that look almost like cars themselves.  Most were very limited productions and quite rare.

They next gallery is quite small, and focused on the Ford vs Ferrari film.  The actual screen used cars are here.  Two GT40s, A Ferrari P4 and the family station wagon.  (all are replicas built for the film, but these were the actual cars in the film)

They you get the Crime gallery.  This one takes the two tokens they give you as the entrance is not setup to use the chipped arm band that opens most other doors.

This gallery had some gangster items, very similar to last museum, and then a room of medieval torture devices and mock ups.   Not really that interesting, and definitely not a room for small children.

You then get to Hall 3.  This one is again lots of movie cars on the outside, and some more cars for sale in the middle.

The screen used Greased Lightning car

You then reach the outside sections.  These galleries are partly inside, but open to the outside.  This is where some vintage campers and travel trailers are.  Some really cool things in here, very early examples of what would become the RV craze you see today, including the one of the first RV every built.

1949 Spartan Prototype (only one built)

Hall 4 is a mixed bag of themes.  The row of Disney character displays is really there to take photos in front of.  A few cars themed on Disney.

They some historical vehicles and some movie cars as well.

Next up is the kiddie ride section, lots of vintage coin op riding machines. My favorite was a tiger from Esso (Put a Tiger in Your Tank).

Then they have a vintage arcade with some very early style games, no video stuff.

Then the final section was scooters and a few small motorbikes.

You next walk by a small park filled with farm implements and some tractors, which is also across from the building holding several other vintage tractors, including what may be the only Lamborghini Tractor in the USA.

Behind this is the building with restrooms and I had to use them, and nice that I did as you might miss seeing the Harrier Jet movie prop that was used in several films over the years (Think True Lies with Schwarzenegger)

The building next to it has a vintage carousel and lots of carnival music machines in it.  I just walked through it though as none of that holds any interest for me.

Outside there is the huge locomotive prop built for the movie Inception.  And then two old restored railroad cars used in various films over the years.

There is also an outdoor eatery here as well.

You then re-enter the main building.  Hall 5 is across the parking lot outside.

But first, since I bought the other attractions, I did them first.

I entered the Titanic Museum.  It has a few lifeboat mockups outside, and a replica of the main anchor (huge!).

Inside you find several cars that are the types of cars owned by some of the very wealthy aboard the ship, and in one case the car may have actually been owned by that person.  Also is the only other known example of the Renault that was in the hold of the ship when it went down.  Very valuable car.

1912 Renault Type CB

They have lots of period clothing and recreations of various items as well, along with detailed history on various people and details.  Of interest was the mechanical horse which is 1 of 4 known to exist.  One of these was in the gym onboard the ship, so is now in the wreck.  The other 2 are in the RMS Titanic museum and the Smithsonian.

Overall though it was a bit of a disappointment for what I probably paid for it.  Definitely pales next to the Exhibition in Las Vegas which is almost exclusively real artifacts from the wreck site.  If you have done the show in Vegas, you can skip this one unless you really like old cars, they are neat, even if linked to the Titanic only by possible ownership of passengers.

I then went over to the entrance to the Jurassic Garden.

This building starts with two huge animatronic dinosaurs out front.  A Brachiosaurus and a T-Rex.

Inside the building is a bit dark, and you follow a path through a series of displays of more animatronic dinos and back grounds.  Nearly every dino from the Jurassic Park films makes and appearance, and a few more.

The creatures all make noise, so is a bit loud.

Near the middle, you walk through a small room with real reptiles on display.  Few snakes, lizards, and turtles.  Most were hiding really well, so could not see them, few were out of the tanks at another show, some of the turtles were in a pen on the floor walking around, and staff had two animals out allowing people to see them up close and touch them. (Bearded dragon and a legless lizard).

You then complete the dinosaur section and exit through the gift shop.

Overall, this place is targeting smaller children.  Many of the interactive displays are sized for kids.  If you really like dinosaurs, then you should enjoy it, but not sure it is worth the extra cost.

Once done, I wandered the gift shop and small snack area, but did not see anything.

I passed the restaurant, thinking I might come back later.

Went outside and over to the building 5.

This one was all just cars for sale again, and nothing really special.

Outside I noticed a few trucks and such parked down at end of lot, and then saw a double decker bus driving into the field there.

I went back over to the main building and inside to check out the restaurant, but nothing looked good.  Went over to gift shop and bought a Coke, then went outside to sit down and rest and take off the hot jacket. (This place was very busy, and lots of people and close to town, so did not trust leaving the jacket with the bike, and they had no where to put it or the helmet, so wore the jacket and carried the helmet the entire walk).

After a bit I saw the bus pull up again and people getting off.  I walked over and looked and this is a former Disney World bus that the museum acquired.  I asked the girl driving and she said they take people out 4 times a day to the large field north of the main buildings.  I did not know this place existed, but only access was this or the small “train” vehicle.  Both were parked and I think done for the day, and probably cost extra anyway.

I decided to leave, but as I was leaving, I noticed the Antique shop entrance. 

This takes you to the stairs that go up over the building 5 cars and is full of small shops like a flea market selling everything under the sun.

Some interesting things, but nothing I needed to buy (or could fit on the bike).

I saw a hallway heading over to another large building that is also an Antiques mall, but was too late to go see it.  But looks like lots of opportunity to shop for things.

Once back to the bike I got ready to go.  Thankfully no rain had occurred and the bike was still dry.  Weather was looking better as well.

I plotted a course using bigger highways, takes me a bit out of the way, but is actually faster than route I used to get here.

Got out of lot but missed the turn, so had to turn around, then Maps re-routed me again, just changes the route to something different than what I chose because I am facing the wrong way.  Stupid program.

Thankfully I noticed right away and turned around again to use the road it had recommended first time.

This takes you along the museum property and you get to see some of that park the bus goes through.

Lots of animal statues, mostly ice age animals like mammoths and such.

Also saw a few other things in distance.

A hill blocked the view then, but last thing I saw was a train and a huge Jurassic Park like gate. 

I then hit the highway and over the next hour went back into Wisconsin and then back to Beloit.

I had not eaten anything all day and was starving, so stopped to eat first at the sub shop across the road from the hotel.  It started to rain a bit as I was going inside.

When I completed my meal, I rode next door to the convenience store to buy some stuff for tonight.  Again, it starts to rain as I am loading stuff on the bike.

Then rode around to reach the hotel and unload, secure and cover the bike.

Back in the room I worked on some stuff online and then wrote up this entry.

Will get it and last nights uploaded here soon, then figure out where I am going tomorrow.

Not much else planned, so guess we will catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

 

 

 

Dragons, Planes, and Caves

August 8^th, 2026

Beloit, WI

Woke at 8:00am and slowly got ready.

Loaded the bike and prepared to leave.  Dropped the room key in box at desk, no one there.

Today we have multiple stops to make, but not a huge distance to cover.  Some of the stops and routing are just to burn time so we can arrive after 3:00pm at the hotel.

Fist we headed back north, back tracking a bit, to reach Wisconsin Dells.  While there are lots of interesting things to see here, I mainly came just to see Golspur.

This huge dragon statue is located at the entrance to the Dellshire Resort, which appears to be a medieval themed resort (and expensive!).

The dragon actually breathes fire every 15 minutes during the day.  I guess they had some safety and regulatory issues to get past, but sounds like the issues were resolved and the dragon is breathing as scheduled.

I arrived and took a few photos, and then waited around to see what would happen.

I was not paying close attention when it just suddenly does 3 short bursts of flame.  I managed to get camera going to catch the last one is all, but the 360 was running on the bike, so it should have caught it all.

Was a bit of a letdown, would have expected some music or sound effects with it.

Once done, we retraced the path back to the highway that would take us a bit west and south.

We stopped for fuel and then sat along the side of the road trying to figure out why Google Maps was not working correctly.  The route was in the system, the turn prompts were good, the audio was coming, but the path on the map was not showing and map kept drifting all over the place, not even close to the road.

I finally just had to delete the routing and plot a single route to the next stop instead of using a multiple stop routing. (To be honest, the multi stop routes have been giving me grief every time I use them).

I left the fuel stop and headed onto the highway.

It soon had me turn off onto some local road, which had a 1 mile section of gravel on it due to road works.  Then we turned onto another small highway, only to come back to the highway we were just on.  It basically bypassed the small town it went through, but not sure why as there was very little time savings and almost no distance savings.   Another issue Maps has been causing me. 

Since I was not in any hurry today, it was an interesting detour, but there are times when this happens and it annoys me.

I stopped in one of the smaller villages at a fuel station to use the restroom and buy some food as I was hungry.  Ate out by the bike and then got going again.

I headed south on the highway now and we passed through the town of Green Springs.

Just south of there is the location of Taliesin, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright in this area and where one of the design schools is located.  There is also a visitor center nearby, and a bit south is more of the school in the small village of Wyoming.

I did not have time to stop and take the tours, but did see the buildings from the road.

I pulled off the highway a bit farther for a scenic overlook.

Walked down the path way from the parking lot only to find a small viewing area, but no view.  The trees were so overgrown in the area that you could not see past them other than one small spot that barely let you see the hills in the distance.

I went back up to the parking lot and walked the path up hill which came to a bridge that goes over the highway. 

The parking areas are setup so you have to use the parking on your side of the highway, you cannot cross the lanes to get into the other (well, you can, but signed otherwise).

The bridge allows the far side of the roads parking to reach the viewpoint.

The bridge itself has a far better view though, and the wire mesh covering is loaded with lots of pad locks and other trinkets, most dedicated to someone who passed away, or a couple celebrating their togetherness.

I left this area and not much farther south reached my next planned stop.

The Don Q Inn is a hotel on the edge of town that had a huge Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter Aircraft sitting in front of it.  The hotel itself is interesting in that most of the rooms are theme rooms, dating back to the 70s, though many have been updated from what I was able to find out.

I had thought about staying here a night, but all the really cool rooms I would want were booked, so dropped that idea.

The plane is accessible to the public, and you can walk up some stairs to get inside.

The interior is beat up, age, exposure, and probably years of people taking bits have left it less than it was originally.  The cockpit is missing lots of equipment, though some of that might have been removed before the plane was sold off.

While it has a paint scheme with the hotel name on it, you can still see the former paint lettering for the California Air Guard on the side.

After exploring the inside and taking some photos, we left and headed down the road a bit.

Stopped at a convenience store to get some food as I was hungry again and needed something to drink as well.  Also needed to use the restroom.

We then took a small county road that would link up with the highway outside of town to avoid going through the middle of town.

Another 20 minutes and we came to the next stop.

We pulled off the highway and a bit north to reach the Cave of the Mounds.

This small park contains a small cave that was accidentally discovered in 1939 when they were blasting at the quarry site that existed at the time.

When the smoke cleared from one of the blasting sessions, they found the gaping hole in the ground and soon after they entered the cave.

The cave had been a closed system, no access point beyond cracks and seams in the ground.

The cave is a bout 1/3 of a mile long and goes down at least 70 feet below the surface.  It appears there might be small passages going deeper, but those are not accessible to tourists, and may not go very far either.

Both ends of the cave taper off and disappear into cracks, and while they did search, no other chambers were found in the area.

I bought my ticket and then went over to the gift shop which is where the tours start.

After getting scanned in (which took some time, scanner was not working right), the lady helping me gave me the safety and rules speech, then took me inside the cave and took my photo (so they can sell it to you later).

She did explain that today was one of the museum tour days, which means instead of having a guide take you through the cave, you get to wander the cave at your own pace, and they have staff at various points to explain the features and answer questions.

I really like that kind of setup.

Once photo was done, I got in behind the group that had entered just before me and followed them for a bit till I could sneak past them.

The cave descended a bit and had some narrow passages to navigate.

Then it went back up and passed by the entrance, and into a much larger chamber.  From here you go up some, and then along a small passage and back down.

Then you enter a very narrow and small passage that I barely fit through and the formations get really interesting along here.

The cave then becomes much smaller and a large number of formations.  To protect this area, they did not want to make passages in there, nor would they have been easily accessible anyway, so they dug a passage parallel to the real cave and exposed sections of it along they way so you could see into it without entering it.

At the end you can see down a long passageway toward where the cave ends.

You then return back around the really narrow passage (you could take this way in as well if you wanted) using more of the man-made cave.

Then you back track through the same large chamber and the stairs go up from there to the starting point.

When I reached it, the girl doing the photographs now asked what I thought.  Then she said that I could stay in the cave and explore it again if I wanted, which I took advantage of and went back into the first sections that I was stuck behind the larger group.

I was able to see some of the stuff better this time.

Also did a bit more filming where I could talk since there were less people around.

I did not go all the way back again, since it was now busy, and left the cave at that point.

Once out I used the restrooms, and then went back to the bike.

I had been a bit worried when I pulled up as the parking lot was quite full, several dozen cars, so it is a busy place.  There was no motorcycle specific parking, so just parked in among the cars, and since I had all the gear on the bike still, and you could not take anything in the cave with you, nor would they store it, it had to be left on the bike (or in your car).

I wore the riding jacket as I knew it would be cooler inside, and then dug out the bike cover and put it over the bike.  It actually fit nicely over all the bags.

Since everything was covered, not easy to mess around with anything, though a really determined thief could have just removed the cover, but that would be more noticeable if someone was doing so.

I got back on the bike and headed back to the highway.

Once there I rode along till I reached a turn off that would take me on some smaller highways instead of going toward the Interstate which is what Maps wanted to do.

Once on the back highway, things were going nicely until I reached a point where the highway was closed going farther.  Had to detour, so followed that for a bit until I reached a point where it was going to take me back north, so instead took the south bound highway that would eventually take me to the town I needed.

Well, maybe not.

Few miles down the road, that highway was closed as well.

Wisconsin sure does not want you travelling south east in this region.

I stopped at a gas station to figure out the best route to take now and then bought some more to drink.

I ended up taking the highway that went a bit north, but it would drop me over by the Interstate.  The other routes would take longer and leave me on far side of town from my hotel.

The Interstate route would take me right to the hotel almost, just off the exit a short way.

Reached the exit, turned off and found the hotel.

Checked in and then took my helmet and jacket up to the room.

Came down and went outside to move the bike closer to the building and just as I was backing up, some car pulls into the lot and takes the spot I was going for.  3^rd time today that I am 2 seconds too late to do what I wanted to do.

Had to move a few spots down as the idiot also took up two parking spots.

Went inside and grabbed the luggage cart and unloaded the bike, then secured and covered.

Took the cart up to the room to unload and then back down.

Then we got out of the riding gear and took a cool shower before sitting in the room to rest a bit.

Finally decided to go get dinner and walked over a few blocks to a local Mexican place.

Food was good, and not badly priced.

Came back to the hotel and completed another video, and then worked on the blog.

Now I am going to go to bed, will upload the blog tomorrow.

I have two places I will visit tomorrow.  One is just a few miles south of here, and should take about 2-3 hours to see.

Other is an hour east of here, and should also be a 2-3 hour visit.

Then I will return to the hotel and take care of any other uploads and hopefully work on more video.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Cats and Trains, but not at the same time.

August 7, 2026

Baraboo, Wisconsin

Woke to alarm at 8:00am, but was not ready to get up yet, so laid back down.  Probably shouldn’t have.

Woke again at around 9:30am.  This was the time I was supposed to be leaving the room to go see some stuff today.

Got up, showered and dressed. 

Grabbed a few things I would need today and then the bike gear at went out to the bike.

Uncovered and setup what I needed, then plotted the short route to my first stop. (Probably could have done it without, but nice to have reminder for turns).

Left the parking lot of the hotel out the back way as the main road is divided and cannot just got across.

Went down 2 blocks to the main road I needed to use to leave town and headed west.

Once past the big highway interchange and its two round abouts, the highway narrowed into a small country back road rolling through the hills.

It is a bit overcast today, but thankfully not raining, though you can feel the humidity levels, probably going to be a bit uncomfortable today with the gear on.

It took about 15 minutes to reach my first stop today.

I am visiting the Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue and Education center.

This facility gives homes for large cats that are needed someplace to go.  Many of them come from closed down zoos, animal photo operations, and private owners (legal or otherwise).  They also take cats in from other rescues for various reasons.

They work on with the large cats, and have a fair-sized complex of enclosures for the animals to use.  The place even has 2 good sized cabins you can rent and stay on the property. (I wish I had known that before I booked my hotel, would have done that instead!)

I parked the bike; put stuff I needed in pants pockets and stuffed jacket in the panniers and left helmet on the bike.  It is pretty remote here (though actually right next to small town just on other side of trees surrounding place), so should not have any issues with someone coming by and taking anything.

As is typical for me, I arrive at a place where there is no one, and by time I get bike and gear sorted, two other cars have arrived and gotten in front of me.

Waited my turn to pay my entry fee and then wandered into the enclosure field.

About half of the enclosures are empty right now.  From what I overheard one of the caretakers discussing, they have lost 7 cats to disease or old age in the last year.  All the white tigers and the black panther they had have passed on now.

They still have several lions, tigers, a liger (not common), few servals and a lynx.

The first occupied enclosure was a tiger, but she was having nothing to do with people and laying in the grass way in the back.

Next was the Liger, and this was where I caught up with the caretaker who was kind of walking along trying to get the animals to engage some (most of them do respond to their names and seem to come up if the caretakers are present).

Gypsy was here name and she seems pretty tame, playing with him through the fencing and rolling around in the dirt and just being a big goofy cat.

Next up was a large male lion named Megatron.  He was pretty chill, just laying there watching, but not really moving or reacting much to anything.

Next was a male and female lion, younger.  The male was just laying on top of the large cement culvert inside they use for shade, watching us and the female.  She was pacing back and forth along the front of the enclosure, not really seeming to be bothered by caretaker or us, just restless, I guess.

While I was talking and filming her, she started to roar quite a bit, very deep and loud.  Kind of cool, and got much of it on film.

Next, we came to 3 enclosures that all contained African Servals.  The caretaker saw one go into the shelter at the back of the enclosure and commented that she would likely not be out again till dinner time.

The small girl in next spot, named Stella, was hiding in the grass, but came to his call and walked a bit at the front of the enclosure, hissing a bit when he would try to engage with her.  She is newest cat at the complex, and had been privately owned and lived in house with other cats, so might be a bit strange being in more natural environment, but she has adjusted pretty good in here time at the rescue.

The 3^rd Serval was laying in the grass in a pen built into the middle of his enclosure, but was well hidden, and also unlikely to come out again.

At this point the caretaker and rest of the group I had been walking with moved ahead since I had stayed behind to film a few of the cats.  They were not beyond ear shot, so could not hear the conversations.

I stopped at the spot for the Canadian Lynx, but he was not visible, and sign even said he rarely came out in the daytime hours.

I then rejoined the group in front of the next spot, which housed a huge Bengal Tiger named Harley.

Harley was actually born in the rescue.  His parents came in right around the pandemic, and due to the restrictions, the vet was unable to get out there in time to “fix” the animals and the female became pregnant.

While we were talking, Harley was being quite a feisty cat.  Turns out he is wilder than most of the animals and they cannot handle him much; he is a bit of a bad kitty you might say.

I find it interesting that a cat born in the rescue and with human contact since birth would end up retaining more of the wild nature than those that might have had other history, though that information was not always available, and most had spent time with humans in some capacity.

I spent some time trying to get Harley to engage some, but he mostly ignored me.

Next was a Siberian tiger named Lucy.  She did respond when you called her name with some chuffing, but mostly just paced the fence or wandered into the back sections of the enclosure.

The final cat was Minocqua, who is the mother of Harley. A Bengal tiger female.  She also wandered up and down the fence a bit, and then went back to lay in the grass near her shelter.

I went around the place twice, and the cats were getting more sedentary, most were already laying in grass in back areas, or resting in the shade or back inside the shelters at the back.

I stopped at the gift shop, and since I needed a clean shirt to wear so I could do laundry later, I bought another t-shirt.

When I went up to the front to pay for it at the ticket booth, she was actually closing it up and grabbed a bucket with some chicken in it to feed to one of the cats.  I was able to infer from things said that the couple and child that were with her had bought a “snack” for one of the tigers.  Basically, had paid extra to watch a feeding.

I tagged along, and I guess since I had bought the shirt, they were okay with me watching as well.

The cat chosen was the Liger, who happily took the half chicken, then wandered into center of enclosure and started to lick it and slowly eat. 

The caretaker finally had to tell her there was another and show it, then the cat quickly finished eating and came up for the next one.  She grabbed it, shook it around some and then again went to center to eat.

For some reason there were 3 chicken halves in the bucket, so she asked the people if they were okay with giving that one to the next cat over, the lion Megatron. 

It was at this point that I headed back to the front so I could leave.  Was getting warm and humid, very little breeze in the field, and was hungry, and needed to go eat before my afternoon adventures.

Went back to bike, packed things up, geared up and left the parking lot.

I rode back the way I had come till I reached a small county highway and took it south to the small town of North Freedom.

I stopped here for lunch at a small train themed bar and grill.

Had a good lunch, then rode a mile out of town to the west to reach the Mid-Continent Railroad Museum.

Similar to the place I visited in Alberta, it was a large yard with several locomotives and carriages of different types.  Only here a good number were stored inside, and many fully restored.  Lots of stuff parked outside as well.

Part of the mission of the group that runs the place is the restoration of trains and cars, many back to the livery they carried when operating in the Wisconsin area back in the day.  (The actual car might not have been there, but was the same model and type as cars that did).

The big draw to this place is also the operational railroad they have.  It is a short distance of just a few miles using old tracks built for some mines in the area, all now closed.   The rail route was bought by the organization and they have two operational locomotives, 4 passenger carriages and a caboose that will run up and down the tracks a few times a day.

Access to the place is only $5, but you can also gain access by buying a ride on the train instead.  Many do that, riding in the carriages while the staff give you a history of the area.  A bit extra allows you to ride in the caboose if you want, or, you can do like I did and ride in the locomotive with the engineer! (cost a bit more again).

I had booked my ride for the 3:00pm train, intending to explore the site first.

However, when I arrived, it was just a few minutes before 1:00pm, and she asked if I wanted to ride that one instead.  So, she rebooked me into that slot and I had about 3 minutes to get my ticket punched and get aboard the train.

I went out to the locomotive, and they guy told me to first see the station guy who was punching the ticket, so went over to him and then back to the locomotive and climbed aboard.

We got going soon after, and then I was able to talk with the engineer a bit, where he answered my questions, and provided additional information along those same lines if I did not ask, but he figured I might want to know.

The ride out took about 20 minutes, then we stopped, decoupled from the cars, and using the 2^nd set of tracks, moved to locomotive to the back of the train for the return trip.

I was interesting to watch the exchange of actions between the engineer and the trainman to move the loco past the track switches, then the tracks were switched and train moved to the next switch and so on.

Took a good 20-25 minutes to reposition the locomotive.

While we were waiting, they also had a platform next to the locomotive allowing those in the carriages to climb up and look inside and talk with the engineer, spent a few minutes doing that prior to moving to the back.

Once we had the loco hooked back to the cars, and everything was checked and validated as working, we headed back to the main station.

Once there, they again decoupled the locomotive and moved it back to the front.  Not sure if I was supposed to stay on, but they did not say anything about me getting off and did not seem to have a problem with me staying on for the action.

Once back at the front of the train, I did exit the locomotive.

I then went and explored the other buildings and sites.

Most of the cars inside were nicely lit and restored, however, you could not actually get inside any of them.  A few platforms allowed you to look inside, but only a few.  Some signage for most, but did not take time to read most of them as the history of carriages is usually not that exciting.

I finished looking at the inside exhibits and then walked some of the areas beside and behind the buildings.

Not sure if we were supposed to be back there, but no one seemed to have an issue with it and several people did see me walking among the older, unrestored cars.

I did not enter the restoration building where they restore the carriages though.  All the doors were open and guys were working, and I did see a sign that looks like they do invite the public inside, but that sign was also not displayed, was tucked inside a doorway along the wall, so thinking it was not accessible today.

I then walked over by the main station and looked at the outside trains there and a few small buildings.  Then we used the restroom, visited the gift shop just to see what they had, then went back to the bike to prepare to leave.

Like the first time, I had left jacket in pannier and helmet on the bike.

Not a very busy place, though more people than at the cat place, but was fairly sure no one would bother the bike.

Once geared up, we headed back into town, then back up to the highway.

We then returned into the main town.

I wanted to stop and get something to drink, so pulled into the Aldi store that is 3 buildings down from the hotel.

Major disappointment.  Very little in the way of beverages.  Nearly everything was large packages, few things sold individually, and none of it cold. 

I did buy a gallon of water as I needed to refill my pack and bottle, but would have to find drinks elsewhere.

I rode across the street and though about checking the Walgreens, but decided to just visit the convenience store instead.  Might cost more, but should have good selection of individual items and they would be cold already.

Bought two Cokes and two cans of tea for tonight and possibly take them to next hotel if I do not use them.

Rode back over to the hotel, unloaded everything and secured and covered the bike.

I then worked on some video for the cat rescue I had taken today while also doing my laundry.

They only charge $2 a wash and $2 a dry here, but only have 1 washer and 1 dryer.  Thankfully no one else was using them since it was only about 4:00pm.

Sadly, they were out of laundry soap in the dispenser they sell from.  I just did the washing without soap, still cleans much of the dirt and odor.

After clothes were done, I had just completed the cat rescue video, so decided to walk back over to the same restaurant again tonight for dinner.

Had a pizza and some fried mushrooms tonight, but pizza was too big (and that was the small).  Ate way too much and feeling it now.

Walked back to the room and worked on a few things, then typed up this blog entry.

Will get it online and upload the video as well tonight. 

Then I need to plan for tomorrow.  Have a few options.  Can go see some other sites in places no more than an hour away, though need to think about the place since the bike will be fully loaded again, cannot leave all that gear unattended in a busy location.

I could find another hotel a bit farther south to stop at after that as well.

Or I could forget all the stuff and just make my way toward Chicago.  That is a 4-hour ride, so can also do maybe 1 thing and still head that way.

I need to decide, and also book a room yet depending on where I decide to go.

I do need to reach Chicago by Sunday as I need to start the Route 66 leg so I can complete it in time to reach AZ by the beginning of September.

Will let you know what I decide tomorrow!

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route