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