Takin' the Blog for a Walk
Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Email Brien at howlinblog@yahoo.com.
couple cups short of a pot
Got more miles per cup of coffee this weekend, but not exactly by choice.
I started the first pot at quarter to four Saturday morning after the alarm went off. Only drank one cup, because you never know where, or if, you'll have a chance to stop while hot air balloon chasing.
The day started a little earlier than normal because we were to pick up our passengers near Lake Geneva for a morning flight. An interesting flight over the lake with one other balloon. I drove the chase vehicle with a navigator that'd been crewing just once before. Neither of us too familiar with the area, and at times we lost visual contact, radio contact, and our way. But it was a beautiful morning for floating over a lake, they landed safely, and she said yes.
The couple in the balloon we were chasing became engaged over Lake Geneva while most people slept Saturday, and while we were struggling to get around a very wide lake to meet them.
The day's next adventure was to be a balloon tether at Heidi Fest in New Glarus, if afternoon weather cooperated. I really wanted to help with this, but first comes grocery shopping.
I didn't get home from crewing in Lake Geneva and shopping until almost noon, and by then the coffee pot was off.
"Dad, you don't have any plans for today, do you?"
"Well, yeah. I do."
"Is it something you can do another time?"
"No, not really." I hadn't been to New Glarus in years and had never been to the annual festival.
My son had free tickets to Country USA music fest in Oshkosh.
"Do you have any idea how far away Oshkosh is?"
I hadn't seen my son since he got his driver's license, so I thought we might spend quality time together like we use to. He told me parking was $20. I knew we'd drop $25 for a t-shirt. Gas and food... I knew we'd be spending.
But I'd promised to help at Heidi Fest, so we'd wait for the phone call around 3:00 to let us know about the weather.
Though it's a long drive, I wanted to be with my son, even if it seemed he was using me for the ride. So when I heard it was going to be too windy with a chance of rain I felt relieved.
We arrived around 5:00 after the 90 mile drive. We bought a shirt and food, but no drinks. Parking was only $15. Even though it rained a little, we enjoyed a wonderful evening together and left at midnight after the last of three performers.
I don't recommend trying this at home: Do not attempt to drive 90 miles at midnight after getting up before 4:00 in the morning. It just doesn't work well. But my excuse is we had to stay for the headliner because his shirt is the one we just spent $25 for!
I love my son, but "do you have any idea how far Fort Atkinson is?"
Once again I find myself travelling far and wide just to spend some time with Nick, as today he wanted to watch his girlfriend in her softball tournament. (Tomorrow he's going to a Brewer game. I have to work.)
As long as I was in the Ft. Atkinson area I thought I'd look into Aztalan State Park over by Lake Mills. I stopped at a small museum outside the park first and paid $3 to look around the several buildings. Before I could do that, though, it was mentioned that the author of a book on Aztalan gives tours of the park every Sunday at 1:00, and it was just after 1:00.
I left the museum in a hurry, paid my $7 to get into the state park, and met my tour guide... not the author of the book - he took the day off. Had a good tour though and learned a lot about the Mississippian Culture of Native Americans from a thousand years ago.
I left with enough time to visit the museum before it's 4:00 close since I already paid. I think I definitely appreciated the museum's Aztalan artifacts more after visiting the park than I would've before.
This weekend took me as far southwest as Lake Geneva. West to Fort Atkinson and Aztalan. North to Oshkosh. I spent a lot of quality time with my son, but boy am I glad to be home!
0 COMMENTS