We visited the Prisoner of War camp Museum in Algona but I didn’t take any pictures. It was an interesting story, how the camps in Wisconsin and Iowa were built to handle to tens of thousands of German prisoners taken after the victory in Africa.
They worked on farms and in factories, helping replace the men who had gone off to war.
Some funny stories included two prisoners who escaped from the camp but where recaptured later the same day. They had just gone to the local county fair!
At the airplane museum we had visited they had pieces of the plane that Buddy Holly died in. We left West Bend headed East and about 50 miles down the road passed thru Clear Lake Iowa where Buddy played his last ever concert before taking off in that plane. The Surf Ballroom is still there, now with a shrine to Buddy Holly and the others that dies that winter night.
Our next stop was to visit our friends David and Sheri near Janesville Wisconsin. We have stayed there before on their little “Ranch” with the dogs, sheep and horses and immediately felt at home.
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| Camping by the workshop with David and Sheri |
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https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2020/08/as-far-east-as-we-will-get-this-year.html
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| Sunsetting over the barn |
We basically just hung out with them for a couple of weeks, eating out, eating in, going to their friends place for a cook out. So yes we ate a lot! We got some small jobs on the RV done – fixing doors, caulking here and there, stuff we’ve meant to do but kept using the excuse of moving on soon to not do them.
I had a discussion with Sheri’s Mom Kathy about the vertigo we both suffer from and it was interesting to hear her story in detail. She was interested in hearing mine too so that was productive. Sheri’s Mom is an author and has quite a list of books she’s had published. She is a Sci-Fi author.
Then as always it got to be time to move on again. The 2 weeks we had spent with only 15 amp power and access to a hose bibb if we wanted water.
Luckily there is a Camping World about 10 miles away with a free dump station and propane fill station. On the way out of Janesville we would need to dump the tanks and fill the propane before our next stop near Sturgeon Bay WI.
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| Ritchie and his cool Indian Motorcycle |
Sturgeon Bay we picked because a friend from San Diego, Ritchie, is working in nearby Marinette WI at the shipyard there. We haven’t seen him in years either. He was going thru the process of buying a house and the call saying his offer had been accepted came thru as we sat in the RV chatting!
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| Catching up on the last 10 years! |
We were heading South and along the way was the Mackinaw Bridge and Mackinaw Island. Last time we came this way we skipped the island, so this time we spent a few days and explored.
The Elks Lodge in Gaylord Michigan provided a unique place to stay. Not only were we camped at the Elks but immediately next door to our rig was the City Elks Park.
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| Elk and Roe Deer |
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| Huge antlers on the Elk |
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| Ferry to Mackinaw Island |
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| Beautiful horses pulling the carraige tours |
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| Bicycles are everywhere |
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| Downtown |
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| Betting slip for the Elks Lodge races |
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| Horses at the gallop |
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| Bourbon display at the Frazier Museum, Behind one of the cabinets was a hidden Speakeasy |
Our collection of Elks Lodge pins has reached 180 and there are only 6 states left that we don’t have a pin from. Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Alaska and Hawaii. Obviously we collected a Kentucky Lodge pin and our next stop was going to be Kansas!
