Our plan was to go explore Madison, Wisconsin. We also wanted to drive around the University of Wisconsin. We have always enjoyed looking at college campuses. We took the girls. They had been in the RV more than usual for our work week so they were due a day out.
Madison is about a 45 minute drive from Baraboo. We drove through lots and lots of farmland with corn growing as far as we could see. Wisconsin is known for its dairy farming so I guess they need a lot of corn to feed those cows.
As we entered Madison, we made our way towards the Capitol building. It sits very prominently on a hill.
THE GRAY CLOUDS BLENDING WITH THE GRAY OF THE BUILDING MADE FOR A BIT OF AN APOCALYPTIC LOOK
There was a huge farmer's market that wrapped all around the capitol. There were so many vendors and there wares ranged from cheeses and meats to flowers, fruits and vegetables. As we prepared to cross the street to shop the market, we saw a "Dogs Prohibited" sign posted. Needless to say, we did not get as close to the market as we would have liked. I did walk over and check out a cheese vendor. They had multiple samples of cheeses. They had beer cheese, tomato basil cheese, garlic cheese, jalapeno cheese, habanero cheese etc... We did a bit more market exploring and then we started walking around the city. Madison is a lovely and very walkable city. The area around the market is full of restaurants and shops and lacks sky scrapers. We came across the Canterbury book store and Megan stepped in for a look. I went to the ice cream store and got a Neapolitan gelatto milkshake. Can you say "huge sugar buzz?" Rob and I stood under the bookstore awning and shared the shake while Megan book shopped. Annie and I had to eventually go in and root her out. It started to rain so we made our way back to the car.
We got in the car and went in search of the University of Madison Arboretum. We found it and we were once again presented with a "no dogs allowed" sign. By this point, I was beginning to think that Madison was not a dog friendly city. We drove in, turned around and headed back out. We did see these on the way out.
ARBORETUM TURKEYS
Except for the dog thing, Madison appears to be a great city. Rob and I had often read articles on the Top Cities to Retire In and we could see why Madison ranked in that group. We also noticed miles and miles of biking, walking and running trails. I would imagine they are also used for cross country skiing in the winter. Madison also has a couple of very large lakes. I am sure dogs get to go many places but not the market or arboretum.
We left Madison and went to Sauk City, WI. It was on the way back to Baraboo and we had found a trail along the river. We got the girls out and went for a good long walk. There was river access and Penny Lane got to go for a swim. That pretty much made her day. She zoomed down the embankment and hit the water. She paddled and flopped around for a bit and then ran back up the embankment to finish her walk. Annie did what Annie does when there is water. She acted as though it did not exist.
We also had a little fun with a six foot basketball goal.
DUNK!!!
Our river walk was a great way to end our day exploring. We headed back to Baraboo via a different route and just enjoyed the countryside.
Everyone took a bit of a break before dinner. We went to a local diner and got a bite to eat. I was more focused on a huge cinnamon roll sitting on a glass covered cake dish than anything else in the diner.
I TOOK ONE HOME.
We left the diner and went back to Lewis to watch a movie. Rob had rented a movie called The Program. It was the story of Lance Armstrong and his many years of cheating on the Tour De France. I pretty much slept through the entire thing.
We'd had a good time of exploring and we were ready for bed.
Another great day in this thing we call life.
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