Trip from Minnesota Summer 2025

We had plenty of adventures on our way home from Granny and Grandpa's house in Minnesota. The first day we drove to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where we stayed the night and went to Wisco's for dinner. The restaurant features local flavors and local brews. I had Surly Brewing Company's This Beer Is Niiice, a golden ale that was refreshing. I paired it with the Charred Chicken Bowl from their "Scontrees" menu. That's not "scones" plus "trees;" it is the last half of the state name substituted in for the first syllable of "entrees." Pretty clever, huh? It was a delightful meal.

A satisfying beer!

We got up the next morning and drove to Wisconsin Dells where an uncle was able to get us day passes to Kalahari Water Park, a combination indoor and outdoor water park with lots of slides, two lazy rivers and plenty of other water fun. Some of the slides were really fun, some took a bit of a hit on my back. Those were the "extreme" slides where riders don't use a raft or tube--riders cross their ankles and hold their hands behind their heads. My daughter rode them but her swimsuit is practically a UV t-shirt for the top so she had a layer between her and the surface of the ride. She didn't get dinged up like I did.

Other rides (with rafts or floating rings) were more fun for me. We did a lot of walking up stairs all day. Too bad my wife was not wearing her Fitbit at the waterpark!

The entrance

The lobby

Wave pool and slides

More of the wave pool

"Extreme" slides

Hot tub and lazy river

The resort does have an outdoor water park which is not open all year because they are located in Wisconsin. It had some fun slides (including one where you wound up in what looks like roulette wheel) but waiting in line in the sunshine was not my favorite.

The outdoor park

We spent almost the whole day there, leaving just before dinner time. We went to The Fudgery nearby for ice cream to tide us over until dinner in our next stop: Whitewater, Wisconsin.

The Fudgery

Driving further south, we stopped at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana. It's a large farm and museum with a convention center. Everything is top of the line. 

Main building at Fair Oaks Farms

We ate lunch there. Since they are a farm, they had a lot of emphasis on cheese and dairy products. I got the 1/2 grilled cheese sandwich and beef chili topped with cheese and sour cream. It was delightful. I also had a local root beer, Triple XXX Root Beer. I am still puzzled why there is three Xs and the word "Triple" before them. Is it supposed to be six or nine?

Lunch!

The transport between farm locations also uses "farm fresh" products 

Another building in walking distance has an indoor high ropes course. Three of us signed up for it but only one of us made full use of all the levels.

High ropes course

Did I really stand like that?

Crossing confidently

Hanging hopefully

Resting...restfully?

Our next stop was Indianapolis where we met our niece to catch up. We went out to a ramen shop and did some geocaching. We had a lot of fun and took no pictures.

The next day was the mad rush to finally make it home. We spent about ten hours driving, with some short stops for gas, food, and geocaching.