UPDATED - Grutz says, "As long as we head north and west, we'll get there." or "I'm middle aged, aren't I? You'd tell me, right?"

Forget the expressways, we're taking back roads!
En route to our bed and breakfast in Wisconsin we ran into some traffic.  And by some, of course I am referring the the ever so spectacular Friday-get-the-hell-out-of-Chicago traffic.  Our exit on I-90 was waaaaaaaaay backed up, so I decide/delcared, "Forget this".  We were relatively close to the Wisconsin boarder, it's literally a question of direction.  My wonderful, amazing, patient, and gorgeous wife put her fears aside to my bold decision.  We don't need no stinkin' gps system!  We had a map.  And Carleen, by all appearances, was cool with it.  In my mind it was simple, north and west.  No problem, right?  Exactly.  Made it there, no worries.

It actually reminded me of driving from Chicago to Dubuque way back in high school.  A bunch of friends would load in to a car and leave directly from Wahlert to head to Chicago to catch a band on a Friday night.  Now on the way back we'd be all jazzed (and for the record, anyone who knows who I ran with in high school knows we were jazzed in the most honest sense, would all our folks let go to Chicago if we weren't upstanding citizens? That's right.) or sleeping so we'd miss the highway 20 exit in Rockford.  All of a sudden we'd be passing into Wisconsin.  What to do?!?!  Take a left, head west, eventually you'd run into the Mississippi River and Iowa.  No getting upset or worried.  Cardinal directions will get you home.  Kind of like our journey to Stoughton, Wis.

The Stoughton Courthouse.  Full of small-town Wisconsin charm.  (Not pictured, the nice art galleries, fine dining, and total dive-bars.  It's Wisconsin and what's a small-town Wisconsin without a half-dozen or so dive-bars?!?)

Ok, back on the task at hand.  As I mentioned in the previous post, my lovely wife inquired after a B&B.  Well, I found one, in Stoughton, Wisconsin.  We've never been there before, but, from my observations, it's in that Scandinavian/Swiss corridor that include Mt. Horeb, Monroe, and New Glarus, friendly, interesting,  and fun.  We had reservations at the Naeset-Roe Inn.  Carl and his charming dogs we're exceptional hosts.  He had long list of places of interest, shops, and fine cuisine around town.  We settled for the Main Street Pour House (get it, "pour" house?!?!? They pour beer!  Get it?!?!) for some good eats, a brew, and some local kareoke.  Including a singer giving a shout out to unions! Which received a hearty and positive respond from the bar-goers.  It was great, but we were tired so we I turned down any opportunity to belt out The Bay City Rollers', "Saturday Night".

Oh.My.God. It's a single rainbow over the Main Street Pour House.  Good food, great beer selections, and refreshingly entertaining local kareoke.  Really!

Naeset-Roe Inn.  Highly recommended on the Healy-Grutz scale.  We give it a  3 1/2 cranberry-orange scones out of 4. (C'mon, it's a B&B, scones is a staple, har har har!)

We made it back to the Naeset-Roe Inn and crashed, only after Carleen enjoyed the whirlpool bath.  We woke early, made it down to breakfast, met the other boarders, and consumed more delicious calories than you can shake a stick at, even vigorously.  The two other couples were in town for a concert, Tim O'Brien and Bryan Sutton.  I've heard of these two pickers/blue-grass/americana fellas before so it was a great conversation.  Carleen and I have stayed in numerous B&Bs over our short (though magical) time together, and we both enjoy the innkeepers and the guest so.  I would recommend a B&B any day over a regular hotel.  Sure, you're paying a bit more, but you can't put a price tag on the experience.

Birthday and Baraboo!
After the coma-inducing breakfast, Carleen and I hopped in the Forester and head to our next destination.  And where was that?  Well, nowhere in particular, eventually Baraboo, of course, but it was early and it was time to explore.  We visited Oregon (Wisconsin!) and then headed toward Madison.  We ventured into the city center, abandoning the safety and security of the beltway.  We circle the capitol building couple of times, giving our support to the protesters.  If you don't know what I'm referring to you ought to have something terrible happen to you.  I still can't believe that crap went down Wisconsin, of all places, in Madison?!?!?  Welcome to Mad-City.  Progressive HQ of the state.  It was great.  There were even cops protesting in support of the unions.  Like working an 8 hour day?  Thank the unions.  I'll stop now.

We then made it out of Madison, stopping in Black Earth, enjoying Sauk City, and eventually ending up in Baraboo.  We strolled through the quaint main street square (where people were taking signatures for recall of the governor/state senators.  Wisconsin is taking this union sh!t seriously!), stopping at The Village Booksmith (which has a ridiculously pathetic website that I won't dare link here, but it's still a neat store), grabbing some joe at Coffee Bean Connection, and getting some great flowers for Jane at Amber Moon.

We drove through the countryside surrounding Baraboo and finally made it to Jim and Jane's.  If you're new to the blog, I'v known Jim and Jane for roughly 30 years. They were our landlords/friends way back on Lincoln in Dubuque and we've been friends since.  Add they've appeared in this blog in the past here, here, and here (this particular link include Jane's sister, Marcia and her husband Steve, who made it to Jane's party in Baraboo). We were in town to celebrate Jane's 60th birthday.  Food, drinks, and good times ensued.  Sure I can go into the details, and I'm sure I will, (in my memoirs!), but it was a grand gathering of friends and family.  We got to finally meet Mike and Jean, exceptional folks that I've heard so much about over the years, but hadn't met.  I will elaborate on this fantastic couple in the future as their story is an excellent one and it has a resounding Iowa connection(!). Enough of your ramblings....photos!

OK.  I can only seem to upload one photos at this time.  I will include more asap.

Jane and her brother-in-law Steve from S. Dakota.  Baraboo! Catch the fever!  Steve was stoked to be back in Wisconsin, especially to grab some Leinie's and New Glarus brews

Not only is she smart and beautiful, Carleen is a mean candle-lighter.

Jane and Jim.  Awwwwwwwwwww.

As per the question of being middle-aged from above.....so as the festivities progressed through the night and into the wee morning, Carleen and I called it a night at 2 am while many others were still up and about, having a joyous time.  It was such a wonderful party and everyone had a grand time, including us.  But it begs the question, if 50+, 60+ year old are partying it up and we, Carleen and I in our early 30s, are crashing, are we middle aged?  Yes, young people annoy me at times.  I talk about the weather.  I am slowly finding it harder to tolerate ineptness in services.  I insulate things.  I'm still down with new music, as long as it's tolerated by NPR.  I complain about mundane and in-the-grand-scheme-of-things unimportant.

Good god, I'm middle aged.  And that's ok. But it doesn't mean I'm giving up the ghost.  I reckon I'll get a mo-hawk tomorrow, yeah, that's the youthful action I can take to secure my 'hipness' at 33.  I'll still rock out with the Firebird, fuzz pedal, and amp at 6 (ok, really at 1.25 and only before 8 pm. D'oh, see! I'm too damn considerate. I am middle-aged!).  Needless to say, the weekend was a blast.  I'm not terribly worried at my own mortality or lack of acting like I did when I was younger, but it was insightful the witness it happening firsthand.  And speaking of mellowing down, I watched a great Harry Nilsson documentary entitled, Who is Harry Nilsson (and why is everybody talking about him).  Check it out if you get a chance.  Ok, that paragraph was really random.

Get smart.  Not Shaka Smart (who's leading VCU into the Final Four, oh and he went to Kenyon (shout out to all my Kenyon peeps, take that Denison!)), just get smart.

Stanisław Leśniewski (March 30, 1886, Serpukhov – May 13, 1939, Warsaw) was a Polish Mathematician,philosopher, and logician.

Leśniewski went to a high school in Irkutsk. Later he attended lectures by Hans Cornelius at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and lectures by Waclaw Sierpinski at the Lviv University. Leśniewski belonged to the first generation of the Lwow-Warsaw School of Logic founded by Kazimierz Twardowski. Together with Alfred Tarski and Jan Lukasiewicz, he formed the troika which made the University of Warsaw, during the Interbellum, perhaps the most important research center in the world for formal logic.

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945) is an English guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.  Clapton ranked 4th in Rolling Stones magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.

Grutz says, "Darn it! No, really, you need to darn it." or "No, no, no, tell me more, more about the surprise."

Post-birthday glow.....
Carleen and I are still giddy from the effects of Saturday's (late) surprise birthday party.  Aunt Peggy sent us some more pictures from that joyous evening.  Without further ado.....

Shocking Carleen at the Honky Tonk BBQ, from l-r, Tim, Laura, Paul, Carleen, MarySue, a wee bit of Kristina, and my nose.

The happy birthday girl, Carleen, with super-fantastic-awesome pistachio cake.

Carleen eating my beard, like any good wife should.  Right?

The only drawback to this uber-boss night is that I have set the bar high for Carleen's next birthday.  I'd best get on that, only 350 days to go..........

Hey, I'm going to sew your a$$......
(Seriously, I have a million of 'em.  I suggest sending me money to stop with the terrible jokes, a guys got to make a living.)  So of the many domestic duties (hehehe, duty, hehe, honestly, send cash and I'll stop) I do around the apartment, needlework is one of my fondest.  Really.  I'm fixing something, using tools, and it can draw blood.  Manly. Oh, and instead of a scissors, I use my pocketknife, like a man.  So today I darned (I can't even begin to tell you how many awful jokes/puns I can put here) a few socks and re-attached all the buttons in Carleen's new, VINTAGE spring coat.  Yo, check it....

I placed the button just so.  It was ever so important for the light to dance off the mother of pearl.  I mean, yeah, it's reinforced with coated-kevlar thread with a pneumatic-piston suspension back-up.  I had to put it on the lift and use an a torque wrench, too.  Oh and I dropped an engine block on my foot, too.  But I didn't go the hospital, cos, you know, I'm manly.

Get Away Weekend!!! (Only one left in March!)
This Saturday we will be paying our great friends, Jim and Jane, a visit in Baraboo, WI (oooo, forgot to include THAT in our interesting city name game a while back) for Jane's 60th birthday party!  Carleen and I always have such a great time with them.  And we most certainly will report back with all the crazy details.  Soon.  But as for Friday, we are planning a nice b&b get away for the night.  So I have be entrusted to find a place with/that has/is (according to Carleen's commands): "romantic", "a tub", "a hot tub", "cute", "romantic", "bed & breakfast-y", "cute", "pool",  "nice".  I'd like to add in, on the way to Baraboo from Chicago, also.

Such is my quest now.  To find a place to stay to satisfy my lovely ladies (boy, that bad grammar would have got me in a warm pile of doggy poo!) lady's requirements.  Hopefully, I'll find success, as Wisconsin has a good number of wonderful b&b's (it also has atleast one douchebag governor, too).  Whew, calm down Nick.

Brainiac transformation: Execute!

William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Craft Movement. Morris wrote and published poetry, fiction, and translations of ancient and medieval texts throughout his life. His best-known works include The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems (1858), The Earthly Paradise (1868–1870), A Dream of John Ball (1888) and the utopian News from Nowhere (1890).


Norman Fell (March 24, 1924 – December 14, 1998) was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.


Yeah, that's a pretty long stretch.

Grutz says, "To witness the sun rising and setting."

The Bad Lands. An otherworldly place of beauty. I fell madly in love with this captivating landscape.

Greetings all from mountain time! Carleen has been a stunning and accurate scribe these last few days and I admit I can do little to match her writing prowess. But I will do my best! Other than driving approximately 1,500 miles (hence my lack of blogging), I have enjoyed some grand and exciting places and colorful characters. Here are some places:

The Needles of Custer State Park. A place I once climbed in '96. (Obviously not all of it, but a couple of routes.

Drop the $10 for parking, it's worth it. And if you haven't been to Rushmore since the new renovations then get your red, white, and blue butt out to S.D. ASAP.

Giddy up, lil' doggy! Cowboys, bisons, and pickups oh my! The round up was a spectacle, though a change from previous runs. There was a bit of grumbling from the roundup faithful. Since it was our first time, we loved it, tired and all.

Devil's Tower. Once you see it you know why Teddy made it the first National Monument. And there are climbers on it in this shot (you gotta squint).

The most fascinating events for me are the sunsets and the sunrises. Every park or monument changes drastically at these times and it's like I'm seeing them anew. I can go on about geography and topography, but the way the sun plays upon the land out here is moving.


And now for the characters:

Marcia (1/2 the dynamic duo of the hosts with the mosts) and Sammy the wonder corgi. I now know why Queen Elizabeth digs these canine.

The Great White Hunter Jim and his trusty sidekick, Nick, await the perfect shot.

A lovely nude canvas, dollar bills adorning the wall, a frosty brew, and my best gal at my side. No friends, your not witnessing Nick's dreams, your witnessing his reality. It's good being Nick

So now I'm sitting in a commercial campground in Cody, Wy typing in the dark (and I can't find the frickin apostrophe and I keep hitting the semi-colon and it's tickin me off!) because they have wifi, and hot showers, and laundry. Ok, I feel kind of bad not staying in a state park or national park, but then again we stayed at Steve and Marcia's campground for a couple of nights.

I reckoned that this trek out west would total disconnect from the reality I was used to. But thanks to SDPB and Wyoming Public Radio I am reeling in the news and events and discussions. No doubt I feared a lack of NPR while traveling into (gulp) red states, but I've been delighted at what I found. For example we we're leaving Gilette this morning and the local NPR station was playing some music that blew my mind, including an upcoming release from Danni Harrison and Ben Harper. It was great! Danni sounds eerily like his departed father. Who would have thunk I would have been hearing that in Wyoming? Ok, enough of my NPR rant, but trusted reader, understand I have been driving alot.

But this trip has made me feel a little off. I do enjoy not being tied to the cellphone, I've had it off for what feels like weeks due to lack of reception. It's a liberating feeling, yet at times I worry about missing something. I also feel a little disconnected since I'm not doing alot of things I normally do, such as play and listen to music. I didn't realize how much time I spend around music. I am jonesing for some guitar, I cannot lie.

So tomorrow we're off to Yellowstone. So the next time you here from me I'll tell you all about it and the unusual bear encounter with a happy ending, in the mean time, check out Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It has five different museums under one roof and your admission gives you two days to visit. Highly recommended if you visit Cody, it has something for everyone. Really.

And, once more, thank you Katie and Emmanuel for the best hammock in the world. It's boss.

Oh, and before I forget, I'll also include info on the 5 mile laser pointer and the cool/awesome jar........

Good to goetta!

So much has happened in the last few days, and we've had no time to catch up.  I almost feel like making a list and letting it go at that, but now, knowing that we have some loyal followers (Nana, Matty P, brother Matt, Jane) I have a sense of duty about sharing our lives.

Well today we packed in the love.  We said goodbye to my parents this morning, we even got up early and had Goetta and Grotta with mom before she trucked off to the Montessori kiddos.  If you are one that needs enlightenment, Grotta is the vegetarian form of Goetta, a Cincinnati staple that resembles sausage, made with spices, oats and pork.   The vegetarian version is delicious, made with steel cut oats and spices: think of the spice of a good slice of sausage with the texture of oatmeal, and then fried.

Mmmm, delicious. 

All we needed was a side of cheese grits and it would have been a classic Cincinnati Healy breakfast.  Moms biscotti tops it off, and as we can all attest, it is the best.

Hello from Cincinnati Healys!  We went for a sunset walk at French Park after dinner.   I practiced droving the Subaru and the mosquitos weren't so bad, I was pretty happy. 

Nick looks disenchanted, but it really was a nice walk.
Actually, there was a small, yippee dog gnarling on my ankle and I was trying not to grimace.- Nick

Whenever we are driving, I have a strong tendency to completely nod off and today, I serendipitously snoozed as we drive by Chicago, and thought, "how appropriate."  I think I am letting go of what was, and am settling on what is right now.   It is a content place to be.

We drove on and stopped for an iced tea and a chat in Madison, WI with my buddy Matt.  It was all too short, we'd barely started crumbling the wall of mild social awkwardness that always happens when friends haven't seen each other in forever before we had to go.  But as usual after a visit, I have renewed commitment to seeing Matt and other best friends soon!  It's just so good to be around old and true friends, there is something so grounding and simple about it.  No explanations necessary, no pretensions, words aren't even needed.  Sometimes it's enough just to be with the person.

Departing Madison, we headed to Baraboo, WI, where we were showered with map assistance and highway stories about driving west, bear encounters, and drunk indians.  Jim and Jane are Nick's non related relatives, they were neighbors in Dubuque and the families have remained close since.  They've done a lot of RV and road trips around the country, and they are going to be our contact for the Buffalo Roundup in Custer State Park on Monday.  They are great people to know and because of them, the gems of hidden byways of the West are now our privileged information.

Jim and Jane and I!  They take such good care of us, we might never leave.
The Square Bar, Baraboo WI.  "Hip to be square? Uh, like yeah."- Nick

I still have a ton more catching up to do, as this post is now officially "yesterday."  We are heading out of Baraboo, towards Sioux Falls, SD.  Tonight will be our first night of camping, might be completely in the rain, but we have a new tent that promises great things.

Thanks Mom and Dad, Matty P, and Jim and Jane for making our past few days so great!