Wisconsin Travel Diary

As I’m sure many of you know already from previous blog posts, late Sunday night I flew home after a lengthy fifteen-day vacation spent in a small town in Northern Wisconsin. This is the fifth year my sister Madison and I headed up there to spend time with our grandparents on our own and this trip was by far my favorite.

I honestly debated whether or not I should write a travel diary for my trip to Wisconsin because I already uploaded two Weekly Wrap Up’s which were a vague description of my trip but after asking for some blog post ideas on Instagram and receiving many comments asking for some travel related blog posts + a bit more lifestyle I decided why not just go ahead and upload one?! Plus, this is one of those blog posts that makes no difference to me whether people actually read it; I will look back on this post in years to come and remember these special moments and be so glad that I documented my days away.

I wish I could sit down and write in detail what we did each day like I did in my NYC Travel Diary but we would be here for literally hours so I’m going to try to give you the highlights. Starting off on July 15th when Madison and I waved goodbye to our home and hopped on a plane. We obviously snapped a picture before getting on and were super bummed that we had to sit on the left side of the plane this year rather than right hand side.

On Sunday we went to church with our grandparents, did a little bit of grocery shopping, and then headed to the driving range to shoot a few golf balls. Originally, we had intended on playing a few holes too but the golf course was so busy that we decided to go home and play some Monopoly and eat a bit of ice cream instead.

We practically did that every night after finishing an activity. Ate ice cream, watched a mediocre movie on Netflix, and played a board game. Monopoly used to be our standard but we’ve outgrown it a bit after Poppy (our grandpa) beat us too many times to count. We play the game Sequence a lot and that’s super fun + gets your mind thinking a bit but my new favorite game is Scrabble after we picked it up at Wal-Mart one rainy morning while we were there. I won time after time.

On Monday and Wednesday both, we went to the local campground where my grandparents used to live. It’s super fun there and they have a bit of a ‘beach’ which is really just a lake with a tad bit of sand. The first day we rented kayaks which were so fun and the second day we rented hydrobikes which are tons of fun and much easier to use than any other water equipment we have used at the campgrounds. Both days we stayed on the water for a few hours before heading to get some ice cream with the best waffle cones ever. 

At their local grocery store they have a big Leinenkugel’s chair that we snap a picture in every year. This time it was there throughout the whole duration of our stay so we made sure to take several pictures in it. Here are a few of them.

Each year my grandma, sister and I have a ‘girl’s day’ while our grandpa plays golf with his league all day. We took a few pictures together before heading out to their tiny little Main Street and walk around all the little boutiques and such. I ended up scoring a few super cute pieces this year and featured two of them on the blog yesterday. We then went to lunch and spent the afternoon together playing games, riding the golf carts, and such together.

My grandparents have lots of land too, mostly surrounded by woods. A few years ago my grandpa put in several trails to run the golf carts through and just to have. Madison and I love those trails and use the heck out of them while we are there. We decided to name them this year but I unfortunately forgot to snap a picture of the wooden signs we painted for the entrance of each one. I named my trail Honeybee Valley.

Over the next couple of days we lounged around preparing for my dad’s arrival and oh how excited we were to see him. My dad hasn’t traveled with us to Wisconsin the last couple of years so it was such a treat to be in his old stomping ground with him. Oh, and we also went fishing and caught some tiny little fish right before we were about to quit for the day.

The following Sunday we went to church and then brunch per my request and boy oh boy was that a god idea. I had the most amazing meal ever of scrambled eggs, toast, Cajun potatoes, and sausage. I’m still dreaming of it. Madison and I spent the chilly afternoon with our dad that day walking around, strolling the streets, and riding the go karts in town.

On Monday morning we went to get our toes done with our grandma for her first time ever and we had so much fun. When we got home we had a bunch of family over and had a cookout, ate some homemade french fries and took the little kiddos on several golf cart rides. That night the power went out for a few hours which made the day, surprisingly a little bit better. It was a fun night.

This year my grandma brought us to the fitness center she belongs to and it was surprisingly lots of fun. I enjoyed getting up early and riding the bikes + using the equipment in the mornings. I’ll miss having a gym to go to.

Tuesday my dad, grandpa, Madison and I took the boat out and did a little bit of fishing before getting ice cream and then going out to dinner! It was another super fun day. I’m pretty positive we played Scrabble for a couple of hours that night too.

On Wednesday morning we headed out early to our family farm that’s about an hour away from my grandparent’s house and we shot some blog pictures for the following week before relaxing under the sun.

 

 

The next day we went on an eight-hour canoe trip with a bunch of cousins and family that had arrived at the farm the night before. Despite being sea-sick the whole first half of the trip it really was a day I’ll never forget. We stopped for lunch in the middle of the river and after that I felt much better and we were on our way.

We had a bonfire each night while we were at the farm, explored around the barn of old things, and spent the days around tons of family. By Friday there were over forty people there for the family reunion and memories, new and old began to fill the days.

We went fishing for catfish at the local river and jumped off the big rock there together to get some good GoPro footage for Madison’s travel vlog. We only caught a couple of fish but Madison’s was so huge. We decided not to keep them because nobody felt like cleaning them. I also got some good vlog footage that evening and tried to get some pictures of the farm to keep for later.

I read my Bible a bit in the field while we were there, there was a Illinois cousins V Wisconsin cousins baseball game on the diamond that was cut in the middle of the forty + acres we have at the farm, and we had a few hayrides on the back of the tractor that my dad drove through out the fields.

The night before we left to go home we took some more pictures trying to soak up every second of the sun and this trip. There is just something so special about being in Wisconsin surrounded by the peaceful nature and the familiarity of my grandparent’s home. My sliver of summer spent there is so chock-full of memories and moments that I will always hold so closely to my heart.

I am so very happy to have been able to make my fifth trip out there with my sister, as it strengthens our friendship in every way and to have been able to spend this time with my grandparent’s living with one another for a portion of time. I am so thankful to them for opening up their home to me with wide arms and for everything they have done for me, especially over those fifteen days. These are the days I will cherish forever. 

For all my blogging friends, what place in the world makes your heart feel this full? Be sure to let me know in the comments below along with any other questions, comments, or requests you may have for me. Sorry for the longest blog post ever! Have a super happy day. With a whole lot of love, McKenz

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