Midwestern Heat Wave Sought for Questioning in the Death of Pam's Adventurous Spirit

That's right. I've tried to be positive. I've tried to fight it. But I've had it! Average amount of rainfall for the month of June here is 3.80 inches...we've had .73 inches! Average high for June is 77 degrees...half the month was over 90 degrees! Now it's July 1st and I set out to go camping at New Glarus Woods State Park this morning because Wayne was at the races with his buddies and by the time I got there at 11:00 a.m. it was over 90 again!  I drove around the campground and discovered that I really need to take more time reading the details on the DNR website because they have no showers. No electric? Fine! Small sites? Fine! No running water except a spigot by the side of the road...not fine! I was still trying to be positive though, so I reserved a site for one night and drove into New Glarus to check out the sights.

My first stop on the recommendation of my daughter was the New Glarus Brewing Company. I don't drink beer, I've never liked the taste of it, but Katrina swore this was better than regular beer and maybe I just hadn't met the right beer.  The brewery tour was self-guided, which essentially meant you could walk in and wander around, but there was no signage telling you what you were looking at. I thought whatever these were that they were pretty though.

Eventually I found the tasting room (accessed from the outside but half hidden because I walked right past it three times and would have never found it if someone hadn't come out of the door!) and I paid my $3.50 to have 3 - 3 ounce samples. I told the pourer right up front that I don't drink beer, don't like beer, and asked him what he had that didn't taste like beer.  He gave me a sample of Totally Naked, which tasted like beer, then something that tasted so horrible I kept making faces until I got the next one. The last one was Belgian Red and it tasted like a cross between beer and cider, I guess would be the best way to describe it. I drank about half of it and ended my tour.  I'm sure those who like beer would enjoy stopping here, everyone else there seemed to be having a good time. Note to self...you don't like beer, don't visit a brewery again!

Notice the look of uncertainty before I take my first sip of Totally Naked

New Glarus is Wisconsin's Little Switzerland and is the start of the trailhead for the Sugar River State Trail which intersects with the Badger State Trail just a few miles further down the line. I parked at the grocery store and rode my bike into the downtown area.  Plenty of sidewalk and wide roads for riding, but I soon discovered there were no places to park your bike except along the one block on their main street. There were 2 museums in town that I would've loved to go to, but there was no place to lock up a bike. Before I discovered this annoying little detail they left out of the online brochure I did find this little bird nesting in some of the architecture of a closed-up looking downtown building.

When I discovered the only place you could lock up your bike was on the main block I parked it and walked up and down the block. A few European gift shops and a couple of restaurants is all there is to Little Switzerland, but I came for the cows...and bought a rhubarb bar, a cranberry orange scone, a lemon pocket and a raspberry linzer bar at the New Glarus Bakery. I took a bite of each one and they were all delicious, though really sweet, especially the linzer bar.

I'd be a little alarmed if I found one of these grazing in my flowerbed, especially if he was wearing a suit!

Since I couldn't get into the museums while I had my bike I went back to the car and just drove back to the state park to try to cool down in the shade for awhile. I took out my chair and tried to read my Kindle, but even in the shade the heat was oppressive and I gave up within an hour and decided just to give up and go home.

I drove through Monticello and Monroe on the way home, where they seem to have a strange obsession with turrets...and pirates.

Never seen a pizza place with a castle turret before, but the name "The Kooler" was tempting on this hot day!

If you click on the picture of the Green County courthouse in Monroe you'll see a pirate ship in the lower left corner. The 42 foot long wooden ship was built to kick off their 2012 Pirates on the Square summer promotion. There were pirate flags hanging from the storefronts and also some wooden pirate and mermaid sculptures. Don't know what it was really all about, but it was certainly different. While walking around the square I kept thinking of the town square in the movie Back to the Future since Monroe's comes complete with a courthouse and an old movie theater. My last stop was at Baumgartner's cheese shop where they claim to serve the best cheese sandwich. I'll have to take them at their word, but I did buy a wedge of smoked gouda that I'm looking forward to trying.  They also sell shirts that say "I cut the cheese at Baumgartner's" which I was tempted to buy for Wayne, but since he wasn't technically there to cut the cheese I resisted the temptation.

So that was the end to my little camping trip that never was. Here's a couple of pictures I took along the way that highlight just how dry it is out here right now. The poor cows' pasture is pathetic, all that's green around here are the trees and the corn, and the corn is starting to look really stressed which might effect the feed corn turnout this year so the cows will have poor feed in the summer and the winter! I'm going to crank up the A/C and watch Back to the Future, stay cool, Everyone!

Saving money by not having to pay to have our lawn mowed this year, but I have to water my plants deeply every night and some that I transplanted in May may not come back next year.