Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Wishing Wisconsin

LAB TECH SUMMER ROAD TRIP

WISHINGWisconsin
Wisconsin is known as the dairyland capital of the United States...although I don't see any cows everytime I go there. I think they like hiding and grazing in the inner farmlands.  Since Wisconsin is just north of Illinois, a lot of Filipinos and folks from neighboring states go to the Badger State for camping, fishing and other outdoor activities.  The state got the nickname "Badger" because the lead miners in those bygone days, like the burrowing badgers, dug the hillsides to make as their temporary homes.  Madison, not Milwaukee, is the capital. Wisconsin became the 30th state on May 29, 1848.
For some crazy reason, from what I heard, Filipinos in particular, always get into a fight everytime they go camping in Wisconsin.  Bad experience to a few.  Still, it remains a favorite vacation and summer place and not cheap either, especially the hotels during high season.
The word Wisconsin is from Chippewa Indian word Meskousing meaning "gathering of the waters."  Oui, mon ami, the first French settlers, bad in spelling, misspelled the word to Ouisconsin.
The most scenic part and favorite destination is the Driftless Area, southwest of the state.  It's rich in ridges, beautiful lakes, caves and scenic gorge known as The Dells.  Formed million of years ago, Wisconsin Dells offers a view of water-worn sandstone and rugged rock formations as the boat cruises along the Wisconsin River.








 Marilou and Big Bro Napoleon waiting for the boat and sightseers to come aboard.
The Wisconsin Duck ride, a leftover World War II amphibious vehicle, is fun and exciting.
The most popular entertainment is the Tommy Bartlett Water Show set on a man-made lake.  The lake run dry a few months ago. turned to just mud due to flooding, overflowed and emptied out into the river.  The Ringling Brothers created the first circus of the stars and animals in 1884 at Boraboo.  Many years prior to that in February, 1854, the grand political Republican Party was formed in Ripon and in July, got its name in Jackson, Michigan.
The French explorer Jean Nicolet, while looking for a northwest passage to China, landed on the shore of Green Bay in 1634.  Wearing a Mandarin robe, he greeted the Indians he thought to be Chinese.  Giggles.  The Winnebago, Dakota, and Menominee Indian tribes were living in the Wisconsin region in those Indian Days.  Many came from the east in the 1600s - Chippewa, Ottawa, Kickapoo, Huron - having driven out of their tipi cribs by the invading white settlers.  The Illinois and Miami bands claimed the upper Fox River and the Potawatomis pulled their casinos, oops canoes, in Door County.  By Treaty of Paris, England got Wisconsin from the French in 1763 and settled in Prairie du Chien.



Inside the Witches Gulch.

07222008

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