Wisconsin Or Bust / Blog | Changing Lanes

After trekking down south awhile and making it to Kansas, we were on board for another trip up north. The summer temps were climbing, and we felt like birds needing to head back out of the heat! We'd get our chance soon!

First, at some point on the road from Montana to Kansas, we'd gotten wind of our next load. We'd be making a quick round trip from Springdale, Arkansas, to Kansas City, Missouri, and back again. (a nod to Tolkien, there 😉).

Our ride over to Springdale in the afternoon was accompanied by dark clouds and sprinkles. Once through that we found a great spot to hunker down for the night. Jax, as always, was thankful for a little room to romp around.

Our order was for this large (and very heavy) compactor. 👇🏻. Most loaders will defer to what the driver thinks is best placement on a trailer. This time that didn't happen. Things had been loaded before Hubs could make many suggestions, which resulted in a faulty placement leading to bad weight transfer. Physics aside, what that really brought us was a LOT of bouncing and jerking down a bumpy highway. Not fun!

Thankfully the one way trip to Kansas City was really not too far. Once unloaded we were due to receive another compactor at a Costco that would go straight back to Springdale for repairs. Hubs was already prepared to give proper loading instructions when the man he was talking to realized there'd been a mixup in some papers and we wouldn't need to make that return trip.

We'd had a few minutes in between to take respite at a local park.

After that hot afternoon, we jumped at the chance to hop over to a neighboring town to obtain a load that we'd drive up to Minnesota, where we hoped to find cooler temps. We weren't very disappointed, because rain followed us yet again.

It hit so bad we decided to pull over a bit!

And soon we found rainbows so bright they really looked like we could reach right out to grab hold of them.

Unfortunately, we were also met with the largest mosquitoes around! That night was spent with the windows closed up tight. Thankfully it was cool enough outside that we were ok with just the fans humming us to comfy sleep.

The next morning we dropped the load and made another very short trip down the road and acquired some speed limit trailers to take to Wisconsin. We were both very excited to add another pin to our map! And Hubs was as giddy as a kiddo to make a detour over to Green Bay to see the home of his beloved Packers! 🏈💛💚

The ONLY thing that stood in our way were these speed limit signs that proved to be hard to handle! Especially since the rain continued to fall!

After several stops to reconfigure our wheel straps in the rain and traffic, we FINALLY made it to delivery. Every once in awhile we end up with a load that I am all too relieved to be rid of. Good riddance to those signs! 😵‍💫

However, not even that could dim my joy at being in Wisconsin. 💚 WI is an eye catching piece of Americana tied up in a neat bow. A collection of picturesque farms and villages in America’s heartland, contributing significantly to the nation's food supply. Of which I’m truly grateful for dairy products of ALL kinds! 🧀 🧈🍦🥛. And later on, I'd discover their Cranberry Highway. More on that in a moment.

But let me not take the trip to Lambeau Field out of the spotlight. Without further ado, here are some fun photos from Titletown. 👇🏻

That was quite an exciting afternoon, and more deeply etched a Packers home game into our bucket list!

Before leaving Green Bay, we needed to make our obligatory visit to a cheese shop. We chose Vern's and came out with cheeses, sausages, pretzels & cheese dips. Next, our appreciation for ice cream in the dairy land!

On our way back to the highway, we spotted a wildlife preserve. Just a quick jaunt down their drive thru trail, and we'd get back to the Inn.

We had about a 30 minute drive back to Shawano where we had been enjoying the Boarders Inn. Along the road there, actually on many roads in Wisconsin, you could see many farms and what we discovered are called barn quilts. They are a type of folk art featuring large painted quilt squares displayed on barns. Very lovely!

I loved it! In fact, Shawano was quite a beautiful little town. Busy for its size. Most of the activities seemed to revolve around the children. At the time we were driving downtown, there were very large crowds around baseball fields covered with kids decked out in their team uniforms. What a great sight!

By Monday morning we were a little reluctantly heading towards our next load. Although, as usual, it was an interesting BNSF load. We picked up a stator which is part of a locomotive engine. It would be expected in Topeka.

Our drive was a pleasant one, full of surprises. I was unaware that Wisconsin is the nation's largest state in cranberry production. We found ourselves on the Cranberry Highway. As promised, here are a few pics. 👇🏻

Our hope is to return at some point for the harvest from the bogs. I feel that would be a marvelous experience!

Have to sneak in another pic of a beautiful little church!

We got on the road taking us south, and just before leaving Wisconsin to enter Minnesota, we passed the Mighty Mississippi and the Lock & Dam 7.

That was also an uneventful trip taking us finally into Kansas City, passing Kauffman Stadium, home to the KC Royals. ⚾️

Next up, BNSF in Topeka for delivery of the stator. That train yard is the largest one we'd been in. 👇🏻

I really need to get my personal protective equipment (PPE) so I can get out of the truck in these fascinating places! 👷‍♀️ 🦺

After that drop, we were ready to be homeward bound. We loaded up some RR ties, etc... and with a Quick trip to Oklahoma, we were going back to HSH (Home Sweet Home) 🏡 💗 for a week❣️