On the road again ...

Today Tom and I head down to Chicago (Evergreen Park, actually) for a party to honor Peter and his wife,  Jennifer. We will be there overnight and return tomorrow,  perhaps by way of Old World Wisconsin. Monday we drive over to Iowa to have lunch with our friend Rick, who will be at his parents' house for a few days helping out.


Weather-wise, here on the last weekend of July, it is now (6:30ish am) 50 degrees (10 C) in the Dells with a forecast high of 61 (16 C). It will be in the upper 60s (20 C)  in Evergreen Park, so I am packing a long sleeved shirt: the party is outside.

As for Old World Wisconsin:

Old World Wisconsin is an open-air museum located near Eagle, Wisconsin. Opened in 1976, the museum is owned and operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. It portrays housing and the daily life of immigrants in 19th century Wisconsin. The largest outdoor museum of rural life in the United States, it encompasses nearly 600 acres (2.4 km²) of rolling wooded hills and contains over 60 historic structures. These range from ethnic farmsteads with furnished houses and rural outbuildings to a crossroads village. A restaurant and conference space are located in the octagonal Clausing Barn, along with a gift shop. Trams run between the Scandinavian and German, African American, and Crossroads villages.
Farmsteads and settlements that represent various ethnic groups include:

• African American: Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Chapel, Shepard Family Cemetery, United Brethren Church, Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
• Danish: Pedersen Farm
• Finnish: Rankinen Farm, Ketola Farm
• German: Koepsell Farm, Schottler Farm, Schulz Farm
• Norwegian: Fossebrekke Farm, Kvaale Farm, Raspberry School
• Polish: Kruza House
• Yankee: Harmony Town Hall, Four Mile Inn, Sisel Shoe Shop, Benson House, Grotelueschen Blacksmith Shop, Peterson Wagon Shop, Thomas General Store, Mary Hafford House, St. Peter's Church.

"Yankee Village" also contains the non-Yankee buildings showing the integration of other European settlers to Wisconsin in the 19th century:

• Sisel shoe shop (Czech)
• Grotelueschen Blacksmith Shop (German)
• Peterson Wagon Shop (Scandinavian)