Savor the River Valley Tour

 

Today was a wonderful day. The Dairyman's Daughter had told me about the Savor the River Valley Tour around the Spring Green area, which was somewhat like the Art D-Tour that I have posted about in the past, only with family farm tours and lots of food. Travalon and I had a relaxed morning at home, then we headed out the door and were right behind Prairie Man, who had a new dog in the car with him. It looked a little like Michaela, but not exactly. We headed to Arena and stopped at the boat landing there.

On the way to Spring Green, we saw this beautiful hill.

Our first stop was Brouhaha Roasters, a coffee roasting business run by three teachers, where we tried a free sample of their coffee and bought two bags. Then we went to a tea shop/art gallery, where we split a slice of chocolate peanut butter pie. Here is a photo of some of the sun catchers for sale.

I thought they were beautiful, but the prices were way too high for what I could afford. Then we went across the street to the general store where I played a few weeks ago. (True story: during the gig I put my FitBit on my right wrist - I usually have it on the left one - and not only did I get my move hours, but I got active and even vigorous minutes!) They were selling fancy chocolate truffles, so I bought a box, but we haven't eaten them yet. Then we drove out to Lone Rock, a small town west of Spring Green, where we had empanadas at a small tortilla-making factory. They were giving tours too, but we just headed to the coffee shop in the Round Barn, which our map said would be open until two... but it actually closes at noon on Saturdays. That's okay, because Travalon really wanted to go to a 50's-style diner called Rumbleseats, so we had lunch there. Notice the dinosaur on the light behind Travalon.

As it turned out, we both took photos of the bathroom. I loved how the women's bathroom had a message that was readable in the mirror, so I took a photo of it but didn't realize how scary I looked in it!

The men's bathroom was done up in comic book style.

We thought the tour at Ducks in a Row Family Farm was at 2:30, so we got there just before that... and everyone was leaving because it was actually at 2:00. But it's okay, because we could still see the Jacob sheep and their lambs. This is an heirloom breed that is small and kind of looks like a goat, except they have wool. They are spotted, which is why they're called Jacob sheep, because Jacob (in the Old Testament) got all the sheep from his father-in-law's flock that were spotted. They also have four horns, both the males and females. The rams have some pretty impressive horns. Travalon couldn't help taking a ton of photos because these sheep are so adorable!

Here's a little bitty lamb!

And here's one that's almost all dark except for a white patch on its forehead, and it doesn't seem to have any horns. Maybe it's a different breed?

On this farm there were also chickens (no photos of those, sorry) and these cattle that looked a bit like bison. The young one is in front.

This little guy has three horns instead of two or four:

And here's another dark sheep with two horns.

"Let me out!" Look at that face! Aw!!!

Some were in little igloos, since it was a chilly day for April.

This baby lamb and its mother were trapped in their igloo for some reason. This was probably explained on the tour that we missed.

The landscape around there was so hilly and gorgeous.

We continued on Highway H and stopped at a dive bar in a tiny town called Hyde; the bar is called the Hyde Store. Travalon is on a dive bar kick lately, and this checked all the boxes: beer in cans, cash only, pull tabs, bar dice, in the middle of nowhere. Sports on the TV? Check.

Tavern T-shirt hanging off the antlers of a deer head? Check.

We kept going toward Ridgeway and passed this blond "heeland coo" in a field. It was happily grazing, but when I did that lateral clicking sound that all animals seem to respond to, it looked up.

Then it realized we had no treats for it, and it went back to grazing. We headed into Ridgeway, where we saw this gorgeous old church.

(It's not Catholic.) We went to Meadowlark Mill and bought a hazelnut croissant and an elderberry hand pie, neither of which we have yet eaten. We'll probably have them for breakfast tomorrow. The mill is on Ridgevue Road, and I can see why they call it that, because there was quite a lovely vista behind it.

Since we were so close to Mineral Point, we went there and stopped at Crazy Frank's Flea Market (photos of my loot soon), then we took a brisk walk on the ATV trail.

I love these little micro-islands:

Mineral Point used to be a lead mining community, so these next shots (like the shot tower) probably relate to that.

And this is the old train depot, now a railroad museum:

This building predates Wisconsin statehood:

We took Highway 23 north to Spring Green, and to the east we could see Blue Mound. We passed a spot that said "Scenic Overlook," so we stopped there, but we couldn't really see much to the east because of the trees. However, to the west we could see vistas, including the House on the Rock.

There was a pedestrian overpass above Highway 23. The padlocks have dates on them, and we realized people must put them there to celebrate getting married.

This is the Infinity Room at House on the Rock. My readers may remember the photos of us in this room from last November.

Back in Spring Green, we went to a supper club right on the river (sorry, no photos) at the Wisconsin Riverside Resort. It was a true Wisconsin supper club with an extensive soup and salad bar, which we indulged in. On the way home, we saw a gorgeous sunset.

When we got home, I remembered that we had to feed our neighbor's cat, but we saw no sign of her. Then on Night Prayer, the Dairyman's Daughter and I talked about our adventures on the Savor the River Valley Tour. She and her sister went to mostly - maybe all - different places than we did, but she also really enjoyed it. This is definitely something to put on the calendar for next year!

Famous Hat