Why Madison, Wisconsin – Part I

Okay so before I get to the Madison, Wisconsin conversation we have to discuss the package I got in the mail today! It's a gift from my Mom and Dad - just one of those - no reason "just because we love you" gifts. (Remember - my birthday isn't until 12/04) That was subtle wasn't it! I've had this thing for chicken's every since I had this pet rooster growing up.

I'd love to have chicken's now and many of you know that I am working on Kent. I think I am getting close! Because my Mom and Dad know that I have this chicken thing - they keep the dream alive with periodic chicken related gifts. Kent's sister Kay does the same thing - just this weekend she gave me "Chicken Poop Lip Gloss".

I've got an entire blog in mind to introduce you to Toby - our new dog, but I could not resist posting a picture of his reaction to the Rooster! It's hilarious! He's so brave barking hysterically at the motionless chicken!

Thank you - I love it! You are right it will go great with the fall decorations.

Okay - so back to the original post - I will not be posting anything for a few days since Kent and I will be away on a weekend trip to Madison Wisconsin. Why Madison you ask? I say - why not Madison? Kent’s never been and it’s been 15 years or so since I was there and that was only for a few hours. Since we added Toby to the family (I have an entire blog dedicated to him coming up) we’ve stayed pretty close to home. We needed a weekend away.

Kent and I have a fairly big territory – meaning it’s not unusual for us to venture far and wide for short periods of time. In terms of driving, day trips can be a far south as Woodburn, Oregon, east to Wenatchee/Yakima, north to Whidbey Island and west Olympia. It’s really weather dependent – when the weather is crappy here and we get desperate for warmth and sunshine (especially in early spring) it’s not uncommon for us to drive to Yakima for a burger and fries at Miners for lunch. Tip of the day – if you love a good burger and you are in Yakima, a Miner burger and fries are a must! This is an actual Miner Burger I found on the web. Isn't the internet great?

Its funny, driving east on I-90 the weather very predictably breaks at the town of Easton. Last weekend we went to Wenatchee for a quick weekend trip, we were driven to eastern Washington by the weather. It was in the 60’s and cloudy in western Washington and sunny and in the low 90’s a short 2 hours away. Well worth the short drive.

Our weekend jaunts by air include east to Chicago and south to San Diego. Due to the time change flying any further east than Chicago is not worth the time it takes - you basically loose a full day to travel.

I love visiting Farmers Markets. A magazine that I subscribe to called, Eating Well named the Farmers Market in Madison the best in the County. Apparently the Market is set up each Saturday and surrounds the State capitol. I’ll have a full report with pictures when we return. For Kent I think it came down to weather. We were going back and forth between Austin, Texas and Madison for the weekend trip. They have both been on our list of places we want to visit for a weekend. The weather window for visiting Austin is much larger than the weather window to Madison so we ended up in Madison. I’m sure we will visit the University – we love to visit college campuses when we travel, we want to hit a cheese factory - factory tours are always fun. Best one so far – Ben and Jerry’s in Vermont! Of course the ice cream tasting room at the end was the best!

If anyone has been to Madison and has any suggestions of things to do in the Madison area we would love to hear from you. Stay tuned – Sunday - Why Madison, Wisconsin – Part II.

Later – Jim