Day 3-corn, cows & custard

I'm a peach!

Day 3 started with a quick detour to Beyer Stadium, home of the Rockford Peaches. A League of Their Own is one of our all time favorite movies, so this was a fun side trip for us.  The original stadium was demolished about 30 years ago, but the park itself is still there and is now a high school and community ballpark.  The original brick turnstiles and ticket booth are still there, along with a nice plaque gallery discussing the history of the Peaches, along with some biographies of real Peaches, including Dottie, who was played by Geena Davis in the movie.  No sibling pairs like Dottie and Kit, but there was a Betty, an Ellen with blonde hair and an Alice who looked *just* like Alice from the movie. (The backup catcher who refuses to change her socks.)  It was uncanny, really.

Alex is a Peach!

Alex ran the bases and had a marvelous time for himself, and off we went. We tried yet another letterbox that was dedicated to the Peaches,  but it was removed. Oh well, again. 

$0.15 scorecards. Oh to have 1947 prices.






Back on the road we finished with Illinois and headed into Wisconsin.  We were convinced that it would be cow country, I mean, it is America's Dairyland, but we saw way more corn than cows.  Corn corn corn. It was beautiful and rural and flat.  As we were driving along, we saw some absurd billboards, including our personal favorite Tom Bartlett show, which was clearly advertised for miles....and miles.....and miles.  Apparently it is in Wisconsin Dells, which has an awesome name but looked to be just like North Conway/Niagara Falls. Beautiful, but 100% tourist trap, all the way down to the outlets.  We were slightly fascinated by the sign for Culver's restaurant chain, so we conveniently found one right around lunch time.  It's like a cross between Sonic, Kelly's Roast Beef and Fuddruckers.  You order at a counter, but the food is delivered to you.  The food was good, the frozen custard though-oh my word.  I had a concrete mixer with chocolate, peanut butter and fudge, and it was beyond awesome.  Also, special shoutout to the guy working the counter, who was entertained by our Boston attire and willing to volunteer some specialities for our culinary adventures, like DJ's butter burger.   Apparently, when the Brewers do terribly, it's perfectly okay to cheer for the Red Sox.  It is not, however, appropriate to root for the Patriots over the Packers at all.  DJ likens it to Red Sox vs. Yankees. There are somethings that are just plain sacred.

The mighty Mississippi

We crossed the Mississippi (and had a wonderful time spelling it over and over again)  and wandered into Minnesota, still on I-90.  Lots of construction, but nearly no slow downs.  It was surreal.  In true road trip fashion, we made a last minute decision to escape I-90 and take the more direct, yet longer route on Rt. 14.

 After two random stop lights, we blazed on to New Ulm on the most empty state highway during rush hour I've ever seen.

This is Rt 14 at 5:30. Where is everyone? 

By then we were in cow country, which was is just as rural and beautiful as corn country.  Other than the 2 laned paved road we were on, it has probably looked the same for 60+ years.  Alex's favorite part was the huge freight train we saw, at least 40 cars long, that was loading up fresh milk at one of the dairies.  Single freight lines are everywhere, which for a train loving family like mine, makes the ride much smoother.

Alex's super long freight train in the distance

So, here we are in New Ulm, Minnesota.  Priceline came through with a great deal on a hotel, and our room looks inward toward the indoor pool.  Luckily for all of us, we were here early enough to make use of it, thus fulfilling Alex's only major request of the day. I did some research on New Ulm, and I'm pretty excited to take a quick tour of it tomorrow.

Daily Stats:
We hit our 1,000 mile mark in Illinois, but I'm not sure where we are at now.
5 Cracker Barrels (Laura!)
1 toll plaza
Thousands of ears of corn
Dozens of cows
4 billion signs for fireworks
1 Order of the Poor Clares nunnery
and in New Ulm, 5 Lutheran churches for a city of 10,000-1 is Missouri, the others ELCA.