150 places we have been but did not go on this trip

So we got to thinking of all the places we have been in America and Canada that we did not visit on this trip and would still recommend as fun places to stop and see. We came up with 150 places either Patsy or I have been to in these two great countries that we did not visit during our Napkin Dreams Excursion. Most of them we have been to together since we have been married. Can you tell we love to travel? Here is our list in alphabetical order:

150 places we have been but did not go on this trip

Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL

Adventure Land, Des Moines, IA

Amana Colonies, Iowa

Amish Country, Lancaster, PA

Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD

Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Site, VA

Aquarium of the Smokies, Gatlinburg, TN

Arlington National Cemetery, VA

Art Institute of Chicago

Banff National Park, Alberta, CA

Betsy Ross House, Philadelphia, PA

Biblical Tabernacle Reproduction – Lancaster, PA

Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

Booker T Washington National Monument– Hardy, VA

Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, IL

Burpee Museum, Rockford, IL

Butterfly Conservatory, Cambridge, ON

Cahokia Mounds State Historical Park, Collinsville, IL

Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland

Canal Walk, Richmond, VA

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras, NC

Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina

Cape May County Zoo, NJ

Capitol Building, Washington DC

Carowinds, Charlotte, NC

Cave of the Mounds, Blue Mounds, WI

Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, GA

Chancellorsville Battlefield, Virginia

Chase Tower, Indianapolis, IN

Claytor Lake State Park, Dublin, VA

CN Tower, Toronto, ON

Colonial Michilimackinac, Makinaw City, MI

Comiskey Park (US Celluar Field), Chicago, IL

Coronado Theater – Rockford, IL

Cowtown, Wichita, KS

Crazy Horse Memorial – Crazy Horse, SD

Creation Museum – Kentucky

Disneyworld, Orlando, FL

Dixie Caverns, Salem, VA

Dodge City, KS

Donley’s Wild West Town, Union, IL

Empire State Building, New York, NY

Fairy Stone State Park – Martinsville, VA

Family Museum, Bettendorf, IA

Faust Landmark, Rockford, IL

Field Museum, Chicago, IL

Ford’s Theater, Washington DC

Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC

Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial, Washington DC

Galena, Illinois

George Washington Office Museum, Winchester, VA

Gettysburg National Battlefield, Pennsylvania

Gino’s East, Chicago, IL

Grand Ole Opry Hotel, Nashville, TN

Great America, Gurnee, PA

Great Wolf Lodge – you pick location

Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI

Henry Villas Zoo, Madison, WI

Hershey Farm Restaurant and Inn – Strusburg, PA

Hershey’s Chocolate World, Hershey, PA

Hoosier National Forest, IN

Hotel del Coronado - Coronado, CA

Hotel Roanoke, Roanoke, VA

House on the Rock, Spring Green, WI

Humpback Covered Bridge, Covington, VA

Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Independence Historical Park, Philadelphia, PA

James Madison Gravesite, Montpelier Station, VA

Jamestown, VA

Jay Cooke State Park, Carlton, MN

Jefferson Memorial, Washington DC

John Deere Pavilion, Moline, IL

John Hancock Building, Chicago, IL

Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL

Knotts Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA

Korean War Memorial, Washington DC

Lady and Sons, Savannah, GA

Legoland, Carlsbad, CA

Liberty Bell Center, Philadelphia, PA

Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC

Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, Lincoln, IL

Lookout Mountain, TN

Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, Louisville, KY

Luray Caverns, Luray, VA

Mackinac Island, Michigan

Magic Waters – Cherry Valley, IL

Mayflower 2, Plimouth Plantation, Plymouth, MA

Times – choose your location

Midway Village, Rockford, IL

Milwaukee County Zoo, WI

Monticello, Charlottesville, VA

Mt. Rainer, Washington

Museum of Flight and Space – Washington DC

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL

National Archives, Washington DC

National Zoo – Washington DC

Natural Bridge Zoo, Natural Bridge, VA

Natural Bridge, VA

Navy Pier, Chicago, IL

NFL Hall of Fame, Canton, OH

Niagara Falls, ON, NY

North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, NC

Ocean City Boardwalk and Beach, NJ

Oriental Museum Institute, Chicago, IL

Packers Hall of Fame, Green Bay, WI

Patriot’s Point – Mt. Pleasant, SC

Petersburg National Battlefield, VA

Pony Express Station, Gothenburg, Nebraska

Port Discovery, Baltimore, MD

Putnam Museum, Davenport, IA

Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, PA

Redwood National Park, CA

Roanoke Island, North Carolina

Roanoke Wiener Stand, Roanoke, VA

Rogers Centre, Toronto, CA

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON

Ryan Round Ban, Kewanee, IL

Science Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke, VA

Sears (Willis) Tower – Chicago

Seattle Aquarium, Seattle, WA

Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, KS

Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL

Sinnissippi Gardens, Rockford, IL

Smith Mountain Lake State Park, Moneta, VA

Soldier Field, Chicago, IL

South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, SC

Space Needle, Seattle, WA

St. Andrew’s Church – Roanoke, VA

Statue of Liberty, New York, NY

Stratford Hall Plantation, Robert E Lee Home, Stratford, VA

Sweden House, Rockford, IL

Times Square, New York, NY

Underground Station, Atlanta, GA

Vietnam Memorial, Washington DC

Virginia Aquarium, Virginia Beach, VA

Virginia Beach Board Walk

Virginia Safari, Natural Bridge, VA

White House, Washington DC

Williamsburg, VA

Winterplace, Beckley, WV

Wonderworks, Pigeon Forge, TN

World of Coca Cola, Atlanta, GA

World War II Memorial, Washington DC

Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, NC

Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL

Stadium, New York

Yorktown Victory Center, Yorktown, Virginia

Yosemite National Park – California

Top 10 Workplace Tours

Sorry, but you'll have to purchase our book to read this post!

Jelly Belly Factory

    

Arkansas - our 30th state

We have now visited three-fifths of the states on our Napkin Dreams trip. Arkansas had the distinction of being number thirty. How many will we get to? Forty, forty-nine, maybe even fifty? Time will tell how far we get!

First year in review

It has been awhile since I, Sunset the Snake gave one of my reports from the road. So since I do not have as much to do I thought I could report on the first year the Martin family has spent on the road. Yes a snake has put together a video, made the map and compiled the stats! If you do not believe this then you're imagination is seriously lacking and I am afraid you may suffer from serpent prejudice! Sorry about the lack of sound on the video, youtube has been having fits accepting the music, but we are trying to replace the sound with an audio swap but youtube is also having fits with that!

So here is the adventure by the numbers:

• We started in Cambridge, IL and ended the year in Pittsburgh, PA.
• We traveled over 35,000 miles between the RV and the vans.
• We visited 22 states
• Over 100 Walmarts and 1 Target
• We replaced eight tires.
• We visited 17 Zoos/Aquariums.
• We lost a total of 7 teeth.
• We explored 49 National Parks.
• We soaked up the sun on 10 different beaches.
• We ate at over 70 unique eateries and 25 different McDonalds and 95 other national or regional restaurant chains! 
• We saw at least 277 different species of animals.
• We toured 27 workplaces.
• We went to 6 different amusement parks.
• We spent time in two different countries.
• We traversed through 42 state parks.
• We stayed at over 120 campgrounds!
• Celebrated 7 birthdays.
• Expanded our horizons in over 40 museums.
• All in 372 days (this is from 9/23/10 - 10/1/11)

more...

Check out the basic path we took on our trip in the first year!

Kevin Shutterbug and the Cheesehead

We had a little fun here with Kevin doing his first interview with Blake. Be sure to check out One Way Street for great puppets like Kevin Shutterbug and other amazing ministry resources

Campground review - Harbor Village Resort

We got a great deal when we stayed at Harbor Village Resort in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

Staff - 7 - The one downside of this resort was the staff was always very busy. Probably not as bad on the weekdays.

Natural surroundings - 8 - We right in the midst of a bunch of trees, like we were camping in the forest. Some areas are not as secluded.

Value - 10 - We paid $25 a night for a back-in grass site with electric and water.

Bathrooms - 7 - Several baht houses, and one needs a bit of updating and several of the showers did not work. Others were much nicer.

Roominess - 8 - Plenty wide, but a bit tight in length.

Facility fun - 10 - Activities, playgrounds, mini-putt, huge pool with water slides and little kids play area. Adult pool, BB and tennis courts, skating ramps, jumping pillow and much more!

Cleanliness - 8 - Nice except for one set of bathrooms.

Facility usefulness - 9 - Dump station, picnic tables, laundromat , propane, huge camp store.

Overall - 9 - Best pool we have experienced so far. Just a little crowded on weekends.

Door County

We are so sorry, but this post has been removed because it is a part of our book Napkin Dreams that details our trip around America!

Campground review - Jellystone Fremont, WI

We really loved our two nights at Fremont Jellystone Park.

Staff - 8 - The staff were younger and courteous.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Plenty of shade, out of town a couple of miles so no traffic noise.

Value - 5 - We paid $44 a night for a back-in grass site with water and electric.

Bathrooms - 9 - Two sets of bathrooms, both very clean.

Roominess - 9 - We were by ourselves in the area we chose, right by a pond and a large willow tree.

Facility fun - 10 - Two playgrounds, heated pool, BB court, horseshoes, shuffle board, and mini-putt, water slide and game room for extra cash. Plus lots of activities including a hayride, crafts and popsicle eating contest.

Cleanliness - 8 - Pretty clean place.

Facility usefulness - 9 - Dump station, picnic tables, laundromat, camp store, wifi (extra cost), propane.

Overall - 8 - Nice, clean and well run park.

50 McDonalds - Wisconsin

After learning that the Guernsey Gals we saw at Knigge Farms eventually end up in Big Macs and Happy Meals, we just had to visit our Wisconsin McDonalds! So we stopped in nearby Oshkosh for a little bit of beautiful beef! OK, so some of us had chicken and Chase went with just the cheese sandwich, but still many of us had some the delightful offerings of ground beef! Patsy was especially happy to have her Big Mac!

Knigge Farms

Our cheese loving family of seven had a blast touring a working dairy farm near Omro, Wisconsin. The Knigge Family Farms was one of the best "factory tours" our family has taken so far!

Mr. Knigge, the founder of the farm, gave us the tour himself. The unique aspect of this dairy farm is that is all robotic. The cows wait in line to get milked by this machine which holds the promise of a treat for the lovely Guernseys. Then it uses lazers to line up the milkers withe udders, cleans the cow, pumps the milk, stores the milk and then opens the gates for the next lovely lady.

The happy cows of this Wisconsin dairy also live in a temperature controlled barn that mists the cows when it gets over 75 degrees and they eat a wonderful diet of mixed grains, corn and grass.

At the end of our tour we each got a package of string cheese made from the milk given by the bovines we saw in action! Very tasty indeed.

Eating good in Wisconsin

We are sorry, but we have removed this post becuase it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams.

 

 

 

Dairy State is number 20

Wisconsin was the 20th state on our cross country trek! The northwest looks sort of lonely up there, but fear not, we will get there!! Anyway 40 percent of the states in 11 months. One Mexican state was also visited - Baja California Norte.

Campground review - Wanna Bee Campground

Our club, Passport America has two campgrounds in Wisconsin Dells. We think we picked the wrong one when we picked Wanna Bee Campground.

Staff - 9 - The gentleman that checked us in was super nice and gave us some coupons and answered all of our questions. Talked to another gentleman later and he was equally helpful.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Plenty of shade, out of town a couple of miles so no traffic noise.

Value - 7 - We paid $22 a night for a back-in grass site with full hook-ups. Sewer was a good distance away from rest of the hook-ups.

Bathrooms - 3 - Need a bit of updating and some serious cleaning.

Roominess - 6 - Average, but a bit tight in width.

Facility fun - 7 - Older playground, unheated pool (advertised heated), BB court, mini-putt and game room for extra cash.

Cleanliness - 6 - Nice except for bathrooms.

Facility usefulness - 7 - Dump station, picnic tables, laundromat - cold water only, camp store.

Overall - 5 - Dirty bathrooms, vulgar campers, and cold pool made this place just a little disappointing for us. It sort is a wannabe campground.

Mt. Olympus

We got super deals from our campground at the Wisconsin Dells for a day at Mt. Olympus and could not resist the offer of paying about 20 percent of normal entry cost!

Mt. Olympus is part amusement park, part water park, part go-kart park. We did a little of each, but spend the entire afternoon and evening at the water park. There are some great rides at the water park, including man different styles of slides, a wave pool, some lazy rivers, and three different little kid areas.

For our family the coolest attraction was Poseidon's Wrath, where every few minutes a huge nine foot wave is unleashed on the bobbing crowd of sun-baked tourists. If you stand towards the back the wave is only about two or three feet when it hits you, which was just perfect for our three youngest guys! They still got pulled back and had to hang onto our hands for dear life, with plenty of giggles and screams of joy to go along with the flush of terror that comes from being swept up in a miniature tsunami!

We also enjoyed the slides, and all three of the little boys went down some of the bigger slides, which produced even more shouts of joy and glee which were heard around the park. Chase just about sucked all the air out of the park when he saw a pirate ship with slides and fountains and other fun playthings.

My one complaint with Mt. Olympus was that they would not let one of our younger boys ride in the go-karts with Blake. Since they had to ride with an adult and an adult could only take one extra rider with them, and the lines were about an hour long, it made it very difficult for our family to all go on the go-kart rides. Besides this we all had a great day of playing and enjoying the fun in the sun.