Sunday, 28 August.
Drove to Green Bay. Some nice towns along the way, Omro being the best. Extremely pretty town with a slow moving river in the middle. Lots of parks. A horseshoe area (7 sets). Fishing is clearly the main hobby. Playgrounds everywhere.
Green Bay, besides hosting a football team of a some fame, is home to the National Railroad Museum. Who knew? I think the North Carolina Museum of Transportation has more engines, etc., but this one is vastly better laid out and displayed. Well worth the $9 admission. Has the last remaining 1950s train that was designed by General Motors to resemble a bus. Failed commercially, but it’s pretty. The Big Boy engine is magnificent. Also had a car named “Silver Streak”. As it happened, Gene Wilder passed away on this day. I also loved the movie with him and Richard Pryor. RIP.
The Green Bay Packers Museum is closed on Sundays. I could have done the stadium tour, but I’m not that big a fan of stadiums. So I went to one of the numerous sports bars within sight of the stadium. Had cheese curds (curdled milk). Like soft calamari. What was on TV? The Chargers. Weird.
Drove another 100 miles and camped at one of the dozens of camping sites on Lake Michigan. Trains roared past, but I sort of liked it. Learned that this year’s Gold Wing Rally ( a “Wing Ding”) is in Billings, Montana, hence all the GW’s going in the other direction. 10,000 participants.
I’m noticing that fewer towns are placing machines of war out on display, going for memorials instead. Good.
Just for fun, this picture is upside down.
The sign just says “Ship Rock”. On the side of the road, in the middle of miles and miles of nothing but flatland. No explanation.
Pretty town of Omro.
I haven’t seen this sign before.
Omro’s memorial.
I don’t know if this is a quote from somewhere, but it’s very touching.
Big Boy. One of the largest train engines in history. Technically a 4-8-8-4 (24 wheels). 134 feet long. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The first 12 wheels are articulated beneath the fixed boiler so it can handle curves.
The cab of the Big Boy. Bewildering.
Another Gratitude Train from French. 48 were sent from France. I saw another one in North Carolina.
An early snowplow car.
Sadly, this barrel car carried vinegar or apple cider. Not wine.
The train used by Dwight Eisenhower in England. They changed its name in his honor. A lot of arm twisting went into getting the United Kingdom to give it up. Prince Philip got involved.
I took this picture on August 28th, the same day that Gene Wilder passed. RIP.
I came to Green Bay to say I’ve seen Lambeau Field. Mission accomplished. The museum is closed on Sunday.