One More Capitol and the World of Cranes and Old Cars

 August 16, 2025

Before we left Iowa, we took a photo of the American Gothic Barn just outside our campground.

Palisades Kepler State Park, Iowa

Structure built by the CCC in 1934, still in excellent shape.

We moved on from Iowa into Wisconsin and, of course, another state capitol tour in Madison.  

We climbed up to the observation deck to take in the view.

We enjoy visiting grottos and shrines, so we stopped to see the one in Dickeyville, WI

Covered in shells, fossils, obsidian, other rocks, and minerals.

One of Brian's must-sees was the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford.  Kissel Kars were manufactured from 1906 to 1931.  The first thing we saw when we entered was a 1920 Kissel fire engine that just arrived two weeks ago under its own power.  Amazing! and fortuitous for us.  We have no family connection to this company and the spelling is just a bit different.  The museum had other restored vintage cars.

cute little child's pedal car

Nash Rambler sedan, I was hoping to find a Rambler station wagon that I traveled in on family trips in the 1960s, but this is the only Rambler in the museum.

1970 Subaru - how tiny!

home made teardrop travel trailer

Especially meaningful to us in our travels are the locations we don't plan on visiting, but see on the map, and we detour for the experience.  This is one such location.

We climbed 178 stairs to the top of the right tower.

at eye level with the opposite tower

We have never gotten very good at taking selfies.

Our white van is at the left edge of the parking lot.

inside the basilica

a side chapel

Our next stop has been on my bucket list for several years - the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  On display in separate enclosures are breeding pairs of all 15 species of cranes found around the world, including the endangered Siberian and  Whooping Cranes.

Siberian cranes

Sarus crane

Whooping crane

Grey crowned crane

Red crowned

Black necked

part of the thousand origami crane display

We camped near Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for a few days and explored.

  

my favorite mural in town

We strolled through Stevens Point Sculpture Park . . .

local school children contributed artwork

World's largest potato masher at the Food + Farm Exploration Center

We enjoy finding barn quilts in the countryside...

As geocachers, we rely on latitude and longitude to locate the hidden caches, so this was a must-see location.  There are only four points on Earth that are halfway between the geographic poles, the Equator, the prime meridian, and the 180th meridian. Two are in oceans, one in the mountains of China, and this one is only a quarter-mile walk along a cornfield in Wisconsin.