On Wisconsin

Doug, Cameron and I picked up Samuel at 9:30 this morning for our weekend trip to Madison, Wisconsin.  Cameron had decided to apply to the University of Wisconsin earlier this month.  Since he had never even been to the state, he thought that a trip north this fall break was in order.  Samuel had been to Madison for a triathlon with his dad five years ago and remembered a lot of the area.  Doug and I had not been to the capital city since the 1990s, so we didn't recall very much of the town.  The drive was shorter than we predicted and with only one stop we were on campus in a little over 4 and a half hours.  The hardest part of the trip was actually trying to find a place to park.  Thankfully, there were plenty of spaces near the state capitol building downtown.  

We originally picked State Street Brats for lunch, but it had a long line of students outside of the restaurant waiting to get inside.  We moved on to our second choice, The Old Fashioned.  Cameron loved the menu including the ability to add Braunschweiger to a chicken sandwich.  I enjoyed all of the old beer signs around the bar including ones for Pabst, Schlitz and Blatz.  The cheese curds were ranked #1 in the state so we started off with those.  They were really good.  Everyone added a sandwich to the meal rounding out a very filling lunch.

Our next stop was the University of Wisconsin bookstore.  Although we didn't buy the cow bibs, we did find a lot of great items including an Old Style shirt for Doug, a Bucky badger shirt for Cameron and a Christmas gift for Uncle Phil.  After the shopping trip, we spent the rest of the afternoon on a self guided walking tour of campus.  Wisconsin has the same amount of students as the University of Florida and IU, but it definitely felt bigger.  We thought it was very pretty, especially the areas near the lake.  Their Union was packed with alumni as this was their homecoming weekend.  We got a kick out of the flamingos lined up on the lawn.  Cameron found out later that it was a prank from the 1950s that turned into a fundraiser for the university.  We ended our walking tour at Camp Randall Stadium, so that we would know where to go for tomorrow's game.

Our hotel was about ten minutes from campus, so we headed there next.  After unpacking and making sure that everything was in order, we found a miniature golf place to try.  It was definitely unique as it had both inside and outside courses.  It was also challenging as the best score of the night was 56.  It was definitely a great way to spend the evening.  Our last stop was Mr. Brews Taphouse which was near our hotel.  It was a nice find and the food was delicious.  I was wiped out from all of the walking, so Doug and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching "The Proposal."  The boys had a separate room and decided that this would be the perfect time to watch "The Blair Witch Project", especially since Samuel had just returned from a three day hiking trip in Kentucky with two of his friends.  

A Fun Fall Day

Today was a fun fall day.  With everything back to normal in the Heinisch household and all of the college applications finished, it was nice just to enjoy fall break.  Cameron and I went to Fashion Farm to pick out pumpkins and gourds.  We weren't sure if we would carve them this year, but they looked nice with our outside decorations.  On our way back we picked up Taco Bell for lunch.  We finished the newest episode of Amazing Race while we were eating.  The last two teams to be eliminated were not too surprising to us as they were pretty weak.

Cameron played Madden and read more of his book this afternoon.  We both packed for our trip to Madison, Wisconsin as well.  Doug was home by 6 p.m. tonight.  We chose leftovers for dinner and then called Grandpa and Grandma to play Oh Hell once again.  Grandma Jane brought raspberry pie for Doug and Cameron's dessert.  I won a close game after a couple of miscues in bids by other players.  We watched the NFL game of the week on Amazon followed by the Harry Potter marathon.  We were all sad to hear that the actor that played Hagrid had died last weekend and were glad that they were showing his movies to commemorate his acting life.  Surprisingly to no one but Brett, they didn't include his role as Tweedledum in the newest Alice in Wonderland to that list.  

Last College Application Sent Ever

 I finally decided to go up to the library this morning and see if they had any hot spots to check out.  They didn’t, but I was able to put one on hold.  On the way there I noticed a Mediacom truck on the high school road.  I was hopeful that they would fix our internet, but was not confident that it would be resolved today.  Thankfully, it was back on by 11 a.m. this morning.  That was a very nice feeling.

One of the benefits of the storm on Monday was that the dentist was out of power yesterday.  Cameron was very happy that they called to cancel his appointment on Tuesday.  The office checked in today to see when it was best to reschedule.  As we were going through Cameron’s upcoming availability and their open appointments, we started to realize that it was going to be very hard to get him in before December.  That’s when the receptionist asked if he was free today and if he could be there soon.  I knew that he wouldn’t love it, but agreed to take it.  At 11:35 a.m. I got him out of bed and he was there by 11:50.  Meg and Brett even agreed that Cameron had every right to complain loudly as he walked out the door.

The rest of the afternoon was an interesting one.  Cameron finally was able to submit his applications to Purdue and Michigan.  Unfortunately, once he “finished” the one for the University of Michigan, they let him know that the needed to also complete a portfolio with two more essays.  It took him another hour to finish it.  He did a nice job, but that had to be frustrating.

While Cameron was working on his essays, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to see if they could help take down some of the branches that were broken in the front tree.  Grandpa had just about finished one with his saw when our neighbor came over to help.  He not only helped take down that one, but climbed the tree by the basketball hoop to cut down two others.  Meg called while we were working to see what we were up to this afternoon.  I told her that we were watching Josh climb a tree with a chainsaw while smoking a cigarette to cut down some broken branches.  She actually wasn’t even surprised.  We definitely really appreciated his help and were glad to be done with the project by the time Doug left work.  

Cameron, Grandma, Grandpa and I celebrated all of our afternoon accomplishments by playing Euchre.  They left just as Alina arrived to hang out with Cameron.  I talked everyone into trying the Detroit style pizza for dinner tonight from Pizza Hut.  They then watched Get Out while we played Ticket to Ride.  I was extremely glad to be able to relax tonight after a very productive day.  

The Aftermath

The aftermath of the storm damage was more destructive that I would have imagined.  We lost at least a dozen branches and still had several stuck in the front trees.  Our neighbors had multiple branches and tree limbs down as well with one large one taking out an above grown pool.  We didn’t do too much clean up today as it was way too cold.

Our internet was out for the entire day which was really frustrating.  Cameron and I had set aside this afternoon to work on his last two college applications.  My parents have the same carrier as we do.  There’s was repaired by 8:30 this morning.  Both Doug and I called and texted Mediacom multiple times, but it didn’t make much difference.  They just kept delaying the time that it was estimated to be restored. 

Cameron and I made the most of the day.  We went to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa at Chubbie’s.  It was tenderloin Tuesday and the food was good.  We realized from the conversation around us that some were still without power.  After hearing that I was glad that we only had lost our internet.  Cameron and I were able to use our hotspots to connect our computers to College Board.  It took a lot longer than we had planned as the service was pretty slow.  By the time Doug arrived home, however, Cameron had all of the essays finished for both Purdue and Michigan.  We decided to wait until we had stronger internet service to submit them, but were super happy to have completed the bulk of the work for both.  

Doug stayed at work until 6 p.m. since he wouldn’t be able to log on at home tonight.  Cameron picked Sleepy Owl for dinner this evening which was very nice.  None of us were surprised to see that the internet was still out when we got back home, so we called Grandma and Grandpa to come up and play Oh Hell.  Overall, it wasn’t the greatest fall break day ever, but definitely a memorable one.  

When It Rains, It Snows??

Cameron and I spent the afternoon in Fort Wayne shopping and having lunch at Portillo's.  It was a lot of fun and we got some great deals on clothes for him including a new suit jacket, several pairs of jeans, and a few shirts.  On the way home we thought about going to Fashion Farm to pick out pumpkins.  Our plans changed, however, once the rain started.  That along with the forty degree temperatures, made it way too cold for me to be outside in a pumpkin patch.

It was definitely the right decision as the rain turned quickly to sleet and eventually to snow.  It was the earliest that I could ever remember having a snowstorm and the repercussion of having it snow while the leaves were on the trees soon started to emerge.  Doug was at CVS getting his Covid booster and flu shot when we arrived home.  He forget his vaccine card so I ran it down to him.  The slush on the road made it hard to drive.  I needed something from my parents, so I stopped by on my way home.  I was surprised to see a large branch hanging down to the ground in their driveway.  The snow had collected on the leaves of the branch and weighted it down so much that it actually ended up snapping by the end of the night.

Doug was home by the time I arrived.  As soon as I walked in, the lights started to flicker.  I realized that we were probably in for a long night.  The snow wasn't supposed to end until late in the evening and we could already see that the tree limbs were saturated with snow.  By 5:45 our power was out and a large limb had snapped on our front tree.  Shortly after the first branch fall, several others started to come down in our back, front and side yard.  It was the strangest sound that I have ever heard.  We could hearing popping reminiscent of an old time machine gone all around our house as the branches kept snapping.  Thankfully, we had taken down the biggest trees in the backyard, so we weren't worried about damage to the house.  Only the van seemed to be in danger as the tree by the basketball goal lost the most limbs.  

Once we realized that we weren't going to get power any time soon, we decided to head to Grandma Jane's.  She didn't have internet, but she did have power.  I felt bad that Doug couldn't work, but at least we could make dinner and play Oh Hell.  It was a nice way to spend the evening while we waited out the storm.  Cameron, Doug and I returned home close to 10 p.m.  By then we could at least use our phones for cellular data.  Doug fell asleep right away while Cameron and I both spent the rest of the night reading. He and I talked about going back to Grandma's to sleep, but decided in the end just to stay home.  Shortly after midnight we both headed to bed and within five minutes of getting ready, the lights turned on and stayed on for the night.  We were glad to finally have power and to be done with this rare October snowstorm. 

Oliver Winery

Brett had to work today, so we said goodbye to him at 9:30 a.m.  Meg and Nick had to study so we caught up with them before lunch.  As soon as they left, Doug, Cameron and I drove to Oliver Winery.  We wanted to take the last of Cameron's senior pictures there.  Cal and Rachel had also wanted to try out some of the wines, so it worked out perfectly for all of us.  

Cameron's pictures went well.  We finished just as Cal arrived.  We got a table outside on the patio as it was a lot warmer than yesterday.  We couldn't try the wine flights as it was a thirty minute wait for a server.  Instead, Doug picked out two bottles for the four of us to share.  Cameron stuck with his sweet tea.  Accept for the bees, we really enjoyed the afternoon.  It was a great way to relax and unwind before the drive home.  We saw them one more time as Cal and Rachel pulled in to Culver's drive thru just as we were leaving.  It had been such a fun weekend; I was sad to see it end.  Fortunately, everyone should be home for multiple days over Thanksgiving.  That should be a great time as well. 

IU vs. Maryland

Our weekend of fun in Bloomington continued today at the IU vs. Maryland football game.  Doug and Cameron arrived first to secure a prime spot in the grass lots.  I followed shortly afterward.  Meg, Nick, Carson, Cal and Rachel showed up just a little bit later.  Doug had made Italian beef and Mexirolls for our pregame meal.  That along with Rachel's Buffalo chicken dip, some muffins from Kroger and Grandma Jane's peanut butter cookies made for a delicious lunch.  It was a lot of fun talking to everyone and a lot warmer than last Saturday.  The truck beside us had a television set up with the Michigan vs. Penn State game playing.  We all appreciated being able to keep up on the score of that game.

We started cleaning up around 3 p.m so that those of us going to the game could make it for the 3:30 kickoff.  Meg and Carson had free tickets as the football program gave them to all students staying on campus this weekend.  Nick sat with them.  Cameron, Doug and I had seats together in the section above them.  Cal and Rachel decided to go back to Meg's to watch the game there.  We all enjoyed the game, just not the outcome.  IU kept it close, but just couldn't overcome some offensive blunders and weak defensive.  IU lost 38-33.

We headed back to Meg and Brett's after the game.  We talked about going out to dinner, but decided since most restaurants were packed and we were all tired from a long afternoon that we would order Pizza X instead.  I was still freezing from the game, so I was very happy to stay in for the night.  Just like last evening there was a lot of lively conversation going on while we ate.  We also were able to catch up on the other football games from the day as well as those still in progress this evening.  No one was sad to see Alabama lose to Tennessee or to watch Notre Dame get beat.  Today was definitely a busy one which left me completely exhausted.  It was a good kind of tired, however, filled with so much love for the Heinisch family and their friends.