Musical Notes

“On the road again -
Goin' places that I've never been.
Seein' things that I may never see again
On the road again -
And our way is on the road again.

8/15/2015

This Heading Picture is not just a mundane farm picture, but a scene repeated through out all of Wisconsin. Great dairy farms, and they are the cleanest and most pristinely kept farms one can imagine. Wisconsin has rightfully earned it's right to their slogan of 'American's Dairy Land'.

Madison, the Capitol of Wisconsin

Madison, what a beautiful city. The downtown including the Capitol and the University of Wisconsin is located on an isthmus between the two lakes: Lake Mendota on the north and Lake Monona on the south. What a unique setting. Below is Lake Monona, and in the skyline the tall structure is the Capitol building. These three pictures were taken within a coupleo of blocks of the Governors home. Pretty up scale area!

Lake Mendota(download) if you would like to see a large photo with more detail


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The entrance to Maple Bluff Country Club established in 1899.

Country Club

Wisconsin's Capitol.

The Capitol is constructed from a very attractive granite rock. I had assumed that the granite stone used in the main structure came from Wisconsin, but we found that it was imported from Vermont. There are 43 different types of stone materials imported from 8 other states and 6 different countries. The structure cost 7.15 million in 1917, which in todays dollars is a bargain at 158 million. As a comparison Kansas just spent 325 million remodeling their Capitol Building.

Wisc Capital(download)

Capital(download)

Inside Capital(download)

The Capital Dome.

I took this picture holding my camera as close to the floor as I could get and just pointed up. It took several shots to get one that was centered. I'm not sure what this brown thing is other than it must have be my thumb. That's all right, as you haven't had a good picture of my thumb. This is all gorgeous inlaid stone almost like a mosaic.

dome(download)

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Dottie near the top of the dome on the terrace walk way overlooking the City of Madison.

DL Walkway

The fantastic schupltering on surrounding the Capital Dome.

Capital Dome(download)

Looking at Lake Mendota from the Capital Terrace.

Lake

A Capitol Security Guard we happened to visit with, told us that 'Professional Capitol Tourists' related to him the three most interesting Capitols in the United States are: Madison in Wisconsin, Harrisburg in Pennsylvanian, and Santa Fe in New Mexico. We were impressed and surprised at his mentioning Santa Fe. We don't necessarily think of the Capitol buildings in Santa Fe as being that impressive. Then it dawned on me in an, "Aha Aha! moment, it is the Lure of the City of Santa Fe". It was then that his remarks made us very proud, as the City of Santa Fe is blessed in history. The charm of the city and the structures are magnificent. They have never been restored, as they've always been occupied and kept as a treasure. Santa Fe is the Capitol that is different.

The North Woods - Rhinelander

Rhinelander is in the northern wooded area of Wisconsin, and this was the birth place of Dottie's father. Capitan H. H. Lewis served in France in WWI in the then Corps of Engineers. HH Lewis

He was a "Woodsman," and by 1914 the prime timber of Wisconsin had been exhausted. The Timber Industry moved to Arizona, and Hill went west with them to McNary, AZ. Which coincidently was also the name of the timber company. His younger brother was affected with TB and followed him a few years later; and that is how the two Lewis Families of Hillard Lewis and Leonard Lewis came to N M.

In the North woods who might one expect but 'My Deer."

doe

Joy Barger is Dottie's cousin and is the only "Lewis" family member still residing in Wisconsin. In our wanderings we have been able to visit several times over the last 10 years. They are standing at their cousin, Norma Lou's, grave. The 'Iron' cross marks the site of Joy's husband, Norman's grave.

Joy & DL

In the Cemetery in Rhinelander are the graves of Dottie's Grandfather and Grandmother, John and Delia Lewis. You might recall that in 2012 we visited her Great Grandfather's, Philip Lewis/Luce, resting place on the beautiful shores of the St Lawrence Sea Way. https://www.ncribble.com/NB.PEI.photos.html

 

Then later from Green Bay we drove to Marion, WI, where we found Dottie's Great Grandparents August and Amelia Block on the Lewis side of her family. They immigrated to the United States from Germany.

As we drove to Marion we passed Clintonville, and the bells started ringing. Bing Bing, and then it came, the City where FWD Trucks are manufactured. They were great builders of Army vehicles in both WWI and WWII and sure enough in their yard were several current Army vehicles. In the 60's we sold the NM State Highway Department 2 or 3 rotary snow plows mounted on FWD Trucks. It is such a small world.

Block

Dottie's passion is genealogy, and we've tramped through many a back road finding the resting places of her ancestors. Oh! and you'll get more, when we get to Pennsylvania. The is the Grave Stone of Dottie's Aunt Leona, and we found this north of Green Bay at Mariette. He, He, Mariette also had a great Cheese factory.

Dahl Heasstpone

Door County, Wisconsin

Door County is the peninsula between the bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. This is a summer paradise for vacationing tourists, but Door County is a lovely working community of beautiful dairy farms and thriving business districts.

We Stopped in Sturgeon Bay on the peninsula and were very impressed. This is a 150 old city is the home of significant ship building industries. Fincantiere Shipbuilding Co has been building Great Lake ships and barges here for 98 years,

This is their 'Ship Dock.' I am guessing this bridge crane to be at 300 ton capacity, and it had to be some 100' under the main hook. When you consider the tremendous volume of shipping that is carried on through the Great Lakes, this is such a natural location for such an activity. Sturgeon Bay located in the calm waters of the Green Bay and just up the peninsula a hop and a skip and a jump to Lake Michigan.

Ship Cranes(download)

Where I parked to take the Crane picture, these young fellows were hard at it in Batting Practice. Sturgeon Bay must also be a producer of Major League players?

Batter UP

Cities love animals of the wild to identify their origins: Tupelo Mississippi, the Guitar (Elvis Presley), Austin TX & Cheyenne WYO, the Horse, Ottawa CN the Polar Bear, and in Sturgeon Bay why not the Sturgeon.

Sturges

Sturges

I wanted this picture of the Draw Bridge opening, and what did I get but the bridges opening plus their friendly Canadian Goose crop.

Canidian

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How about this pristine home for one looking on to the water front.

Water Front home

When we returned from the northern point on the peninsula, we wandered down the Lake Michigan side and stopped at a couple of State and County Parks. Notice the escarpment, it is probably a 30' straight drop to the water.

Lake Mighigan(download)

The escarpment drop pretty well describes the Cave Point sign. Now the other one took a minute for its meaning to sink in. Then it hit, Hey! It snows in this country, and they'll be plowing the roads at night.

sign Cave Point

PGA Championship

One of the reasons we are in this neck of the woods is that we are Volunteers at the PGA Championship. Which the World now knows Jason Day from Australia won at 20 under par, with the US Masters and US Open Championship winner, Jordan Spieth, coming in second at 17 under. This was a splendid Major Championship Tournament, and it had all the drama that one might expect from a Major.

As Volunteers in the 7 tournament days of 3 practice rounds and 4 days of Tournament Play, we worked (4) four hour shifts. Dottie likes to work in the Merchandising Tent, and in this Tournament I worked in Player Transportation. This is a glorified 'Go Fer" position. You know Go for This and Go for That, but not a bad job considering that when you are driving around it is in a Mercedes. They are the Official Automobile Sponsor and furnished some 130 cars for this event. It takes 3,500 volunteers for a major tournament, and so we're just little peas in that pod; but it is a fun experience, and one we have enjoyed working in all the Majors, with the exception of the Masters. There is a 7 years waiting list to qualify as a Volunteer at the Masters. We're a little long in the tooth for that consideration.

But where in the world does one park an RV when attending the PGA at Whistling Straits with 200,000 other golfers in the gallery? When we worked the US Seniors Championship in 2007; we found an RV Park 20 miles away, great but certainly not handy. We noticed this farm house directly across the road from the course, where several RVs were parked. When we came back in 2010 for the PGA, we visited the Farmer, Zig Ziegelbauer; (and that is a mouth full) and he had a spot for us. That tournament our campground location was terrific, as we could walk to the course. There are Parking Lots for the Tournament surrounding Zig's, so we had the option of also riding the shuttle to the course. Needless to say this year we stayed with Zig again.

This Mural is painted on the back of the Barn, and this picture is exactly what Zig looks like.

Zigs

And here we caught the Artists painting the mural

Artist

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Zig has 3.5 acres, and you'll note the number of other happy RVs Zig-ing it. There were 25 rigs parked on the property. But note the Ribble's were early, and you'll see our Chev and Winne parked right next to the house in the right picture. We almost have our own private yard.


Zoig'sHouse Winnie

Zig has this 'Saloon" set up; and it is the nightly gathering spot for we residents, golfing friends, and the many green keepers who are in to work the tournament, plus a few caddies, and maybe a tournament golfer. All the proceeds from the 'Salon' go to Boys & Girls Club. Of course we had a DJ and good music, so this is big time fun time; but being all we workers have early schedules the next day, by 10:00pm we were back to a nice quite Wisconsin farm.

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The gallery was in excess of 200,000 over the 4 days, so the Gallery was huge.

Major

Cameras are only allowed on the practice days; so I haven't many shots, but I thought these to be interesting enough to share them with you.

On the three practice days the Players are happy to sign autographs and especially for Kids. By the way at PGA events young people 17 and under are admitted free with an adult.

This group coming off the 11th green on Wednesday were working their public relations and the kids are lined up waiting for their signatures.

PGA(download)

This player's Coach was with him in this practice round; and as soon as he finished the hole, the Coach, lower right in the red shirt, was there doing his job of 'Coaching."

Coaching

Nothing spectacular, I just wanted to see if I could catch the ball in flight. Right above the white cup. The Chip

This picture of Rory McIllory was the Cover Image on the PGA Program. Rory was the Champion of the PGA Tournament in 2012 and again in 2014 and as such was the defending Champion. We love watching this young man play, and here is what I shared with you in our Travel Log in 2010.

"My favorite is young Rory McIllory from Northern Ireland. He is the cutest kid you’ve ever seen with an infectious smile, an Afro hair style sticking out from under his cap; and he’s a normal size man at 5’ 10” who just turned 21. But for his missed putt on the 18th green on Sunday, he would have been in the playoff. I watched him on #11 (pictured) on Friday, a 618 yard par 5. He hit his second shot past the green, through a sand bunker and came to rest on a 35° upslope hill with the ball resting in tall grass. He had a downhill lie on this approach shot over the sand trap to the green which was elevated above his head, so he just calmly hits his ball 3 feet from the pin. It was as beautiful a golf shot as I’ve ever seen."

Rory

Cover

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NOW My Biggest WOW! moment of the Tournament. On Friday paired were Zack Johnson, the British Open Champion; Rory McIllory, the Number Uno (1) Golfer in the World; and Jordan Spieth, the Master and US Open Champion. I sat in the bleachers on the 6th hole. A par 4 at 355 yards, and I felt so fortunate to be able to gallery them. Zack hit his drive in the fairway but 60 yards from the green, Rory's was 20' off right in front of the green, and Jordan's was in a deep bunker something like 25' below the hole. After all three had hit their pitch or chipped shots, they had the cup surrounded. A blanket could have covered the lot, with no putt over 7' from the hole. What terrific ball sticking! Each with an entirely different shot, but all with the same results. Oh! by the way each player made his putt. Three Birdies! How I marvel at the competitiveness and the skill of these three young men. WOW! This was my thrill of the Tournament.

Back at the ranch and my Transportation Job, one of my 'Go-Fer" jobs was to take a car out to the Sheboygan County Air Port. This is where many of the Players flew in either in their own planes or charted planes. It was interesting to note that 3 or 4 of them would arrange to share a Chartered plane.

Anyway, at the air port at the Aviation Heritage Museum of WWII was this T-33 displayed in a completely different fashion than normally seen. I love the maner in which they displayed the plane and am shairn these two pictures. I have over 1200 hours of flying time in the "Bird" and the single seat version called the P-80, I'm proud to share the picture of these airplane of 60 years ago. I guess I'm ancient too, but not yet history.

T-33

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T-33

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They also have this T-28 with a radial engine on display. This was the air craft that we flew in flight school prior to transitioning into jets. Oh! all Ole pilots love the bang, backfire, a puff of smoke, and farting sound of a radial engine starting. Just remembering the experience brings tears to one's eyes and a thrill to the heart.

T-28

Prior to the PGA we again experienced the thrill of watching the Green Bay Packers in their 'Training Session', and we are excited to share with you the fun of watching 88 Big Boys playing around on the Grass. But this story is way to much to include here, so that will be the next one to come. Stay Tuned to the Ribble Frequency for next weeks episode.

The Green Bay Packers !

Cheese Head

We'll see you bright and early on Monday morning for Green Bays Training at the Ray Nitschke Field!

Come on Willie sing us another verse, and we’ll move on down the road. 

Dl & NR

Norm & Dottie