5935. Go to The Dells Mill and Museum in Augusta

Somewhere in my reading, I stumbled upon the Dells Mill in Augusta. Naturally I added it to the bucket list. Since Augusta is on our way to Eau Claire, we drove by it last fall but I wanted a chance to actually go in it. 

The Dells Mill and Museum is located about 20 miles from Eau Claire and 12 miles from I-94 in Osseo. It is only open Fridays and Saturdays 9-5. There is plenty of parking. There is a donation box for taking pictures.

You are allowed to walk around the outside of the mill when it's not open. We did that last fall but I wanted to go inside. 

We decided to stop on our way to Eau Claire and check it out when it's open. It is part museum, part store that sold Amish bakery. 

You can wander around the ground floor but if you want a tour it's $10/person. It covers the 5 floors of the mill with lots of stars. The hubby is not fond of staircases and high places especially ones that are fairly open. I'll keep that on the bucket list for another day.

The store was very small. I was hoping to snag a post card but I didn't see one. The cherry angel food cake looked really good but we had cheesecake in the car. 

After checking out the mill, we walked down to the bridge and checked out the falls. The mill wheel was moving the time and it was very picturesque. 

We even had a nice chat with an Amish man.

Overall it was a nice stop. If you ever find yourself in that are on a Friday or Saturday afternoon, take a moment to go back in time and check out the Dells Mill. 

5147. Go to the Sundrop Museum in Shawano

 The Sundrop Museum has been on my bucket list for awhile probably since I have heard of it. I don't think I ever heard of Sundrop before moving to the valley. Being in Shawano, it's close but requires some planning. Even mom and dad beat me to it. I made it a priority when planning the Shawano County Library Road Trip.

The Sundrop Museum is really known as Twig's Museum and Gift Shop. It is open Monday-Saturday til everyday to 5 except Saturday when it is 3. It is free to visit. 

Heather and I got there at 4:52 so we didn't have much time to explore the museum. I browsed the first room while Heather had to go back and get some change for me to make a pressed penny. We just bought a case of soda each. 

The hubby and I made a second trip up there a few days later because I didn't buy enough of the right flavors of soda. We actually took time to go through the museum fully this time. 

The museum is several rooms of Sundrop Soda Memorabilia. I can't even begin to describe everything that is in the museum. Sundrop has been around for almost a century and bottling in Shawano since the 1950s.  You just have to go and check it out yourself. There is a lot of neat stuff.

During operating hours, you can actual watch them bottle Sundrop and the Twig sodas. When the hubby and I were there, it was a not a bottling Saturday. Some Saturdays in summer, they do bottle. 

The tasting station was not open for tasting when we were there. I still want to try the blue raspberry and cream. 

In the store you can purchase Twig and Sundrop soda by the bottle, 4 pack, and case. I bought a case both visits. The hubby and I decided we need to make more runs to Twigs since it is only about an hour away. The soda is very good and most of it is caffeine-free. The black cherry is my favorite. They do make a good lime as well. Lime is hard to find.

If you are in the Green Bay or Shawano area, take time to stop at Twigs to check out the museum, taste some soda, and pick up a case or two. It is well worth the trip. 

3545. Go to El Malpais National Monument in Grants

We were looking at potential route to Phoenix from Dodge City since we were staying in Chandler coming down from Flagstaff didn't really make sense. We found a route that took us through southwest through New Mexico and crossing farther south than we usually do. As I was looking at this route, I saw it literally ran along the side of El Malpais National Monument. I've been wanting to visit El Malpais for awhile but figured the hubby wasn't too much into exploring lava tubes. The only thing was the visitor center was 10 minutes of the way. When I mentioned all this to the hubby, he was game and we could even stop and get my stamp.

El Malpais National Monument is a stark landscape of limestone and ancient volcanic rock.. basalt, lava tube caves, cinder cones, and spatter cones. It is nothing like we have in the Midwest. 

We stopped at the visitor center, got my passport stamped, and then checked out the small museum. We learned a bit of the rugged and unique landscape. Then it was back in the car to explore part of the eastern edge of the park. 

Our first stop was Sandstone Bluff Overlook. This required a relatively steep drive up a gravel road. The road is actually closed when it rains because it will flood out. There is small parking lot on top along with some informational signs and then you can check out the views.

We saw the ancient Zuni Mountains.

The lave flows

And Mount Taylor which is the second latest volcano in New Mexico and an old extinct volcano.

The sandstone ledges were impressive too.

Back in the car, we passed more lava flows on our way to our second stop -- La Ventana Natural Arch. This is technically not part of the National Monument but part of the El Malprais National Conversation Area. 

You can view the Arch from the parking lot or follow a short trail to get closer. You can even scramble the rocks to get even closer -- the hubby would have freaked if I tried that.

We then followed the highway through the El Malprais National Conversation area to back to US 60 and that took us into Arizona.

El Malprais is definitely worth the detour. We only saw a tiny fraction of the park. Hopefully one day we can explore the other side. The hubby does like the lava flows. We probably spent 10-15 minutes at each stop which was a nice stretch break.