6170. Go to Spring Water Covered Bridge in Wild Rose

 A couple years ago on my way to La Crosse for Girls Weekend, I noticed a covered bridge between Waupaca and Wild Rose. I was going to check it out on the way home but my route took me a different way. So it went on the bucket list. 

When the hubby said he wanted to go to Waushara County for a Christmas Tree, I hoped we would get to go past the covered bridge. All I remembered it was just past a curve on the left hand side of the road. Yeah I know not much to go by. After looking at Google Maps, I found it was the Spring Water Covered Bridge and is located on Hwy 22 between Waupaca and Wild Rose.

We decided to stop on the way home from getting out Christmas Tree. Spring Water Covered Bridge was built in 1997 and is one you can actually drive through. I don't know the reason behind wanting to build a covered bridge in the late 1990s unless it was replacing an existing covered bridge. Covered bridges were originally to provide shelter from the elements to weary buggy travels. 

When we got to the covered bridge, I hopped out of the car and snapped a few pictures. Then we drove through the covered bridge. It wasn't the first one we drove through but it was still a neat experience. 

There are couple others in Wisconsin that I still need to see. There's one in Gays Mills, Boscobel, and Park Falls to discover yet. 

If you ever find yourself on Hwy 22 between Waupaca and Wild Rose, take a few minutes to check out the Spring Water Covered Bridge and enjoy the park. It looks to be good fishing too. 

333. Cut down my own Christmas tree

 Last Christmas our the lights in the middle of our Christmas tree went out so we threw out the tree at the end of the year. I kept joking every time the hubby said we needed a new tree this year we should cut down our own tree. I never did it and really wanted to do it. I didn't think it would happen but after a couple of times saying this he is like that would be fun. So he put me in charge of finding a place to cut down our tree. 

He kind of mentioned he wanted to go to Waushara County for a tree as they have a lot of tree farms. So googled tree farms and made a list of a couple in the area. I picked out my favorite which turned out to be his favorite.

We ended up going to Hansen Tree Farm in Wild Rose. They looked to have Balsam and Frasier Firs which is what we wanted. They were open every weekend until Christmas which was a plus since we had various plans to work around. 

It was a very cold day when we decided to cut down our tree but no snow on the ground. We bundled up so it wasn't too bad. The sun was shining so it helped not feel so bad.

We got to Hansen's and parked. We got our tag and picked up a saw. I liked they provided a saw especially since I was going to have to cut it down myself since the hubby was still out of commission. 

Then we started to walk through the tree farm. Honestly it was pitiful. Most of the trees were like 10+ feet tall. We need like a 6-7 foot tree. If they weren't super tall, there were super short. Like 2-3 feet. They were very few trees that fit what we were looking for. 

After walking around the farm, we spotted literally the only tree that would work. I noticed it when we first started but wasn't sure about it. The height was perfect but it seemed to full. We really wanted a skinny tree but at this point, beggars can't be choosers. 

I was very happy to find out the truck of the tree was not as thick as I feared. It was maybe 3-4 inches thick so it wouldn't be too bad to cut down. I got down on the ground and started to saw.. and saw... and saw. I didn't think I was making any progress but I was. Eventually after about 10-15 minutes, I succeeded in cutting down my first Christmas tree. Go me. 

We then waited for the tree wagon to come by and loaded it on the wagon and hopped on for a ride back to the store. In this process we lost our claim tag so we took the extra part off. 

While we were waiting for our tree to get bundled, we checked out the wreaths. We were going to get a wreath from the Brigade in Neenah but these were about the same price. There were also very full and would be perfect hanging on the balcony.

The tree was $60 and the wreath was $30. Not a bad day for $90. 

We were able to put the tree the car so we didn't need to worry about trying to get it on the top of the car and off at home again with the hubby's hands. It was definitely an easier process by it fitting in the car.

We said would cut down our own tree again. We would go to another spot next year for a tree but might come back to Hansen's for the wreath. We really liked our wreath. The tree held its needles and was still doing well after a month. So even though the selection was slim pickings, our tree survived until New Year's without dropping many needles and still sucked water. We were both shocked.

I highly recommend cutting down your tree at least once in your life. It is a fun family tradition. 

880. Jump on a trampoline

Back in 2002 when I wrote the bucket list, trampolines were just becoming popular and we were too old to have one. Since then I always wanted to jump on one which is why it went on the bucket list. I figured someone I knew would get one. I just didn't think it would take 20+ years.

We were at my nephew's birthday party and I look out the window and see a trampoline. It wasn't there the last time we were over so I wasn't entirely sure it was theirs or their neighbors. I asked and was told yes by my sister-in-law and then I asked if I could jump on it. She said sure.

I dragged the birthday boy outside with me to document this adventure. 

I will be honest I was slightly afraid of actually jumping on the trampoline once I got outside. I was seriously afraid of hurting myself. I've heard horror stories of injuries on trampolines. I highly doubt the hubby would be amused if I hurt myself jumping on a trampoline that I probably should not have been jumping on in the first place.

Trampolines move a whole lot more than I expected it. It took me a few tries to get my balance so I could actually jump.

I jumped a few times and then let myself bounce on my butt instead. I actually think the bouncing was more fun.

Okay this was a been there, done that moment. I really don't need to jump on another trampoline in my life. Maybe if I was 20 years younger I would feel differently. I may have lost my sense for crazy adventures... or maybe I just like my bones intact. 

5242. Have ice cream at Frio Mexican Treats in Appleton

 Everyone kept posting about this ice cream place in Appleton called Frio. It looked really good. I didn't mention it the hubby since it was Mexican ice cream and wasn't sure he'd like it. Then he saw something in the paper about it being one of the best ice cream places in the area and wanted to try it. This is usually how things work, I find something I want to try or go to, then I wait for him to discover it, and then we ended checking it out.

Frio Mexican Treats is located on Wisconsin Ave in Appleton. They are open Wednesday-Sunday. They is also have a location in Neenah which is open Thursday-Monday.

We opted to go before we had dinner. When you are an adult you can eat dessert first. I was having a hard deciding what I wanted. There was ice cream and churro sundaes to pick from along with Mexican corn and a few other items. They had a variety of sundaes to choose from or you could build your own.  As tempting (and delicious) was the Ube Brownie, I opted for Yo Quiero Cookie Sundae. which was Oreo ice cream with Chips Ahoy cookies. I just wasn't ready to build my own.

I ordered a baby and it was more than enough. I have not had a churro sundae since Costa Rica and missed them. This really hit the spot. The churros were filled with custard. It was sweet and gooey and delicious. 

The hubby had Shiocton Blast and he loved it too. I am glad he's stepping out of his comfort zone.

It was bit pricy but no pricier than going to Dairy Queen for Blizzards. The choices of ice cream makes it well worth it. We definitely will be back.. this time after dinner.

You definitely need to check out Frio if you have not yet. Delicious and they even have coffee. 

Note: It looks like they may temporary close from January to Mid-February. We went in early November. 

Halloween Adventures -- Haunted Cart Ride

 When Stacy was up in August, she found a flyer for a haunted cart ride in Chilton that said it was kid friendly. I normally don't like haunted houses because I don't like things jumping out at me. Because of this, it's one of the reasons I don't usually do much for Halloween. I figured this wouldn't be too bad.

The Haunted Cart Ride was at Hickory Hills Country Club. It was open Friday and Saturday nights in October 6:30-9:30. Reservations are required. It was $11/kids and $19/adult. Parking is free.

We had a 7 reservation and there about 6:50. We didn't actually leave for the cart until about 7:30. We were given a playing card with a number on it and then walked down the hill to the get on our golf cart.  This part was very unorganized. They were delays and just very hard to hear them calling your number. We finally just fought our to the front and got a cart pretty quickly.

Yeah.. We missed the part of Kid Friendly By Request. It was actually a very nice cart ride through the golf course if you like things jumping out at you and scaring you. The kids did not. For me, I found it hilarious knowing they can't really hurt me.

The ride was longer than I expected. They had many different scenes spread out of the golf course. There was a carnival scene and a dentist scene. 

The creepiest part besides the chain saw was when we went into this shed at the end and had fog. It wasn't horrible but definitely wanted to get out there.

I would highly recommend doing the Haunted Cart Ride next Halloween. The family friendly version would be great if your kids don't like scary things. It was an enjoyable evening even with all the tears. Don't think her kids will let you live this one down for a while.

5161. Go to the Barlow Planetarium in Menasha

 I have lived in the Fox Valley for almost 20 years and I never been to the planetarium. It just wasn't something that overly interested me. However, when UW-Fox Valley announced its closure at the end of the academic year, me like many people in the area wasn't sure what's going to happen to the planetarium so I decided I needed to visit at least once. Stacy was bringing the kids up for a haunted hayride so I thought it was perfect to do this beforehand. 

Barlow Planetarium is located at UW-Fox Valley in Menasha. They have shows Wednesdays and Thursdays at 4 pm, Fridays at 4 pm as well evening laser shows, and Saturdays at 1, 2:30, and 4 plus evening laser shows. I think tickets were $10/adult.

We went with the 4 pm Friday show which was Chasing the Ghost Particle which was a Feature Astronomy show. It was all about this neutrino that bounces off ice deep inside the earth's ice in Antarctica from space using these special telescopes. It was interesting but definitely not what I was expecting. I seriously was not in the mood for a science lesson. I wanted something fun, not educational. 

However, once we sat through the educational part, they gave us a bonus laser show. It was all set to a Halloween song. It was great. It was fun and just what I wanted to see at the planetarium. That was worth the price of admission. 

I highly recommend checking out the planetarium for one of their star or laser shows while you get the chance. No one knows what's going to happen to it but it is definitely worth keeping since schools and scout groups is it as field trips. 

7460. Have a Moscow mule

 I've always been interested in trying a Moscow Mule even before having a Kentucky Mule. I just didn't have any ginger beer. I had a bottle of apple pie vodka that I was dying to use. So I said we were having Moscow Mules for our October Gathering.

A Moscow Mule is vodka, ginger beer, and a twist of lime. I figured for fall the apple pie vodka would be perfect.

So when we were at Twiggs in May, I picked up a couple bottles of Ginger Beer with the intent of doing Moscow Mules. 

The Twigs, Apple Pie Vodka, and lime was really good... even when I put too much vodka in it. 

I also had a can of sparkling ginger beer from one of my book boxes. That one didn't work as well. I don't know if the extra carbonation threw the flavor off or if it Twigs was just that much better. Other comments from the book group had similar feelings about the sparking ginger beer so maybe it was just the type of ginger beer.

I have a bottle of ginger beer so we can have Moscow Mules at another gathering. I will have to find other uses for the Apple Pie Vodka as well. Stay tuned for other creative cocktails with the apple pie vodka.