Valley of Fire State Park

Finally! A return to travel! We had airline credits from our canceled trip last summer that had to be used by September, so we decided to head to the Southwest. In hindsight, it seems a trip to the desert in summer may be a questionable idea, but it’s even better when there is record heat and drought conditions! It was HOT!

Our first stop was a beautiful state park in Nevada – Valley of Fire State Park. We came in from Las Vegas, and it was 45 minutes or so away, and a very easy drive. We arrived on a Sunday midmorning, and there wasn’t a line to get in, and didn’t seem very busy.

Since we came in from the west, our first stop was the Beehives. The girls had a lot of fun climbing into the caves to find cooler spots in the shade. This spot gave a great view of the surrounding area.

Beehives – with plenty of hiding holes to find shade in for curious kids!

Next we hit up the Atlatl Rock, which is definitely worth the climb – the petroglyphs to be seen here were very easy to locate and view.

You’ve got this!
We had fun making up stories for these petroglyphs!

Next, we were off to our hike for the morning – we did the Fire Wave hike. It was roughly 0.7 mile hike to the Fire Wave. Though this one is undoubtedly not as immense as the super famous Fire Wave in Vermilion Cliffs, it was so much more accessible for us (no ticket system, significantly shorter hike). It was a very hot hike, however, as there isn’t much for shade after the first 1/4 mile. It was quite a sight to see, however! You can continue on the trail past Fire Wave, or you can turn around and head back to the parking lot (like we did). Interestingly enough, the trail closed a few days after we were there due to a high risk of heat-related illness!

So pretty and swirly! Who knew rocks could do that?!?
Wormy is using her Dad as a ‘shade tree.’

After this, we were going to hike the White Dome area and pink canyon, but I really tired out Wormy and Squid, so they were not interested in this idea at all! We drove around the White Domes area, and then headed out to drive the rest of the park.

Near the Elephant Rock/Visitors Center area

I highly recommend a stop to Valley of Fire State Park. It was quiet, calm, and peaceful. Usually we experience similar environment at national parks, but with the uptick in visitors to most of them, this was a nice change!

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Seven Bridges in the Fall

Does it get any better than this?

I absolutely love fall! The flavors of apples, pumpkins, and the occasional hot chocolate….the fluffy sweatshirts…bonfires…and, best of all: the gorgeous fall colors!

A few days ago, I took a little excursion that I really need to do more often – visiting Seven Bridges Trail in Milwaukee. Seven Bridges is actually part of Grant Park, but good ‘ole Google can help you get there using the name Seven Bridges.

There are a few options for where your trails can lead you, but I always start here:

The entrance to the trail

There’s a little parking lot along the road in front of this area. However, since there’s not a lot of parking, I would imagine it probably fills up pretty often. If you continue down the road, there is a much bigger parking lot, and access to the trail there as well.

No matter where you start the trail from, you will end up going over many bridges. The trail is fun for kids as well. The area is beautiful in any season, but I love it in the fall. You can even find yourself walking along the shore of Lake Michigan if you so choose! Be careful if there has been a lot of rain, though, as the trail does get muddy.

Here’s the map from the Milwaukee Parks page (https://county.milwaukee.gov/files/county/parks-department/Park-Maps/7bridgesmap.pdf):

Enjoy the trail and hopefully you see views like this when you go!

The bridge that overlooks Lake Michigan – my personal fave!

Lisa Werner1 Comment

A Favorite Fall Stop

Even the drive in is beautiful (and, no, I was not driving when I took this picture)

One of my favorite annual spots for the beautiful fall colors in Southeastern Wisconsin is Holy Hill. For some reason, it just doesn’t feel like fall without this stop. The drive from where I live is always part of the fun for me. It’s like a great symphony building up to the big, brassy, grand finale!

Once you actually get to Holy Hill, you have the option of parking right at the basilica, or down below. If you are only going to take in views from the basilica, definitely park up the hill. If not, your choice is up to you, because you will end up hiking up that hill one way or another!

I like to walk up to the basilica and take in the view first. Usually, I will climb the observation tower (it’s a beautiful view, but SUPER windy up there), but the tower is closed this year. Don’t worry, though- the view is still worth it – after all, you are on a giant hill. In fact, when you look to the East, be sure to check out the view of downtown Milwaukee!

After the amazing views above, I like to climb down and visit the Stations of the Cross. You end up slowly going down the hill, and the fall colors of the wooded area combined with the beautiful statues make for a very peaceful time.

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Fall Color Adventure – Bruce, WI

Last weekend, we had a nice adventure in Northern WI. We went up to Christie Mountain, as they were having their “Leaf It To Rusk” fall festival. At Christie Mountain, you can ride the ski lift up and/or down to view the fall colors in the Blue Hills of WI. Even though the colors were a week behind the anticipated peak for that weekend, it was still a beautiful trip. In fact, I think this was the prettiest fall drive I have ever made!

When you get to the ski hill, you must pay cash for a ticket and decide whether you are purchasing for both directions, or just one ($5 per person, each way). We were unsure, so I asked how long the walk down was, and the lady told me it actually takes less time to walk down than to ride down. We chose to ride the lift up (who wants to walk uphill?!?) and then walk down.

The ski lift actually comes to a stop for each passenger to get on, and these chairs seat 2 (maybe 3, if it is an adult and 2 kids). There were plenty of pretty colors to see, but if you ever do this, don’t forget to check out the view behind you. You will be able to see that view when you reach the summit, but it’s just so much fun to see it while dangling in the air!

Once you get to the top, there were photo op stations set up with hay bales and pumpkins, and you can walk around pretty much anywhere on the ski hill. Be sure to check out the views from each of the ski runs, as they all were a little different. There was also food available for purchase from a barbecue place. It smelled delicious, but we did not try it.

So many beautiful colors!

I have to say, we’ve now done both the Rib Mountain fall ski lift ride and this one, but I think this one was my favorite. They are both amazing, and we were lucky enough to do Rib Mountain right at peak, but the drive to Christie Mountain really made it for me. I felt like we truly experienced the fall colors from EVERY angle – below, above, next to… I just love those beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows (and, when you’re before peak, the greens are a nice contrast as well).

Not bad for a week before peak!

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Original Cheesehead Factory of Foamation

My family loves to travel. It doesn’t matter whether it’s traveling to the next town over, to a new state, or out of the country. We like to experience new things. One of the interesting things we did recently was tour the Original Cheesehead Factory. Squid’s Girl Scout troop needed an outing, so I recommended this.

It is located pretty close to the Allen-Bradley clock tower in Milwaukee, and street parking was easy to find out front. Thanks to my husband’s love of Apple maps, we were the last ones to arrive, as Apple apparently thought we were interested in going to St. Francis instead. Is there some sort of rule that the organizer of these type of events ends up being the last to arrive?

Anyway, once we got in, we had the choice of taking the tour and creating our own cheesy creation, or just touring. We were in it for the long haul, so cheesy creation was a must-do (in my opinion).

We got to wear beautiful cheddar-colored aprons, and sat down to hear the history of the Cheesehead. Since I am not THAT old, it didn’t actually occur to me that the Cheesehead was actually invented in my lifetime. It’s one of those things I’ve seen for as long as I can remember…which apparently is the late ’90s, as that’s when they first started making the Cheesehead.

We got to see the very first Cheesehead, made out of the foam from a couch. We were sure to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ appropriately.

The first Cheesehead – in the building’s vault

After the history of the Cheesehead, and the building itself, we moved on to the station with all of the variations of foam headpieces that have come since the original.

I really want a pizza hat…

After naming off more food hats than you could possibly imagine (our guide actually challenged these 4th graders to name off something that they thought the company had NOT made as a hat yet…), we went on to the foam making stations. First, we got to fill our cups with the proper mixture of foam-making materials. The amount is different for each of the things we made, as some cheese items need to be flexible (the hats), and others need to be a bit more stiff (my cheesy star Christmas tree topper).

Not a beverage station – the materials that are mixed to create my foam

After that, it was into the molds for our foam to expand into. The mold is then clamped down and we wait. It certainly wasn’t a long process, but it was very fun to watch as everyone’s projects finished.

That’s my star!

After it came out of the molds, we all went to a room with a table and trimmed off the extra foam. After that, we thanked our tour guide, checked out the gift shop, and ended by taking some ‘cheesy’ photos in the front. They had samples of some of their goofy hats, ties, and other cheesy things out to model with.

All in all, it was a very fun time. It was crazy to see how small the actual area where the foam products are made, as you see so many of the Cheesehead hats around! Definitely check this place out if you are lucky for something uniquely Wisconsin. You can find more information here.

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

Traveling with Kids?!?

This page is going to feature all of the day trips around Wisconsin, travels through the US, and more that my family and I like to do. So many people ask where we’ve been, what we’ve enjoyed, and how we got there. Hopefully sharing the research I’ve done and how it’s gone with varying ages of kids will help you all plan your adventures!

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