First off, Finn and I have released the third episode of our podcast, How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You? that we made when I visited him a few weeks ago.
This time we talk about how we each got our differing music tastes, with him developing a penchant for genres pretty foreign to me. With his music undergrad degree, he’s got the vocab to describe our divergence, and it’s worth a listen, if only to hear him explain some pretty unusual styles (unusual to my generation, at least).
Disclaimer: I am a bit off my game here because a) I had slept the night before on a mattress on the floor in Finn’s spare room, and b) I could not get used to the fact that I could look at him in the shared monitor in front of us or turn my head to look at his actual self, but not both. Seems like it should have been both.
This one’s only 30 minutes long, with a closing special appearance by Finn’s dad. This will be a regular segment, when we can grab him.
Just click the link above for all three episodes on his YouTube channel.
That’s the audio fun; here’s the visual fun.
Leafy Road Trip
Yesterday Tracy took me on a last-minute drive north of Madison to see the turning leaves and just to drive around where he used to go when he lived here for grad school. I love hearing him reminisce about places because he’s still very unhappy we’ve given up the road, and these are rare times of good humor. I’ll take them.
The leaves are changing everywhere: in small towns we drove through and in the woods on the outskirts of now dry corn fields.
Merrimac Ferry
Turns out you can drive up on a free vehicle ferry to go over the Wisconsin River where it’s been damned and forms a long lake.
We reminisced about the variety of ferries we’ve been on with the Airstream, the tiny Yukon River one at Dawson City being my fav. About the same size as this one, but the Yukon flows really fast there, and a bunch of people work the ferry to get you on board. Plus you can walk on and take your bike with, which I did many times.
For this Merrimac Ferry you just drive up without direction, and the ferry is on cables across the water. So calm! I didn’t even know we were moving at first.
Devil’s Lake State Park
We drove all around this lake north of the river, where the types of trees and the slight elevation (I’m guessing) made the leaves glow like we were in another world.
It was the last warm day of the year, before a storm front came through blowing leaves off the trees.
A perfect day, really.
We didn’t go hiking because my knee is acting up, but we did stop several times to look around in wonder.
Sauk City
We also stopped for lunch at the kind of old tavern that’s ubiquitous up here.
I made Tracy pose with his beer because it’s brewed by Surly, which fits him right now. Not this day, though!
Arena Cheese
No road trip is complete for me these days without a stop at a cheese factory, and we hit the big one we’ve been to many times.
Their curds made that day were on display near the front door for everyone in the know looking to grab only that.
A lap full of firm, salty, squeaky cheese curds is my idea of heaven. I had to refrain from eating an entire bag on the way back to the apartment. I decided that when Finn visits around Christmas, if he hasn’t had fresh curds we’ll take him out to one of the factories.
The other day while walking around Madison, I heard one guy say to his friend, “Wait, you’ve never had fresh cheese curds?!?” It’s a must-have experience for a cheese lover. Squeak!
A mother-son podcast? Love it. Will listen on one of my walks soon. I love cheese and have never had fresh cheese curds.
The podcast is ultra casual; I instead when we came up with the idea that its production not take up a lot of Finn’s time. So, warning 🙂 And fresh cheese is out of this world!
I’m sorry he’s not on board with your giving up the road, that must be tough. But day trips and weekends away can curb some of that wanderlust. Autumn leaves, beer and cheese are great soul soothers.
😉
Indeed they are!
I didn’t realize Tracy was mourning that loss of mobile adventure. I’m sure he’ll come around eventually; yesterday was a good start! I am loving all the fall foliage. Another week and it’ll mostly be gone, so soak it up now!
Yes, it’s going to take him a long while to not be grieving our former way of life. Maybe that grief will never go away, actually. But yes, yesterday was gorgeous! Rest of the week, not so much.
I’ve never had cheese curds before. I’ve heard of them, but have no idea what they are. I just watched a YouTube video about how they are made. Interesting. I’ll have to try them sometime.
We’ve made them at home, but they’re not as good as the ones made by trained cheese masters. 🙂 I’m thinking you’ll have a hard time finding freshly made curds anywhere but the Midwest. I hope you do, though! Made that day makes all the difference.
You made them at home? Wow, impressive. I watched how they made them and it didn’t look easy.
It actually was easy. You just simmer the milk and whey and watch over it, stirring occasionally for several hours, then you strain it in cheese cloth … as far as I remember. It’s the kind of project you check on while you’re doing something else around the house all day.
Also, Midwest Mark has a thing for fried cheese curds, which I think are far inferior to fresh. We’re going to have to arrange an in-person tasting contest somehow.