Day 6 – Sunday July 28 (Continued)
As I mentioned last week, when I was traveling south on I-41, I passed right by the RV parking area for the EAA Airshow, in Oshkosh, and it was jam-packed with RVs of every description. The Military Veterans Museum, there in Oshkosh, was my next stop, and it was located just down the road from the EAA RV parking area. This is a small museum displaying restored military vehicles, equipment, artifacts, and memorabilia from all branches of the American military services.
I continued another 20 miles south on I-41, around Lake Winnebago, to visit the Jim Baldauf Auto Collection located in Fond du Lac, WI. This is a private car collection consisting of a showroom full of beautifully restored and modified cars. I had called ahead for an appointment to view Jim’s collection. I was especially excited about seeing his 1949 Olds 88 Convertible, which Jim says is, one of only five left in the U.S. It is said that Jim has a very nice collection of vintage and classic cars, but he never did call me back, and I was disappointed to find this museum closed.
Now I headed another 35 miles south on I-41/SR-175/CR-P to visit the Wisconsin Automotive Museum located in Hartford, WI. This is a very impressive museum that displays about 150 automobiles dating from the early 1900s to the present. Some cars are beautifully restored, while others are still in the condition they were in when discovered (in the barn or field) by the museum collectors. There was also lots of early automobile displays, artifacts and memorabilia to examine.
Next I headed 40 miles southeast on I-41 to visit the Harley Davidson Museum located in Milwaukee, WI. This was one of the most impressive collections of motorcycles I have ever seen. Beautifully restored Motorcycles dating from 1903 to the present are displayed on two levels of this large museum. They had examples of each of the four Harley Davidson motorcycles that I had owned. There was a 1943 (737cc) WWII US Army courier machine, a 1948 (125cc) Hummer, a 1954 (165cc) Hummer ST, and a 1955 (888cc) Sportster KH. Boy-O-Boy did those motorcycles bring back a lot of memories from my riding days.
After that trip down memory lane, I headed 20 miles west on I-94 to try and find the Wisconsin Wing of the Commemorative Air Force located in Waukesha, WI. As it turned out, here again neither Greta (my Garmin) nor I could find the airport hangers where the airplanes are stored. The closest I could get was the small Waukesha Airport lobby, where the Waukesha Aviation Club had a few aviation related items on display.
Now I headed another 20 miles southwest on SR-164/I-43 to visit the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum located in East Troy, WI. This museum displays many interesting exhibits, artifacts, and memorabilia from the Electric Train era in the eastern Wisconsin area dating from the early 1900s. Restored electric trains and trolleys still run on a section of the original Milwaukee Electric Railway System track between the East Troy Railroad Museum and the Elegant Farmer station in Mukwonago. Visitors can buy tickets at the museum for the 14 mile (roundtrip) electric train/trolley ride, or for other special events such as Family Picnic Train and Wisconsin Cheesemakers’ & Wine Train. The Dinner Train Service ride is one train ride I would like to have had the time to take. Maybe one of these days I can take DiVoran there and we can enjoy a romantic Dinner Train Service trip.
I asked Greta to take me to the motel, there in East Troy, for the night. After getting checked in, I asked the desk clerk for his restaurant recommendations, and he suggested the Ale Station Food & Brew just across the square. Since most of the restaurants in town were closed on Sunday evening, I walked over to the Ale Station and had a delicious Garibaldi Sandwich which was just right for the occasion.
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 61 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 