Our last stop on this trip was a visit with Ted’s brother, Gary, and a reunion with Ted’s high school classmates.
We had a funny experience as we drove to Gary’s house. I was driving through a small town on a state highway and, as I passed an intersection, a black van marked “Sheriff” pulled into the traffic behind me. That was fine; I hadn’t been doing anything wrong. As I continued driving, I noticed a string of three identical black vans behind me. I knew the first one was the sheriff, but as we crested a hill, it looked like the second car also had a light bar on the top. With a sheriff–or possibly, two sheriffs–directly behind me, I made sure to drive no faster than the 55 mph speed limit.
As we drove through small town after small town, I repeatedly adjusted my speed from 55 to 45 to 35 to 25 to 35 to 45 to 55 again. The three black vans stayed right behind me. As we rounded a curve, I identified the third van as another sheriff! I don’t think I’ve ever been followed by three consecutive sheriffs! Ted and I laughed about it and I continued driving exactly at the speed limit, forcing the officers of the law to do the same or to–gasp!–break the law by speeding to pass me. We wondered if the sheriffs were getting frustrated at having to drive at the speed limit. Do they (slightly) exceed the speed limit like the rest of us when there is no one to see them?
The sheriffs’ convoy followed us for nearly an hour. I could have turned onto a side road, let them pass, made a U-turn, and come back to the highway, but frankly, it was kind of amusing to keep three sheriffs within the law. We were going to arrive two hours before Gary would be ready for us anyway, so we had plenty of time to dawdle our way across the state. Eventually, however, I had to turn to go to Gary’s house, and the sheriffs continued on the state highway and probably followed someone else. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Now, back to our visit with Gary. A few years ago, there was a fire in Gary’s apartment building. It wasn’t in Gary’s apartment, but there are only four apartments in the building, and they all had water and smoke damage. When the damage was repaired, Gary was able to move to a different unit than his original apartment. He (and Ted and I) like this unit much better because the window views are open land rather than the cul de sac on which the apartment is located. This is the kitchen/living room area. There are three bedrooms along the right side of the apartment (obviously, not shown here).
On our first night together, we went out for pizza and then played sheephead, a popular Wisconsin card game. The next night, we went to a more upscale local restaurant that featured Early American decor.
The ladies’ room had an old-fashioned, comfy appearance.
Ted and I planned our trip to include time for me to see my college friends while Eileen was in Madison for a UW football weekend, and we planned our time in Kiel so that Ted could attend his high school class’s annual reunion lunch at the Altona Supper Club. Our kids used to chuckle over the term “supper club” when we traveled with them to Wisconsin. I have no idea why these restaurants have that designation, but a Google search says that “supper clubs are an iconic mainstay of Wisconsin, filled with comfort food and good conversation.” This noon meal included all the Wisconsin noontime “dinner” goodies—a variety of meats and seafood, potatoes, salad, vegetables, dinner rolls, and dessert–and everything was delicious.
Three class reunions were taking place simultaneously at the supper club. Ted attended his 50th class reunion, but that was the only time after his high school graduation that he’d seen his classmates until now, so it took us a few minutes to locate someone he recognized. After we picked up our name tags, things became easier. Without them, Ted admitted there were very few people he recognized on sight. It was a nice gathering, and Ted enjoyed talking with some of his old friends. The midday reunions have been held annually for several years, and a group picture is taken every year. Ted is the third man from the right in the back row.
Before leaving this part of Wisconsin, Ted and I stopped at the Gibbsville Cheese Factory to buy some “real” (i.e., not supermarket) Wisconsin cheese to take home with us. Gibbsville offered a new version of Ted’s favorite, super sharp cheddar. The “Special Reserve Super Sharp Cheddar” brought a smile and a quick “That’s really good!” from Ted. He bought six pounds of it to take home with us. We also stopped at the Oostburg Bakery to get some bakery favorites: hard (this does not mean firm or stale) rolls, filled coffee cakes, and Danish pastries.
Of course, we needed a picture of Ted and his brother on our last evening together before Ted and I left in the morning for our long drive home.
