Brew City And Bikes - Milwaukee & The H-d Museum

Yikes, Dartplayer! I pay about $80 for a bottle of 1942 at Costco around Christmas time each year. We usually splurge and buy two bottles for us and one to give as a gift to a friend. Then we meter out our two bottles of 1942 across the year until the next holiday season rolls around. Much as I love the 1942, I'd NEVER pay $284.99. But I just noticed that's retail NZ$. I'll have to look up the conversion to U.S. $.

 

Day #4: Heading home from Milwaukee to Tucson

All fun things must come to an end and so we packed up and said our goodbyes to Milwaukee. As I mentioned previously, we're already scheming to plan a return trip which would include bikes and some of our riding buddies, more museum visits, and riding along the shores of Lake Michigan probably from Chicago to Milwaukee and to places a kind bartender recommended including Door County. Here's Mr. Sandi in the Iron Horse Hotel waiting for a cab to take us to the airport.


Milwaukee's airport, Mitchell International Airport, is named for General William Mitchell. Curious as to who this Mitchell was, I Googled it. For those interested in a quick read on some obscure but quite interesting U.S. history, check out this information about General Mitchell.

https://www.mitchellairport.com/airport-information/history

We saw this puzzling "Recombobulation Area" sign after going through the TSA checkpoint. Mr. Sandi and I both noticed it and scratched our heads wondering what that might be about. Leave it to a tee-shirt in an airport kiosk to solve the puzzle for us.




Not only did I have plenty of time to read about General Mitchell, I had lots of time to read plenty of other things, too. Shortly after we settled in by our departure gate we learned that our flight to Dallas was delayed due to a mechanical issue. Mitchell International Airport, though small, offered some nice diversions, chief among them a delicious beer called Spotted Cow from New Glarus, a local brewery. We sat for a bit with a beer and a sausage from Usinger's.




By the time our airplane departed from Milwaukee we had been delayed for three hours were well past the point of making our Dallas connection to Tucson. In the meantime, I was determined to keep a good attitude and enjoy our flight having come off such a great long weekend holiday. Fortunately, our dog sitter was able to spend another day night with our boxer, Annie and we were able to get on a flight out of Dallas to Tucson the next morning. Once we arrived in Dallas late into the evening, we hopped a hotel shuttle and spent the night in Dallas near the airport in a Comfort Suites. Not the Iron Horse Hotel but it was warm, dry, comfortable, and free compliments of American Airlines.

Here's an arial view of Milwaukee as we took off. The photo isn't very sharp but you can see how the city is follows the westerner shoreline of Lake Michigan.


As I said, I made the best of a late flight. The clouds were beautiful below us and it looked like snow fields that we could step out and walk on.


"Dinner" this evening. As we waited for our delayed flight, American Airlines brought out bottled waters and snacks for the us so I snagged a bag of Fritos to take on the plane. Meal of champions.


Approaching Dallas


And, finally, a day later than planned, we arrived in Tucson and were greeted outside the airport in the glorious sun by this little road runner. Wherever Mr. Sandi and I travel and by whatever means, we find that we are always happy to return to southern Arizona and our beloved Tucson. Home Sweet Home!

 

Thanks for all the positive feedback, guys! I really appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed my photos and write-ups.

 

Thanks, Joe! We don't have any big motorcycle trips planned in the very near future but may do an over-nighter or two in the meantime. Sometimes our Sunday rides go someplace interesting that you all might enjoy. If that's the case, I'll post a few photos and comments for your viewing pleasure.

Our next official rally adventure is slated for early April in nearby Cave Creek, Arizona which is a northern suburb of Phoenix. There's a big rally called Arizona Bike Week and the Cave Creek rally is a smaller and more sort of "self-contained" rally within the larger rally. Seven of us attended Cave Creek Bike Week last year for the first time and it was great fun!

 

Here's the NZ$ to US$ conversion for a bottle of Don Julio "1942" tequila. I've never even paid close to $182! And wouldn't unless maybe I hit the lottery. Unlikely since I don't play.

 

Glad I could help out and pep up your boring work webinar, phred! And I'm glad you enjoyed the thread too.

 

Hi Foxy1. Glad you enjoyed the thread--especially at work! Grits are most common in the U.S. in the South and there are a lot of versions of them. Here's a little "grit intro" from Wikipedia. This is definitely a dish that "depends"--depends on how they're made and by whom. They can be absolutely delicious or absolute crap or anything in between. The grits we had in Milwaukee were definitely of the absolutely delicious variety!

 

Hi Don,
Glad to know you enjoyed the thread! I'm a big believer about your "when in Rome". Mr. Sandi and I always try the local food and drink when we travel. We both find it rather odd when people don't and instead choose to just go to chain restaurants that are everywhere and anywhere. I go in with the attitude that if I don't try everything I'll probably be missing something and there might just be something out there that could be my new favorite! If I try something I don't like, well, I don't have to eat it again.

I'm curious--what makes Arizona your favorite? I know what I love about it but always like to hear what folks think of my (now) home state. I grew up in Minnesota then lived in California for 10 years. I've now lived in Arizona since 1991 and can't imagine living anyplace else in the U.S.

 

Yep, those are all things that are near and dear to my heart about my beloved Arizona, too, Don. When I moved here I was amazed to see how diverse Arizona is. I pictured it all being like the Sahara desert. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Arizona has numerous mountain ranges and so many different types of deserts, meadows, canyons. There are places we ride in Arizona that, if we didn't know we were in Arizona, we'd think we were in Colorado.

I love our sunshine (though it's pouring rain at this very moment) and year-round warm weather. Tucson averages 286 sunny days per year. Even the very hot weather in the summer doesn't bother me that much. We just get up and do our outdoor activities early in the day.

I've made great friends here and find--very generally speaking of course--that folks in the West are pretty down-to-earth and also adventurous. Maybe there's something about the West that helps people become that way. Or maybe the West draws people to it who already have those characteristics in them somewhere. I really like being an hour from the border and appreciate the cultural influences that brings to Arizona in general and Tucson in particular.

And, yep, the food is awesome!!