Sat, 6/5/10

WI Riverside Resort, Spring Green, WI: Headed out this morning for Taliesin (tal-e-esson) which is Welsh for “brow of a hill”. This estate was Frank Lloyd Wright’s residence for about 48 years. Started in 1911, it was a work in progress for most of that time. He was constantly changing and improving. It was built tucked into the side of a hill amid beautiful, lush rolling hills near the Wisconsin River. The most amazing thing to me is that it was built in the Victorian era where houses were dark and cluttered with heavy furniture—mixing multiple colors and patterns. Really ugly. And here’s Frank Lloyd Wright with his clean, straight lines and open and airy interiors. He was way ahead of his time. There was also a farm adjacent to the house where they raised their own beef, pork, dairy, and chickens. That’s been turned into the living quarters for the architecture students studying at the school there. They also planted crops and were completely self sufficient. After touring the property we headed back to the park in a light drizzle. Had some lunch and then sat around reading for a while. Italian sausage sandwiches for dinner tonight. 75 today.

Taliesin--The barn

Frank Lloyd Wright

Taliesin--the house

Frank Lloyd Wright

LaSalle-Peru, IL, to Spring Green, WI: Left LaSalle-Peru at 10:30 this morning. Mike did all the driving today, heading north on I39. After Rockford, IL, I39 was pretty bumpy all the way to our exit at Madison, WI. At Madison we left I39, thankfully, and headed west on Rt. 14 which started out as a four-lane bypass around Madison and then we turned off on county route 14 which was the best road we’ve been on since we left St. Louis. It was a pretty drive though. After leaving the flat farmland of Illinois we were driving through the lush, hilly, mostly farmland of Wisconsin. We’re staying at WI Riverside Resort—right on the beautiful Wisconsin River. We were set up by 3:30 and then sat outside reading for a while. I’m reading “The Snowball”, a biography of Warren Buffet—a huge tome lent to me by a friend. Mike is reading “The Bourne Sanction”. We’re here for a few days to check out a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright homes in the area.

St. Louis, MO, to LaSalle-Peru, IL: Left St. Louis this morning at 10:00. Mike started driving heading east on I270 and then north on I55. I55 could definitely use some road work in places. Drove through the historic city of Springfield, IL, which is also the state capital. Then though Lincoln, IL, and stopped for fuel and lunch at a truck stop just outside Lincoln. After lunch I started driving, continuing north on I55 and then in Bloomington headed north on I39. Drove through an agrarian landscape of large farms with neatly planted crops. The further north we headed the flatter the terrain. The tallest things around were the grain elevators. At I80 we headed east a couple of miles to the KOA at LaSalle-Peru for one night. Not even going to unhook. Leave tomorrow for Wisconsin. Started out cloudy but cleared by 4:00. 80 degrees. Nice.

Illinois sunset

The wrens are back again this year. The male shows up and makes the nest and then he sits out there by the nest and sings his little heart out trying to attract a mate. He finally got one and they've taken up residence. They sing away all day long. Love hearing them. And they are so tiny and fragile looking with their pert little tails. But pretty feisty as well. Great combination! They really get upset when I sit out on the deck on my chaise and read my latest book. Pretty funny.

We decided to go to the St. Louis Zoo yesterday. The zoo is celebrating 100 years and they had a special exhibit going. This zoo is a great zoo--one of the top in the country. And there is no admission charge. I think that's amazing. It's been six years or so since we visited and we were happy to see a lot of great improvements. We headed out in the early afternoon and it was hot--about 96 degrees or so. Had a late lunch at the Lakeside Cafe there. Everything was closing up when we left at around 5:00. A fun afternoon.

Sculpture at one of the entrances

Flora on display

Hippo pool

One of the tigers cooling off

A couple of days ago we drove over to the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area to do some hiking--mainly to try out my new hiking boots. It's only about 5 miles from us and they have a nice bike path and some hiking trails. It's located at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and is where Lewis and Clark camped before their historic endeavor in 1804. Anyway, on the drive through this area we saw a critter in one of the fields. I stopped thinking it was a ground hog but it turns out it was a badger. A badger! I had never seen one in the wild before. Sat and watched him for a while. Of course I didn't have my camera with me. He looked very vulnerable in this huge, denuded corn field. We continued on to the trailhead, I donned my new boots, and off we went. It was great to be out in the forest and you could smell honeysuckle and other wonderful aromas. After a little more than a mile we had to turn back because of the mosquitoes. They were horrible and we didn't have any bug spray with us. A pretty day though. And my new boots are great!


Ashford Castle--where we stayed when in Ireland in 1990. This castle dates back to 1228 and was once owned by the Guiness family. It's a beautiful place located on Lough Corrib which is the second largest lough in Ireland. You can walk to the little village of Cong from here which is where "Quiet Man" was filmed with John Wayne. We hiked to Cong on a trail along the Cong River and had dinner in the pub there. When we finished dinner it was dark and we had to walk back in the dark. That was pretty interesting. And believe me it was dark!

We've been home 9 days now. Spent most of the time going through mail, doing our taxes, and watching the Masters. We went to the range today to do some target practice at the Busch wildlife preserve. They have a great range there. After shooting we went for a short hike on one of their trails through a pretty hardwood forest just leafing out. You never realize how many shades of green there are until Spring bursts forth. Hiked past fields blanketed with wildflowers, ponds still and serene. A beautiful day. 80s. And it was the St. Louis Cardinals home opener today which is always neat because they bring out the Clydesdales (8 of them) hitched up to a vintage beer wagon complete with a Dalmatian. They are such huge, magnificent animals--beautiful and proud as they prance around the perimeter of the field. Gives me goose bumps.

Red bud in bloom in Sugartree