Marlene A. Magoon – 1937-2009

My mom, Marlene A. Magoon, passed away on Wednesday. She was a wonderful wife, mom, and grandma and she will be missed by many. She shaped the lives of my sisters and me in ways that cannot be described. She pushed me to do well in school and in scouting. I don’t know if it was because I was her baby or maybe because I was a bit of a mama’s boy, but she and I shared a special bond for a long time. When was in the Marine Corps, she and I would have long talks on the telephone (which I’m sure didn’t please my Dad when the phone bill arrived).

Mom was always a fighter and she battled many medical issues throughout her life. She survived quadruple bypass open heart surgery at 37 and an angioplasty at 47. She conquered cervical cancer just after I was born and breast cancer later in life. About five years ago, she suffered a stroke that left her wheelchair-bound, but even that didn’t slow her down much. Although her mind and will continued to remain strong, her body just couldn’t keep up. She fell and broke her hip on Sunday and she body couldn’t recover from the trauma of hip surgery.

I will never forget the fun we had playing scrabble, yahtzee, or solitaire long into the night. Nor will I forget the artistic passion that she had when it came to flower arranging and decorating our home. Because she was a full-time stay-at-home Mom, she was always there for us. She did more for us kids than we will ever know. And when it came to doting on her grandchildren, she was the best. She had great love for all of us.

Goodbye, Mom. I Love You!

Letterboxing At Boxacon 2009

The Dramagoons have discovered a new hobby that has become a fun activity for our entire family. Back in August we started Letterboxing. What is Letterboxing, you ask? I could try to explain it in my own words but here is the definition that is posted on Letterboxing.Info.

Letterboxing is growing hobby that combines elements of hiking, treasure hunting and creative expression into an activity that the whole family can enjoy. Participants seek out hidden letterboxes by following clues that are posted on the Internet, and then record their discovery in their personal journal with the help of a rubber stamp that’s part of the letterbox. In addition, letterboxers have their own personal stamps which they use to stamp into the letterbox’s log book.

Since mid-August, we have gone out and found boxes on six separate occasions. This is a really fun way to get out and enjoy the outdoors and get some exercise without feeling like you are just going on a boring hike. A.J. and Erin really enjoy tramping through the woods and hunting for the boxes. We actually have to make them take turns looking for the boxes.

Normally, letterboxing is a fairly solitary hobby. The person that creates a letterbox doesn’t meet the people that search for their box. Their interaction takes place via stamps and trail names in each other’s log books. Occasionally, however, letterboxers will get together to meet, exchange stories, and do a little letterboxing together. On Saturday, we attended our first letterboxing gathering, Boxacon 2009.

The event was held at Minooka Park in Waukesha. The event organizer, with the help of several others, placed dozens letterboxes all over the park. Upon arrival, we were given a packet of clues to follow. Most of the boxes followed a SciFi theme, thus the name Boxacon. Unfortunately Kristi had to work and couldn’t join us but the three of us had a really great time. The kids enjoyed meeting, talking, and exchanging stamps with the people that had created some of the boxes that we had found in the past. Plus, we got to go out and find more boxes. We ended up spending almost five hours at the park.

If you are interested in checking out letterboxing as a hobby, visit these two websites: Letterboxing North America and Atlas Quest.

Great America

Lately, I have been swamped with so many things going on that I haven’t been able to take the time to update the blogosphere. Therefore, I will endeavor to catch up with a few delayed entries.

A couple of weeks ago (two days after the A.C.T. Summer Showcase), I took Monday off and we went down to Six Flags Great America. We are not a “coaster” family but Erin and Kristi don’t mind the tame ones and A.J. and I enjoy all but the most extreme ones.

The whole family rode the Whizzer (roller coaster), the Columbia Carousel, the Sky Trek Tower, and the bumper cars as well as caught the Bloopers show in the Pictorium. A.J. and I also spent time on three more roller coasters: the Demon, the Viper, and the American Eagle. The crowds were minimal because it was a Monday and we had a really good time.

As we were driving home, I realized that the last time I was at Great America was when I was in high school in 1983. I remember that on that trip, I rode the Whizzer, the Demon, the American Eagle, and the Sky Trek Tower and I took in a show at the Pictorium. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

More Food On A Stick

On Saturday, we made our annual family pilgrimage to the Wisconsin State Fair. We enjoyed all of our favorite destinations while there. Our first stop is always the animal barns. Every year, we visit a different set of animals. This year, we focused our attention on the horses and the cows. We even stopped in to see the Clydesdales and their world famous beer wagon provided by Anheuser Busch.

After the animals, we made our way to our favorite stops; cream puffs, mini-Journal Sentinel newspapers, Wisconsin Products building, and DNR area. We made a departure from our usual rounds this year. We stopped off to see those fabulous racing pigs. That is not an event that we need to see every year but it is entertaining every once in a while. Along the way, we continued a tradition that we started last year.

Our new tradition is that everyone in the family has to eat something on a stick, it has to be different than what anyone else has, and, if possible, it has to be different than what that person had the year before. Erin kicked off the tradition by having a chocolate dipped frozen banana on stick, otherwise known as a Monkey Tail. She really enjoyed it. A.J. quickly followed her by eating two slices of chocolate covered bacon on a stick. This was heaven for him as it combined two of his favorite foods. Kristi had a deep fried Reuben on a stick that she said wasn’t the greatest but the cheese was okay. I finished us off with two different items on a stick. I started out with pork on a stick; which was good but not very unique. As we were preparing to leave, I found chocolate dipped cookie dough on a stick. Wow, that was sweet.

We finished our trip with a trip across the park on the SkyGlider, a glass of Herb Kohl’s 25 cent milk, and one game each at the Midway. The kids came to the conclusion that the Midway is a rip-off and we have removed it as a traditional stop. All-in-all it was a successful trip to state fair again this year.

South Dakota Trip – Day Six

Today was our last day in South Dakota. We woke up to a sunny day in Sioux Falls, SD, had breakfast, and quickly set off for home. Our only stop for the day was an impulse stop after seeing a sign on the side of I-90 near Blue Earth, MN. The sign advertised a large statue of the Jolly Green Giant. They weren’t kidding, we saw the 55 foot statue of the Giant. In the adjacent gift shop, we just had to purchase a small, plastic statuette of the Little Green Sprout. The rest of the day was spent crossing Minnesota and Wisconsin.

We are now home again. Ahhhhhh!

South Dakota Trip – Day Five

We traveled back up to Mt. Rushmore this morning for a quick breakfast and one last look at America’s greatest rock stars. After that, it was time to start our long journey home. We made several small stops along the way. Our first stop was in Rapid City. High atop Rapid City are several huge, concrete dinosaurs that look over the city. They are part of a depression-era WPA project. They were really cool to see.

Heading back on I-90, it began to drizzle on our way out of town and rained for our entire trip today. Just outside the Badlands, we stopped and learned about the now defunct Minuteman missile silos that used to be in the area. Our next stop was at Al’s Oasis in Chamberlain, SD. The four of us were totally unimpressed and quickly jumped back in the van. Next, we went to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. We really enjoyed looking at the artwork in corn displayed there. We finally ended the day at our hotel, the Clubhouse, in Sioux Falls, SD. Tomorrow, we finish up our trip with a journey across Minnesota and Wisconsin.

South Dakota Trip – Day Four

We left Rapid City, SD in the morning and traveled to Mt. Rushmore. As we got to the main viewing gallery, a ranger was announcing that a tour down the Presidential Trail was starting in a couple of minutes. The tour was really good. Ranger Becky was very knowledgeable and entertaining. She told us all about how the monument was built and why the sculptor chose these four presidents. The tour completed after only covering a portion of the trail. We continued on and finished the entire trail including a visit to the sculptor’s studio.

After lunch, we drove over to the Crazy Horse monument. The monument has be more than 50 years in the making and the original sculptor passed away years ago. Seven of his ten children have taken up the cause and continued his work. It is looking good but will still need many more years to complete. This is because the size of this monument is several times larger than Mt. Rushmore, it is completely in 3D, and they have refused any federal funding that would speed up the project.

Afterwards, we drove to our hotel, the Roosevelt Inn in Keystone, SD, via the Needles highway. What an amazing drive that was. In the evening, we returned to Mt. Rushmore for their evening ceremony. The ceremony was okay, but I was much more impressed with presentation of our tour guide during the morning tour.

South Dakota Trip – Day Three

Day Three started out in the Badlands of South Dakota. We went on the “Geology Walk” put on by the Park Rangers first thing in the morning. We learned how the Badlands were formed over the last 50,000 years. After the tour, we headed out on our own for a hike. We saw some more awesome sights and got quite a bit of exercise clambering up and down on the rocks.

After that, we drove the Badlands Loop Road as we made our way to Wall, SD. The majesty of the Badlands is breathtaking. They go on for miles and every vista is spectacular. We got to Wall Drug about noon. We bought some gifts and donuts and took a few pictures. It was crowded and touristy and we decided not to stay very long. The best thing that we can say is we have all now been to Wall Drug.

In the afternoon, we got to our hotel in Rapid City, SD. The hotel (La Quinta) is adjacent to the Watiki Water Park. This was the rest and relaxation portion of our vacation. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening, swimming and going down inner tube slides. The water was warm and refreshing and it was fun to just hang out for awhile. After all that playing in the water park and hiking in the morning, we all slept well.

South Dakota Trip – Day Two

Due to the fact that we spent last night just outside the Badlands, I was unable to post our Day Two entry because we didn’t have access to the internet. In fact, we felt like we were in a communications black-out. It was a wonderful feeling. I wish that could happen more often.

We started out the day driving from Brookings, SD to De Smet, SD. De Smet is one of the locations where Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family lived and which she wrote about in several of the “Little House” books. In De Smet, we took a tour of several of the buildings where the Ingalls lived and worked while in there; the Surveyor’s House, the Brewster School, the original schoolhouse that Laura and Carrie attended, and the last house that Pa built. We also visited the cemetery where Pa, Ma, Mary, Carrie, and Grace are buried. I found it really interesting that Pa’s headstone had the Masonic Square and Compasses on it.

After De Smet, we headed off to the Badlands. We encountered a great deal of construction on I-90 and lots and lots of Wall Drug billboards. The total count of billboards by the end of the second day was 53. We checked into the Badlands Inn, a small motel just outside the south entrance of the Badlands National Park.

In the evening, we hiked around the Badlands and took lots of pictures that I will be posting to our Flickr account once we get back. It was an awesome sight. The whole family really enjoyed scrambling around on the rocks. On one of the hikes, A.J. and I encountered a rattle snake stretched across the trail. It was dusk and when we approached the snake, it shook its tail and darted off in to the woods. A.J and I “darted” off in the others direction. It definitely got our hearts pumping.

South Dakota Trip – Day One

We have arrived at the Hampton Inn in Brookings, SD. We started at 8AM this morning and got here about 6PM tonight. It was a pretty uneventful trip. We saw our first Wall Drug billboard just outside of Worthington, MN. I believe it said “355 Miles to Wall Drug.” Since then, our Wall Drug billboard count has grown to a total of seven.

Tomorrow, we are off to De Smet to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead and other related attractions. After that, we will head over to the Badlands.

More interesting events to follow.