May 29, 2006—Memorial weekend riding from Plover, WI—A 45x90 Landmark and Super Size Dairy
 

It’s a hot, muggy but clear Sunday and we have newly arrived in our new home along the Wisconsin River in Plover just two days ago. It’s time to ride and see some of what we are in for in the months that lie ahead of us.
 

It’s nice to just wander, but this day we start off by hitting I-39 north towards Wausau with the idea of visiting a couple off the beaten track intriguing stops. At Wausau we turn west onto four lane Hwy. 29, but not for long. Heading towards the very tiny village of Poniatowski on some country back roads, we are looking for a geographical oddity worthy of the search, for somewhere amidst these farm fields lies the exact middle of this hemisphere.

Sure, you may yourself have stood with a foot in different states at Four Corners, or you might have taken a picture at the Southern Most Point of the US in Key West, or the Western Most Point, like we did in Anchor Point, Alaska, but just how many of you can say you have been “centered”? In Marathon County, thanks to John Gesicki who back in 1963 spent five years researching the exact center of the NW Hemisphere, we now have the US Geological Survey approved survey marker as of 1969. In the middle of a one lane country road in farm fields we are so intent upon finding this spot that we drive right past it the first time! But we do a U turn and find it easily as we look on the correct side of the road! Time for some pictures.

Next up is our desire to see the largest dairy farm in the state, which is only a short 12 miles away by other back country roads which we enjoy. The Van der Geest farm offers a self guided tour which sounds like fun.

We arrive and are the only ones in the parking lot but the doors are open and some workers signal that we can walk up to the catwalk. This catwalk was specially built to give a bird’s eye view to the entire operation of the process of milking and a dairy cow’s life. Purchased 30 years ago the farm consisted of 120 acres and 17 cows but through the family’s efforts now exceeds over 3000 Holstein cows and 4000 acres of cropland. The farm grows all its own corn and silage in an organic fashion. The facility we are in, completed in 2000, has the capacity to milk 3000 cows three times a day, or 500 cows per hour and is so automated only five personnel are needed to do this.

As you view the pictures be sure and note the cow collars. Each collar contains a computer which, when the cows are being milked, lines up with a box which records milk production, milking time, breeding info, activity and also allows automatic sorting of a cow from the herd. The cows are comical to watch when they come in to the milking troughs; they follow each other and seem to know to get their necks into the right slot as they shuffle each other out of the way. A man greases their udders and quickly attaches the milking machine and you hear a humming sound as things get underway. After milking, a gate releases and the cows know to move out so others can come and take their place.

As you move from the milking barn into the holding barn via the catwalk, you can see the cows with full udders begin their movement to the separate holding pens. There are about four of these and a certain number of cows are let in with each cycle; the cows respond to different whistles given by the workers, much like shepard collies do in dog trials. Once they have been milked, they follow their pathway back to the feeding and cud-chewing areas, where they also seem to know to lie down in individual open stalls. The pathways of these areas are flushed clean of cow waste with a deep stream of water, which runs like a fast-moving creek, every so often. This water is recycled through the use of waste lagoons and reused. The milk goes directly from the barn into the transport trailers. This is quite an operation and a fascinating glimpse into the way you and I obtain our milk. As we are getting ready to mount up to leave we are engaged in conversation by one of the owners, who asks us about our travels and thanks us for visiting—a very nice lady.

On our return home we take time to quickly veer off the freeway into Moisonee, a small town only 28 miles from home in an unsuccessful effort to find an open lunch stop. The town has a lovely park alongside the Wisconsin River and some nice historical looking brick buildings. It ends up that we have lunch back at the rig after the short trek through the forest to our spot. Hot and tired, the ride is over.

Monday, Memorial Day—East on Hwy. 54, Here Fishy, Fishy…
 

It’s going to be hot again today, as we head out earlier in the morning with no set itinerary. Hwy. 54, just up the road, heads east towards the resort town of Waupaca, which we end up seeing little of. On our way, Marc takes time to swing into a Wisconsin State Park, Hartman Creek, so we can see what they are like and the approximate cost. They are cheap by Oregon standards, even with the higher out of state rate we’d have to pay. We get a free pass to look around and end up meeting some motorcycle campers who have a motorcycle tent trailer so we stop to talk and take pictures. It looks to be a fun way to go for motorcycle touring, which we hope to be able to do in the future. The park is large and very full.

From there we travel south and west on Hwy. 22 with more rural life Wisconsin views until we happen upon a cold water fish hatchery at Wild Rose that was originally built in 1908. We take a tour; the only ones there, and also take time for our picnic lunch of leftover pizza. The small town of Wild Rose is another that sits on a lake and seems idyllically laid back as a car does a U turn right in front of us on the main street. We want to return to explore it more since its history dates from the 1850’s and it is the quintessential small country town.

For the route back, we chose a county road which runs straight through some burned out forest. Another Winger whizzes past us and stays out in front until it disappears somewhere unknown as we start to skirt Castle Rock & Petenwell Lakes and enjoy the few curves County Road Z offers in this land of straight roads before we enter Wisconsin Rapids, only 15 miles from home and a biker parade of some sort, comprised of at least a 100 bikes, going the opposite direction. Marc asks if I want to join them, but they are headed the wrong way and it is hot and we are once again tired, so we head on home, another good ride completed. Time to wash the bugs off the bike.