wisconsin & minnesota: farm land, taliesen, & lakes (many, many lakes)

Welcome to Wisconsin. The birthplace of cheese curds, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Spotted Cow beer. There’s also corn. Lots and lots of corn.

While driving through the state, I couldn’t help but snap photos from the passenger seat. Cue this montage of farms, and county roads, and silos, and cows. In another life, I think I own a tractor. Just sayin’.

I also never knew that Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Wisconsin. I knew he had property there, but didn’t realize that he physically grew up immersed in the Wisconsin landscape. Experiencing Taliesen East, Wright’s original home and still active school of architecture, his principle of coalescing the indoors and outdoors makes that much more sense. Who wouldn’t want to look out at the rolling hills while drafting and creating? It helped me grasp and appreciate his work even more.

After Taliesen, we were lucky enough to get a campsite at Devil’s Lake National Park, in central Wisconsin. We learned from local friends that it’s voted one of the top campsites in the country every year. Duly noted, and totally valid. The next morning, we took Baxter on a hike along the lake and the bluffs.

Our final Midwestern stop was Minneapolis, Minnesota. We didn’t have the best weather, so we opted not to take the van downtown. We did walk around the Lake of the Isles and reflect on the past week of traveling. Ultimately, we want to see as much of the US as we can, but also recognize that we need to let this experience guide us, not the reverse. Minneapolis, we’ll be back to give you a full opportunity one day.

Up next, the Badlands. We’ve been driving through the middle of nowhere South Dakota for the past 24 hours and I’m very eager to see something that isn’t flat. Until then.