Watch out, Wausau, we're here for summer fun!

We made it to our summer destination - Wausau, WI.  This time we are staying within walking distance of downtown.  Our place is located on the top floor of a more than 100 year old home in the historic part of town (our balcony is by the two flags in the photo).

Of course, within the first few days we just had to stop at cheese factories for curds.  Note that factories is plural - we have stopped at SIX so far.  Can't have too many curds, in our opinion!  We also stopped at Nueske's for their smoked meats (a must have for Don!).

Downtown Wausau is great with lots to do.  Summer time brings free concerts on the square and lots of whitewater kayaking and canoeing - the river runs through downtown.

The folks in the trick kayaks do flips and rolls - which is amazing and quite entertaining to watch!

Hiking up Rib Mountain is fun and physically challenging.  The views are spectacular!

Here's Don at the top of the fire tower (these days called an observation tower).

We visited and toured Point Brewery in Steven's Point.  It is one of the oldest continuously operating breweries in the country  - starting production in 1857 and providing beer to soldiers during the Civil War.  For you beer history buffs, Yuengling is the oldest brewery in the US.  The guy with the Pointy head in the photo has become an iconic symbol and the mascot for the brewery.

Don played corn hole as we drank the samples provided at the conclusion of the tour.

We went on the Wausau Parade of Homes, which differs from the ones we had been to in Dallas.  This tour of 10 homes took us on a journey of many miles, with several homes more than 45 miles from the town.  We divided the tour into two days.

Note the view out of the window which give the homeowners views that span miles.  Needless to say, this house sits on a small mountain.

Jurustic Park (a metal sculpture garden) owned and built by Clyde and Nancy Wynia is simply amazing.  He's a retired lawyer and she's a retired nurse.  Both are in their upper 80s.  Clyde himself will give you a tour around the place and tell you all about the objects he has lovingly made - and throw in a few jokes to boot.  Nancy will show you her melted glass jewelry.  For a museum that is located miles outside of a small town, and that doesn't advertise, they get a lot of visitors each year.  In 2022,  there were over 17,000 visitors from 33 countries.  Many of the art pieces make sounds (think the sound of a gong being struck by a mallet) or move (think bobble head and marionette).

We attended Wings over Wausau which is a professional airshow.  The pilots perform stunts in their planes that allows them to express themselves like Maverick in the movie Top Gun.

No food pictures except for ice cream that we got from a cheese factory.  Yummy!

As you can see, there are plenty of fun activities here in Wausau and the surrounding area.  Also, we have visited with Donna's family who live north of Wausau.  Stay tuned to our blog posts for more of our ramblings and photos!