On the road again, but with the Model A's this time

[DHort]

One of the Model A groups in Wisconsin invites the Milwaukee Model T Club to join them in a fall outing. Usually Mike Zahorik and I join the group on a tour of SE Wisconsin. This year the tour went to the Rushing Waters Fishery, The Applebarn Orchard and Winery, and Gus's for ice cream. For me it was a total of about 110 miles. Mike could not make it this year. He had issues from the tour to Holy Hill yesterday.

We start out at a McDonalds on the SW side of Milwaukee where we all meet for breakfast. This year I tried to take my Speedster. I recently added a new carburetor, a Wheeler Schebler that I purchased from Stan. It works, but it has some issues I am trying to work out. The car ran fine a couple days ago, but of course this AM, it failed to start. I was running out of time, so I put it back in the garage and got out the trusty Touring. 22 miles in 40 minutes. I do not know. That is cutting it pretty close. Thankfully the group did not start on time, and I made it before they all left. I was the only Model T and the rest were Model A's.

This group usually tours at about 50 mph. I of course cannot do that speed so after a few miles one of the drivers walked back to my car at a stop sign and asked if I would be willing to move up to position #2 and act as a pace car. Not a problem. I moved up in line and kept them to a respectable 30-35 mph the rest of the tour. We drove through the country side up and down hills, and along small lakes and streams. This area is known as the Kettle Morraine area of the state that was created by the glaciers 12,000 years ago. Always a beautiful drive.

[DHort]

We arrived at the Rushing Waters Fishery and met our tour guide. He calls himself an Aquaculturist. Most of us would say he raises fish. This location is specifically for raising trout for sale to restaurants and grocery chains. They raise enough fish to supply about 7 states with high quality trout. I believe we saw over 14 ponds, and I do not know if we saw all of them on their 81 acres. The ponds are all about 50 degrees and fed from numerous springs in the area. Our guide informed us the water is clean enough to drink, but my guess is that if you dipped a glass in the water you would find a trout swimming in your glass. The trout are raised from eggs and grown until they are about 13 inches in length. This takes 13-14 months. The fish are transferred from pond to pond on a daily basis as they grow larger. They have a process for counting the size and number of fish in each pond.

The eggs are placed in these tanks to grow into fry.

They use nets like this to move fish from pond to pond.

Here is the high quality fish food that they throw out over the water. This garbage can is filled every 3 days.

The mass frenzy as they throw the food out over the water.

[DHort]

This is just a small portion of the tanks that they have to raise the fish in until they are large enough to put in the ponds.

Here you are seeing 6-8 ponds in rows. They also aerate the water with an aerator of their own design.
Each pond appears to be full of thousands of fish.

One pond is full of fish that you can catch with your fishing pole. We watched this young man catch a fish and his grandmother stated that he cleans his own fish, and also cooks them. He earns a merit badge for his efforts. You take your fish to the shop and pay by the pound for how much you have caught. His little sister tried to be in charge of the net, but she was not too successful.

They also have a store on site and you can purchase trout, salmon, clams, and other supplies.

[DHort]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab_Rg83V-_Q
Here is a youtube video of the pond where you can fish for trout for yourself. About 32 seconds in to the video you can see what appears to be an albino trout swimming in the top right corner. Looks like a nice size if you can catch it.

Here is a photo of that same fish in the top left corner.

After learning all about raising fish, we headed to the Apple Orchard. They had an area set aside for us to park our cars. Since it is apple season, they had tents set up with vendors selling products, a couple of food trucks, and of course donuts and apple cider. If you wish you can pick your own apples or you can purchase them already picked. I headed straight for the wine tasting and decided to purchase a bottle of their mulberry wine. I wonder who had to pick all the mulberries?

Then I got a coney dog and a glass of cider. I really need to go back with modern iron and get a few gallons of fresh apple cider. Definitely worth the drive.

Unfortunately the time came to leave and continue on our tour. Next stop, ice cream.

Gus's is a nice place to get ice cream. They have numerous tables set up outside, and just as many tables inside. This location also has frequent car shows. Even today we had the Model A's, hot rods, motorcycles and others spread around the parking area. The only thing missing was the car hops.

I have written my last three journeys in a way that I hope you all enjoyed reading about them. I tried to use a number of pictures so you could feel like you joined me on my tour, and do not have to guess what these locations look like. Besides, I like to take pictures. Now it is time to do a little maintenance and see if I can get the speedster running again. Do not forget to see what Steve Jelf is posting for you.

[Atomic Amish]

Looks like a great time, Dave!

Making your car the pace car is a leadership lesson I learned in Boy Scouts. I'm glad to see it used in the 'real world' as well.

Thanks for sharing your adventures!

[TWrenn]

Really nice pics, and looks like a great time Dave. Thanks for sharing.
Over here, about a 15 minute "T drive" we also have a fish hatchery, right next to a huge bunch of trout streams, people come to feed the trout daily, the water just "boils" with them when we feed them. Fun to watch them "swim in place" against the strong current of those streams. And some of these trout are HUGE!!

On the "what'd ya do in Sept." thread I posted a few pics of our "eclectic" tour of T's, and A and altho it missed the pic, there's just a bit of the tail end of a very nice '56 gray and white chevy wagon. Just a great 105 or so mile tour altogether!