Vacation....Fun Times!

Last week we went on a much needed vacation....  DH, DS, & soon to be DIL went up to Union Grove WI to the Red Power Round Up - an antique tractor show featuring International Harvester tractors & equipment.  My guys like Internationals and own quite a few so this is a real treat for them.

It was lots of fun - the weather the first day was a bit chilly but the second day was beautiful!  They were restoring a tractor during the 3 day show which was fun to see the progress.  There were all sorts of tractors big and small, vendors selling lots of cool goodies - I bought some neat vintage looking fabric that I'm going to turn into an apron and not sure what I'm going to do with the rest.  We also ate some good food but I did notice one thing....folks in Wisconsin don't like to eat like we do in Indiana.  Not one Elephant Ear, Corn Dog or Funnel Cake in all of the food vendors there!  We were amazed.

The going to and coming back from the show was an adventure all on it's own - we had to go through Chicago....going (at 5:00a.m.) was really fast - traffic was moving about 85mph!  Way to fast for this country girls liking.  Coming back we were in bumper to bumper traffic almost the entire way at anywhere from a crawl to about 50 mph.  Needless to say it took much longer to get back than it did to go.

We stopped in Valparaiso to eat going and coming back (we actually stayed over night coming back) at the Industrial Revolution Eatery!  OMG that place is awesome!!!  It's a one of a kind place dedicated to the folks that built and help make America great.  They call it Upscale Industrial but it's got a definite Steampunk vibe to it that I LOVE!  The deco is brick and steel girders with a train that runs over head.  Lots of great old photos of men and women from the Industrial Age doing what they did best...building this country up into what it is today.  

The food is really great - we at lunch (going) and supper (coming back from WI).  We each had something different and everything was wonderful as was the service.  Dh said he would drive over there (about 2 - 2.5 hrs from home) just for the food - LOL!!

Finally we ended up at Rochester Indiana and the Gathering of the Orange - an antique tractor show dedicated to Allis-Chalmers tractors which my oldest DS was showing one of his farm tractors & a garden tractor.  LOTS of beautiful orange tractors and equipment on show there as well.  DS was very excited because he recently restored his tractor and this was it's first official tractor show.  

And we're back home...exhausted but refreshed.