The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a very nice arboretum which is free to the public. It has collections of shrubs and trees so people can see what might fit in their own gardens. Everything is supposed to be labeled but good intentions have not necessarily translated into action. It was a great place to visit in spite of missing labels.
UW-M Arboretum Visitor Center
The only shrubs in bloom were in the hydrangea collection and they were magnificent. As a result, hydrangeas make up most of today's pictures. None of them had labels so we have no idea what cultivars they are, but probably no one cares. Unless you're looking for plants for your own garden, it's not important.
They almost match Jim's shirt
After being awed by the hydrangeas, we continued wandering around the grounds enjoying all the beautiful trees until we started itching. We didn't see any mosquitoes or other flying insects but they were certainly doing a number on us. We headed back to the truck, passing the beautiful evergreen section on the way. We missed some sections we wanted to see but they weren't worth putting up with the bug bites.
Evergreen section
After leaving the arboretum we went into Sun Prairie to get fuel. We were successful in beating the hurricane-inspired price increase but it will probably hit us before we get home.
We also checked out a grocery store we'd read about called Woodman's Markets. The business started in 1919 as a produce stand and has grown to 16 stores in Wisconsin and northern Illinois. It was the biggest grocery we've ever seen and had a monumental selection of products and brands. It was also very well organized with signs that could easily be read from a long way off, unlike the signs in a lot of stores where you have to practically be under them to read the words. They reduce their expenses by not taking credit cards (debit cards or cash only) and pass along the savings to customers by having excellent prices. Other grocery chains could really learn something from them.
Sunset with Cheese
We've seen very few notable sunsets on this trip. Some of this has been caused by our locations which haven't been good for seeing them, but the rest has been our fault for neglecting to look out the window. We caught a moderately good one tonight. The picture is complete with a sign for a nearby cheese shop, although you can barely see "CHEESE" on the sign in the waning light. There's certainly no shortage of cheese in this state.
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