Jax Stumpes: 1995 Midwest Trip I (6/20-24/1995)

Saturday, June 24, 1995

1995 Midwest Trip I (6/20-24/1995)

Tuesday, June 20, 1995
Our Midwest trip actually began on June 20th, 1995 when immediately after Brynne's graduation from Kindergarten, we hurried to the airport to send Kent on his way to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a Construction Specifiers Institute (CSI) trade show.

Wednesday, June 21, 1995
Then very early the next morning, Brynne and I started out by car. We passed through Providence, the state capital of Rhode Island, and the first of 8 state capitals we would see. Our next stop was in Albany, New York for a short walking tour which took us to the State Capitol building.

Albany, NY Skyline

Quackenbush House (c 1736 in Dutch Colonial style) is the oldest
intact building in Albany and is known as the home of
Revolutionary War officer Hendrick Quackenbush

Brynne in the Colonial Garden

Albany City Hall (1880-1883, by
Henry Hobson Richardson
in Richardsonian Romanesque)

New York State Capitol (1867-1899, ground floor by Thomas Fuller in
Classical Romanesque style; next two floors by Leopold Eidlitz and
Henry Hobson Richardson in Renaissance Classical style; top floor and roof
by Isaac G Perry using Richardson's Victorian-modified Romanesque style)

First Church in Albany/North Dutch Church (1797-1799, by Philip Hooker)
is the fourth building of the church but also the oldest on Albany

We continued on to Buffalo, NY, to stay at the "Grandparent Ts" house. Brynne was able to play with her cousins Leah and Mark W. The girls spent much of their time running through the sprinkler. We celebrated Mom's birthday.

Thursday, June 22, 1995
We stayed the full day of June 22 in Buffalo.

Brynne creating her own shower
(Photo by GJT)

Brynne on a Sit 'n' Spin (GJT)

Mark in Barbie's pool

Leah, Brynne, and Mark

Grandpa T reads Uncle Wiggily stories to Leah, Brynne, and Mark

Friday, June 23, 1995
The next day we joined the Ws in a caravan across Ontario, Canada to head for Michigan. My sister Kathy, her husband Mike, and their two kids were going to a wedding in Detroit, MI. All the girls were in our car, and the boys followed. We stopped in Ingersoll, Ontario to see the museum complex: a cheese factory museum, a community historical museum, and a community sports museum. All very nicely done and small enough to hold Brynne's and Leah's attention.

Ingersoll Cheese Factory Museum

Ingersoll Community Museum: March of the Drunkards diorama

We picnicked at a nearby park where Leah managed to drop her sandal off a bridge into the creek! Uncle Mike waded in to rescue it.

Leah, Brynne, and Mike

Mike rescuing a flip flop

Before crossing back into the US at Port Huron, MI, we reassembled into our own cars. We had heard the customs officials were being strict about showing proof that children belonged to the accompanying adults. But as it turned out, we were waved through! Brynne and I headed on to Lansing, MI for a peek at another state capital.

Michigan State Capitol (1873-1878, by Elijah E Myers in
Neoclassical/Renaissance Revival style)

We spent the night at a motel in Battle Creek, MI.

Saturday, June 24, 1995
On June 24th, we drove to St. Joseph, MI overlooking Lake Michigan. (Yesterday we had seen three other Great Lakes: Lake Erie from the Peace Bridge, Lake Ontario from the St. Catharine's Skyway, and Lake Huron from the Port Huron Bridge.) There we went to the Curious Kids' Museum, a delightful children's museum with lots of hands-on activities. Brynne levitated with a magic mirror, picked apples, generated electricity, and even typed her name on a Braille typewriter.

Brynne measures up
to Magic Johnson

Brynne levitating at the magic mirror

Brynne cycling to create electricity

We continued driving, bypassing metropolitan Chicago, Illinois and stopping in Madison, Wisconsin which was a very pleasant people-oriented state capital.