"Wisconsin-Happy Festival State", by Eve Phillips. My husband and I love to travel in the state of Wisconsin where we live and get great pictures on the way. My name is Laurie Kutil and photography has become a great passion of mine since 2010. One thing I have learned in researching each town before visiting it is that, "Every town has it's story". When I do uncover those stories by connecting with local residents, our experience becomes so much richer. In turn, sharing the stories with you brings me joy :)
This is a very special photo for me. In the early 1970s, I decided to blow town (Madison) for one last fling before… something, I can’t remember what, oh, maybe college after high school. I packed my Schwinn 10-speed with 30 pounds of gear (15 of it on my back) and headed for Dodgeville where Bethel Lutheran Church has 500 acres of land to camp at. Not wanting to ride the main highway, I headed out Mineral Point Rd. to Pine Bluff and rode into the hills between Hwys 18 and 14.
It was about that time that I noticed that my lunch had fallen off my rear carrier some ways back and I wasn’t going to go back to look for it. So I rode as far as I could until hunger drove me to ask for food at a poor little farmhouse like you might imagine in the Appalatian Mountains. I had no idea that there were such places near Madison. They gave me what little they could from their larder for which I paid a few dollars and I went on my way.
The trip was gruelling, for as I discovered later, there were two big ridges that I climbed crosswise along the way instead of following the ridge of the main highway. I was exhausted when 7 hours and 7 minutes after leaving Madison, I arrived at Bethel Horizons. I didn’t get back on my bike until the end of my week long stay. (My legs were still numb from the effort and I got a car ride back home.)
But along the way there, I rode by the point from where these pictures were taken and I revisited it several times in the years after that and at various times of the year. At the time, the wheel was still turing and then at one point it was still, never to turn again(?) At various times I talked to a some locals about the mill and visited a tractor museum just up the road to the left from this photo (eastward back toward Madison.) There are few images in my life that carry more nostalgia for me.
Thanks for taking and posting these photos, Laurie!
Thank you Peter, I was moved by your response. That is one of my goals as a photographer, to bring back memories for people. Also to make them want to go to the places I post about. I will add spring and summer pics to this post later, I don’t have a good pic of these seasons yet 🙂
Hi,I’m a friend of your mom’s.I loved your mill pictures. We loved the Paoli mill as my great-grampa worked there long ago.My cousin,Bill Hastings now owns it and we have paintings of it by Chales Peterson. Mills and old buildings(esp. barns are my favorites.thank you for your beautiful photography.Ann Jesse
Thanks Ann, I am flattered by your comment about my photos 🙂 I am planning to get out there to get a spring and summer picture too. I have my own “slogan” too, “I make memories”. I am glad I could make one for you too. Please follow my blog for more adventures. We are planning a spring trip to Cedarburg for a photo shoot there. I wish to go to Covered Bridge Park to get the bridge with a flowering tree in a corner of the picture, if one is there. Have a great day Ann.
Hello, nice seeing you again too. I get bored sometimes and change my pic sometimes 🙂 That pic of the mill is consistently a fav among my readers 🙂 Have a great weekend my friend!
I love this picture Laurie; you do a great job.
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Thanks Mom, I appreciate your input 🙂
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Love the photos Laurie. I would love to see a a Spring and Summer shot in the future.
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Hi Cindy, thanks for your input. We will get those too later this year 🙂
Laurie
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Thanks Laurie for the opportunity to follow your blog. I know it will be interesting.
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This is a very special photo for me. In the early 1970s, I decided to blow town (Madison) for one last fling before… something, I can’t remember what, oh, maybe college after high school. I packed my Schwinn 10-speed with 30 pounds of gear (15 of it on my back) and headed for Dodgeville where Bethel Lutheran Church has 500 acres of land to camp at. Not wanting to ride the main highway, I headed out Mineral Point Rd. to Pine Bluff and rode into the hills between Hwys 18 and 14.
It was about that time that I noticed that my lunch had fallen off my rear carrier some ways back and I wasn’t going to go back to look for it. So I rode as far as I could until hunger drove me to ask for food at a poor little farmhouse like you might imagine in the Appalatian Mountains. I had no idea that there were such places near Madison. They gave me what little they could from their larder for which I paid a few dollars and I went on my way.
The trip was gruelling, for as I discovered later, there were two big ridges that I climbed crosswise along the way instead of following the ridge of the main highway. I was exhausted when 7 hours and 7 minutes after leaving Madison, I arrived at Bethel Horizons. I didn’t get back on my bike until the end of my week long stay. (My legs were still numb from the effort and I got a car ride back home.)
But along the way there, I rode by the point from where these pictures were taken and I revisited it several times in the years after that and at various times of the year. At the time, the wheel was still turing and then at one point it was still, never to turn again(?) At various times I talked to a some locals about the mill and visited a tractor museum just up the road to the left from this photo (eastward back toward Madison.) There are few images in my life that carry more nostalgia for me.
Thanks for taking and posting these photos, Laurie!
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Thank you Peter, I was moved by your response. That is one of my goals as a photographer, to bring back memories for people. Also to make them want to go to the places I post about. I will add spring and summer pics to this post later, I don’t have a good pic of these seasons yet 🙂
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I love the contrast of seasons! Great job!
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Thanks Carolyn, be sure to click “follow” and read my other entries too 🙂
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Beautiful photos as always Laurie:)
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Hi,I’m a friend of your mom’s.I loved your mill pictures. We loved the Paoli mill as my great-grampa worked there long ago.My cousin,Bill Hastings now owns it and we have paintings of it by Chales Peterson. Mills and old buildings(esp. barns are my favorites.thank you for your beautiful photography.Ann Jesse
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Thanks Ann, I am flattered by your comment about my photos 🙂 I am planning to get out there to get a spring and summer picture too. I have my own “slogan” too, “I make memories”. I am glad I could make one for you too. Please follow my blog for more adventures. We are planning a spring trip to Cedarburg for a photo shoot there. I wish to go to Covered Bridge Park to get the bridge with a flowering tree in a corner of the picture, if one is there. Have a great day Ann.
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Such a pleasure to meet you. This photo should be enlarged for framing – a perfect shot – something you rarely see.
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I know I’ve been here before but somehow lost you, the new gravatar pix threw me.
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Hello, nice seeing you again too. I get bored sometimes and change my pic sometimes 🙂 That pic of the mill is consistently a fav among my readers 🙂 Have a great weekend my friend!
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Back atcha!
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