Day 75 - Mt. Horeb, WI to Freeport, IL - Two Far 2020 - NTF (Not Two Far)

August 13, 2020

Day 75 - Mt. Horeb, WI to Freeport, IL

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We had a long day with LOTS of hills, but it was almost like a normal touring day of old. We talked with other cyclists and visited a really cool museum.

We managed to get out of the motel by 8:45. It's a good thing, because after today's adventures, we didn't get to our hotel until 5:30. The weather was great again today with no chance of rain, so we were happy to take our time getting here.

The first adventure of the day was a 10-12% grade for 1/2 mile 12 miles into the route. Scaling it took "four on the floor" and we were very pleased to finally reach the top. I neglected to take any pictures. I guess I was too focused on getting up the hill.

We are in the heart of dairy country here, I think. We saw more dairy farms today than on any other day in Wisconsin.

We rode into New Glarus after climbing another hill that only topped out at 8%. We managed to pedal up that one. At the Casey's in New Glarus we had breakfast pizza - a new addition to our diet on this trip - standing in parking lot. While we were there we met Julie and Bridget. They were riding a bike trail round trip from Monroe, WI. Most of the trail is unpaved, so it wasn't on our route. They were fun to talk with and really enjoyed meeting them. As I have mentioned, these kind of meetings are one of the things we have really missed this year.

On top of yet another big hill leaving New Glarus, we passed the New Glarus brewery. They are supposed to have a good tour and visitor's center, but it is closed this summer.

A few miles south of New Glarus, we took a short turn through the town of Monticello. In addition to a big cheese factory, there was a nice downtown with some interesting old buildings.

Old gas and car service station - still operating!

Image not found :( — On the way out of town, we came upon this lovely lake and park.

The best part of today was our visit to the National Historic Cheesemaking Center in Monroe, WI. We were so pleased to find a museum open, we would have enjoyed anything, but this place was very interesting and had one of the best volunteer tour guides ever.

Our guide was Bill Schmid. His father came to Wisconsin from Switzerland in 1922 and went into the cheesemaking business. Bill's maternal grandfather, some uncles and cousins also were cheesemakers. Bill grew up with cheesemaking and was full of information and strong opinions - especially on the subject of Swiss cheese. He isn't impressed with American mass produced "wanna be" cheese of any kind.

This is cheesemaking as Bill's father did it when he was a child.

The farmer brought the milk to the cheese house in a can on his wagon. It was hoisted up to the door you see that is just above the can.

And the milk was poured into the silver milk can inside.

The milk was transferred to the copper cheese kettle and heated to 90 degrees. The milk had to be stirred with a giant whisk the entire time. This is Bill, fantastic tour guide!

Once the milk reached 90 degrees, rennet and a starter were added. Rennet was made from the stomach of a milk fed calf and it what causes the milk to curdle. Once the curds formed, this cheese rake Bill is holding was used to cut the curds to cottage cheese size.

When the curds were ready, they were gathered up in a big cheesecloth and taken to the press, where the whey was drained away.

The pressed cheese was then aged for months, up to a year. Bill says Swiss cheese must be a year old to be really good.

We were there for over an hour and learned much more from Bill. It was the most fun when he had to mention the large American company whose name starts with "K" which makes "wanna be" cheese and cheese like products. He tried to be diplomatic, but he is definitely not a fan!

There was an area with information about cheese other than Swiss. The section on Limburger cheese was interesting. Apparently, it was most popular with Swiss and German immigrants - and their descendants - in Wisconsin and Ohio. Kerry has relatives in Ohio who loved Limburger. He never tasted it, nor did I. Any Limburger fans among our readers?

The only Limburger cheese still made in the United States is made here in Monroe.

We left Monroe and finally made it here to Freeport about 5:30. It was a long, but entertaining, day.

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 2,306 miles (3,711 km)

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Curt & Helene Reedare bringing some Home?? love cheese
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4 years ago

Lou HarminLove your writings. Sort of a daily make my day. Miss you both.

lou
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4 years ago

Jeanna & Kerry SmithTo Curt & Helene ReedDo you want the Limburger? It should be particularly delicious after traveling on the bike for six weeks!
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4 years ago

DAVID FAULKNEREnjoyed learning how the Limburger cheese was made & seeing the # of dairy farms
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4 years ago

Jeanna & Kerry SmithTo DAVID FAULKNERHave you ever eaten Limburger? Neither of us has, so we need an experienced opinion of it.
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4 years ago

Jayme JohnsonSeems the National Historic Cheesemaking Center was as impressed with the two of you as you were with The Center. You got a full page spread in their September monthly publication. (My mother in law still gets it despite her MN residency.) Here's the link: https://nationalhistoriccheesemakingcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/September-2020-Culture-1.pdf
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4 years ago

Jeanna & Kerry SmithTo Jayme JohnsonThank you for sending this. We love it!
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4 years ago