Travel: Madison, Wisconsonsin

When it comes to adventure, Captain Crash can get pretty diverse. While primarily this website fouses on the mountainous treks into the wilderness, some times the members of Team Crash just like to do a little traveling to another city for awhile. Afterall, we're mostly suburb-folks ourselves, and Crash has a special appreciation for history and architecture. Some times we're just passing through and other times we're staying a few days while following a beloved Pittsburgh sports team but dammit we always make it a bit of an adventure so from time to time the pictures end up here in special Travel Blogs.

 

When Bilo and I first started planning our road trip to Minnesota, we realized that we would be passing right through Wisconsin, yet neither of us had ever been there. So of course we were gonna incorporate a stop there somehow. As it turns out, Liz and Mary, joining us for the trip, had close friends in the state capitol of Madison who offered to put our foursome up for the night. Free lodging in a city I had never visited? Plus the opportunity for some famous Wisconsin cheese? Hell yeah! And so a Madison leg was incorporated as we ventured across the frozen tundra of the Midwest.

When we first got into the area, we skirted around the city to the bordering Lake Mendota for a quick hike out across a very snowy Picnic Point, a long slender peninsula that provides a unique view of the Madison skyline across its waters. You can see that whole adventure on its own blog entry right here, but here's some pics to show ya the awesome view across the endless ice.

See that huge domed building in the middle? That's the Capitol Building of Wisconsin, and that was my next target. Many of you usual readers know how much of a sucker I am for old architecture, so that fucker was like a beacon. Tough sell with the girls, but we stopped to see it right in the heart of downtown Madison. Very cool.

Look closely in that last shot... you can actually see the dome of the Capitol Building reflected in the windows of that small skyscraper. Thought it was cool but whatev. Anyway, we snagged some food downtown then called it a night and headed to Liz's friend's house just outside the city. Nice suburb blanketed in wayyyyy too much snow.

So we got a relatively early start the next day to make our way to our hotel in Minnesota. But you better believe I wasn't going to be in the heart of Wisconsin and not get any cheese. A giant cheese billboard in Madison summoned me and I stocked up hardcore at a cheese emporium and also grabbed some Wisconsin made wine to go with it. All of it was delicious!!!

Damn that was a good cheese... and a nice city too I guess. Just glad to be out of that snow right now.

Tally-ho!

-Crash

Pittsburgh Amazing Race 2010

Can't believe it's been almost a year already. Jesus.

Last year many of you will remember that Gunz and I formed a duo in "The Most Amazing Race," an adventure style race all over Pittsburgh in the fashion of the same TV show on CBS. It was a pretty big deal, and the two of us even were on TV here in Pittsburgh for it. The race proceeds benefit the Salvation Army, which is quite the reputable charity. As a long time adventurer and philanthropist, I was proud to get involved in the inaugural event. And our poor finish last year has left us hungry for more.

Luckily, we have another chance the weekend of September 25th when the race begins its second year. And we're gonna kick ass.

Many of my followers here helped out by donating to the Salvation Army on our behalf... we have to raise at least $250 big ones for the charity to make the entry requirements. I have faith that all of yinz will help us out, and in return you can have faith that this year Team Crash will indeed bring home the title!

This year's race is shaping up to be bigger than ever, with plenty of mental, physical and navigational challenges that will force Gunz and I to work together and push ourselves to our limits all over again. There's some big corporate sponsors already in place, and we already know that I will be busting out my kayaking skills in one challenge while Gunz puts his bottomless stomach to the test in some sort of secret eating challenge. Should be pretty exciting.

ANY donation will be greatly appreciated! You can do so online at our team's page on the Salvation Army's website right here.

And for those who were unfamiliar, I've got ya taken care of as I had pretty extensive coverage of the event last year. So take a look here:
2009 Most Amazing Race Retrospective
2009 Most Amazing Race Pictures

Let's all be a part of Team Crash on this one while also helping a great cause! Now collectively let's yell it:

Tally-ho!
-Crash

Adventure: Barton Cave

The Chestnut Ridge of the Laurel Highlands is a pretty rugged mountain formation... yet is surprisingly porous underneath. Below that rocky surface is the seemingly endless chasms of Laurel Caverns, as well as the tiny corridors of a plethora of wild caves that carve through the solid stone to create a giant rocky sponge. Each of these small wild caves have much in common: they're remote, mostly untraveled, and so dark and narrow that every passageway seems more treacherous than the last. Moreover, the formations and atmosphere truly give the feeling of being in an entire other world, all while passing deep below the ground we overlook every day. They may not have unique backstories and such like many of the cool places I venture to do, but the level of adventure cannot be denied. So you better believe I'm gonna explore them every chance I get.

Gunz and I decided to sneak in one last caving trip before the bats went back into hibernation in the fall, and I had a sudden lead on accessing the isolated Barton Cave. We met at my cabin at Sandpile Springs of course before heading on out into what quickly became one of the most uncooperative adventures ever.

After some breakfast we headed out via Gunz's truck... I had a pretty goddamn long drive down from Clarion and I was in no mood to get back behind the wheel. I encouraged Gunz to take a shortcut up Brethren Summit, leading to our first grave error. As we passed by the abandoned cabin on that mountain, Gunz was suddenly lured into a deep mudhole. It was too deep for the truck to make it through, and the sudden burst of dirty water not only cut the engine, but kept it from starting again. That's what we in the offroad enthusiast world like to call "stuck."

We reverted to travel on foot. We ran the few miles down the mountaintop back to pavement. We pleaded with a guy parking his pick up truck to come give Gunz's truck a yank out of the mud, but said he wouldn't drive up that trail and that we were suckers for doing it ourselves. Rightfully so. Plan B: returning with the Jeep, which was still a few miles away. After walking another mile or 2, we hitchhiked our way back to Sandpile Springs where the ZJ awaited... too bad our ride was this sweet windowless panel van with no backseats driven by a creepy old guy. Asking for trouble, no?

Hearing the Green Rooster fire up never sounded so good. She roared to life and was ready for her mission. She climbed up Brethren Summit, creeped through the mud until she was close enough to Gunz's truck then got strapped up. What a girl. His truck still wouldn't fire so the Jeep had pull nothing but dead weight and despite a little struggle to gain traction in the gunky mud she eventually extracted the Ford from it's watery tomb.

For those keeping score at home, that's another point in the Jeep column. Woo. Anyway, I actually towed it all the way back down to pavement where Gunz had hoped to get a tow truck and cell phone service since no one was willing to tow from where we were. Still, the only reasonably priced tow would take a few hours to report. Fuck that, we were fixing that fucker ourselves. The battery was shot so we headed down to Uniontown first for a new battery and a well deserved dinner. Upon return, we tinkered well into twilight when we finally had the starter able to fire up again. She groaned and rattled but she made it to my cabin in the dark.

Gunz and I just never seem to know when to quit. Rather than bow out and spend the night at the cabin, we proceeded to the cave well beyond midnight knowing that it would be dark inside anyway. Unfortunately, just having directions that were recently given to me with details that were shaky at best wasn't enough to go by in the dark. After getting pretty damn turned around in the night, we gave up....... until morning dammit.

With daylight on our side we made a very, very early start... the forest was beautiful with just a dash of autumn color but it was cold as balls... of course that was going to fucking stop us at this point in the game. Better yet, now that we could actually see where were hiking it was a much easier effort to find the correct route.... which was steep as shit. Bleh.

Finally we entered that fucking cave on the last day before the gates are locked shut to allow bats to hibernate. We explored quite a bit but my camera was damaged when I smashed it during a crawl. Sigh. The good news is that was the last thing that went awry on that trip.

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Annnnnnnnd that'll do it. Seriously how many things can go fucking wrong in one trip? And that was all after we delayed the outing a day due to weather conditions. But in the end we got in that cave and explored the fuck out of it. It may have cost us a lot in the grand scheme of things, including a truck battery and a digital camera, but we fucking did it. There may not have been any truly unique formations like the waterfall at Oppermans Cave but whatev, it was still really sweet to explore.

Tally-ho!
-Crash

Adventure: Landmark Center

I always make a habit of trying to sneak and adventure or two in whenever I travel, and certainly snuck a few into the agenda when I traveled to the Twin Cities in Minnesota for a Penguins game. One very interesting urban adventure: a quick ghost hunt at the historic Landmark Center.

Arising amid the relatively modern skyline in St. Paul, the century old Landmark Center is a beautiful castle mimicking European architecture of yore. Still in pristine condition and preserved for public use, this staple of Minnesota's capitol city has served as a home for government offices, court rooms, public gatherings, and-- according to many-- at least one bitter ghost.

Jack Peifer was a prominent gangster in the Twin Cities, the ringleader of busy speakeasy along the Mississippi River. When he got tied up with an event more violent gang, he was finally brought in and charged with counts of kidnapping, amongst many other crimes, in room 317 of the Landmark Center. He was sentenced to 30 years without parole, which would have consumed the remainder of his miserable life. Peifer was so distraught at this terrible fate, that he killed himself upon exiting. Now it seems that his soul is carrying out an even longer imprisonment, as he appears as a manifestation throughout the old castle and is blamed for unexplained phenomena such as the shattering of shot glasses and disappearance of alcohol--- appropriate for the spirit of a man who dodged Prohibition.

I figured a cold snowy day while I explored the city with Bilo, Mary, and Liz was a good chance to check the old legend out, eh?

Nothing seemed more appropriate in Minnesota than a little ice skating, and the rink right out front was free. While we showed off our Penguin pride the Landmark Center loomed just behind us on a very frigid day. The steps that faced us have been the site of many sightings of Jack, including some where he  allegedly turned up in photos. But as you can see not in any of mine.

After awhile we headed inside to warm up and just admire the grandeur of the opulent old architecture inside. Despite being built at the close of the nineteenth century, every detail was just immaculate. Funny place to be haunted really. Yet it was so dull and quiet, like something was looming but you just couldn't place what.

I wandered off from Bilo and the girls to explore for a bit and make my way into the basement where many sightings have occurred. I used the elevators which are said to be one of Jack's favorite spots. But the closest thing I found was a nifty exhibit in the basement dedicated to Jack's history as a gangster and many of his cohorts in the mobs of St. Paul during Prohibition.

Without much else to see and none of that cool ghost detecting gear on hand we left to grab a bite to eat and see our real objective of the day: the Penguins vs Wild Game!

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Let's Go Pens!
-Crash