King Veterans Home

Wisconsin – Thursday, June 6

My mom and I met up again later in the morning, and we went over to the Wisconsin Veterans Home in King, where I was going to make my donation for today. This place was first started back in 1887 as the Grand Army Home, and was built for the Civil War veterans. It was also the first veteran’s home in the nation to allow women to become members. It’s in a beautiful location, and back when my grandpa was still alive, it could have been a potential place for him to live in his later years, although that did not happen. But I liked the possibility! I had called earlier, and spoken with someone named Sarah about the “gifts and requests” programs and she gave me a whole list of different areas within the veterans home that I could designate my donation toward – there was bowling, wheelchair maintenance, library, wood shop and ceramics, cemetery upkeep, holiday cheer, and bingo and general purpose. I chose wood shop and ceramics. The people in the office were busy, so we didn’t hear too much about the programs, but we did learn that there are over 700 residents at the veterans home, plus we walked around the place afterwards.

From there we went to one of the access points of the Wau-king Bike Trail, which was built to honor the veterans at the King Veterans Home, so that was a fitting place to walk a few miles! I started off with a couple miles on my own, and along the way I did a phone interview with someone down in Mukwonago. Then my mom joined me for another 2 1/2 miles of walking. We had worked up an appetite by then, so we went out for a very late lunch, and then it was time to head north from Waupaca. I drove over to Stevens Point, where I was able to squeeze in for the last oil change appointment of the day – it’s always nice to get those details taken care of. There was another good walking trail there – the Green Circle Trail, and the lady at the oil change shop told me how to find it. I got there and discovered that particular part of the trail was in a wildlife refuge where dogs weren’t allowed, and I wanted to get Tula out so the ranger directed me to another parking lot a couple miles away, and Tula and I went on a beautiful 3+ mile walk through the woods. The first quarter mile or so was a nice boardwalk – they’re always fun to walk on.

Once we finished our walk there, I drove north to Tomahawk, where one of my sisters-in-law lives, and we caught up over pie and ice cream and I stayed at her home for the night. We’re going to be going to Marquette, Michigan for the weekend for a couple big family events, so I’ll be taking a shor tfamily break after my walking and donation tomorrow.