Sconnie!

For starters, here is a preview of my first visit to Madison, more specifically the zoo. Obviously I was more entertained in the parking lot with the ducks.

Back to the good ol' midwest, and my birth state! Arriving in Madison I was greeted by smoking hot temperatures and humidity, I thought I left that behind leaving the south!
Driving to the Kappa house, we drove right by the Capitol which was less than 4 blocks away. The house was also a block away from the lake, and some of the other fraternities were right on the lake and had docks on their property! I stayed at the actually sorority house for the first couple days of recruitment, but then I stayed in an adviser's guest room for the duration of my 2 week visit. I got to be a pro at the public transportation/bus system, and I hope I didn’t look too much like a freshman who didn’t know where she was going when I was walking around campus to the house.
It was so fun to get to walk around Madison during some down time and get a tour from a recent alumna who works for the university as a tour guide, so I got lots of fun facts! State Street was also one street over, and it was so fun to explore some of the different shops and see all the different local restaurants with food from all over the world. They had little food vendor carts at the end of State Street towards campus with any type of food: vegan, south Korean, west African, carribean, sushi, and even Cajun/Bayou food (I was doubting the authenticity of that, as I have now had actual Louisiana food!). I probably wouldn’t recommend actually buying any of this food, but they were there every morning! The people watching was definitely an experience, but I didn’t run into anything too crazy.
I luckily found nice trails to run on in Madison, as they have a ton of bike trails and are a fairly bike friendly city. (I wouldn’t want to ride my bike in the middle of a busy road in a bike lane though, but that’s just me. Many people were brave enough to do so!)

I also had the chance to meet up with some familiar faces in Madison. My cousin, Angela, met me one night and we went and got the famous Babcocks Icecream that they make at the University. It was so great to see her and catch up a little bit. Also, my friend Jane from highschool, who just got married, is a cop in Madison now, so we met for lunch, and I got the update on the newlywed’s life. I loved seeing them!

The highlight of this visit was definitely getting to see my family! It was long overdue, and I am so thankful that they made the 3+hour trip to see me for the day. They picked me up at the adviser’s house where I moved all my stuff out so I could sort through it all and send some stuff home with them, and get some different clothes they brought from home. It was so relaxing to spend time with them. It was Madison’s gameday vs. Oregon State I believe and it was a huge blowout for them, but my family went to this random sports bar with the Madison ISU alumni group to watch the first half of the ISU/Iowa game. Of course, we had to head back to campus to beat the gameday traffic from them and so I could give them a campus tour, but we celebrated a CYCLONE VICTORY in the quietest building on UW Madison Campus. We were all so excited and cheering, we really didn’t care we were disturbing the peace. Luckily, most Badger fans are not fans of the Hawkeyes either, so they were supportive of us sporting our ISU gear around the Madison campus (Correction: Kevin for some reason was wearing an Alabama Softball shirt? I have no idea why. Strange kid.)

I did end up with some "Sconnie" sunglasses... The girls had to teach me that people from Wisconsin or people who are fans of Wisconsin call themselves "Sconnies". I didn't know Wisconsin people were so excited about their state! (Almost as much as all my Minnesota friends are about MN..haha) But I got Kappa blue ones, so I will end up representing my birth state in them, so it works.

The Capitol! I got to go inside during my campus tour.

The Stadium, Camp Randall. They better be ready for the Panther's next fall!

The boardwalk/docks right next to the Union

On Bascom Hill during my campus tour. This hill was quite a hike, I don't want to picture students trekking up this in the middle of a Wisconsin winter!

Abe at the top of Bascom hill (Students rub his shoe for good luck before tests, so it is a different color. Graduates also climb up in his lap after graduation to whisper their hopes and dreams into his ear so they will come true)

FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY! at the ISU Madison Alumni Gamewatch for the IOWA/ISU game!!

LOVELY LOVELY MOTHER :)

Kev and me outside the Kappa house. Officially his 2nd Kappa house that he's been to. Better visit me more this year!

Just some ISU fans hanging out on the UW Madison's Terrace outside their union

The language building. Over 48 languages are taught here, and the Lord of the Rings elf language was "invented" here.

The "future" wall. Students are supposed to look at the design on the building, and whatever they see is what they are supposed to major in and do with their life. Kev decided to get his life all planned out ;)

Thanks, Mom, for the awkward solo picture by the Fibonacci sequence fountain. You stood on this panel and it made the fountain light up and chime in the Fibonacci sequence patter. HI TECH. (Also, right before we found out the ISU victory over the HAWKS and celebrated in this quiet research building. OOPS. We weren't that sorry about it.)

Deck of the new union by all the Big 10 Flags. Still soaking up the glory from the ISU win over Iowa and getting congratulations/cheers from all the Badger fans, too!

Kevin and me, just being political at the capitol.

Angela took us to the zoo! Turns out I was staying right by it during the visit, and I even ran there one morning! Who just gets to run through a zoo?

Fighting giraffes. Literally were attacking each other at the neck. CRAZY

CUTEST little penguinos! I'm convinced I'm going to get a pet one.

You can thank the UNI Pot's trip to Madison for a Panther Victory! The fam and I watched it on the computer stream at the hotel.

Woodstock themed Bid Day!

Dad's greatest disappointment. This building, called the Red Gym, has nothing to do with sports. Looks cool though!

The Finish Line of the Madison Ironman! 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a marathon later, these crazy people were finishing! It started at 7 am and there were still people crossing the finish line at 10 pm. It was CRAZY!!

x's and o's from Mad Town!
-Allison