Our first 2026 Trip Continued, Madison, WI, April 10 - April 12, 2026
Although this is a continuation of our trip to Peoria, IL, we decided to break up our posts about it because the places are so far apart. When we left home earlier in the week, we had planned just to drive home on Friday, April 10, 2026, but we were not ready to go home yet. When we decided to extend the trip, Madison, WI was our destination. We lived in the Madison area from October 2003 through May 2011. This area is where our sons were both born, where we bought our first house, and such a big part of both of our lives. Madison is also where we took our first trip ever with our camper in April 2025.
We woke up at 4:00 am on the morning of Friday, April 10 and broke down the campsite and prepared for a travel day. It had rained all night, so everything was super soaked, but besides some saturated gloves, the process went well with no delays or problems. Before we bought our camper, we had no idea what it takes to set up to prepare the camper, set up, and take it all down and stow for travel. When the process goes smoothly, it's so rewarding. At about 5:30 am, we were on the road. It was 262 miles to our next campground, so we wanted to get going pretty early. This is a picture of what we could see when we started out on the journey.
We had filled the gas tank the night before, so we were able to put some miles behind us pretty quickly without having to stop immediately. After we bought the camper, Theo went on a deep dive into RV channels on YouTube for tips and tricks. One of the biggest tips we picked up was to always fill your truck without the camper attached when possible. So, before we hook up the camper before a trip, we fill the truck with gas. We also make it a point to do the same where we are set up before we hook up the camper again to travel. It's just so much easier to get in and out of most gas stations without the camper attached, and it's also one less thing to worry about at the beginning of travel days. Along the same lines, we also make sure to plan ahead as we drive through more rural, remote areas. You are going to get much worse gas mileage while pulling your camper, so you need to make sure you don't get stuck in between gas station availability.
As the morning went along, we started to get hungry and wanted some more coffee, so Jamie began to search for something along the route. We decided to go to aLMOKA Coffee House (753 Highgrove Place, Rockford, IL 61108). The parking lot at the shopping center this was located in was pretty wide open, so we were able to easily get the truck and camper in and park. Their menu was so packed full of drinks and food offerings, and everything in the bakery case looked so good. The store was clean with plenty of seating as well. The bathrooms were clean, and even included bidets in the toilets, which is obviously rare in the states. Theo got an iced pistachio latte and a Dubai strawberry crepe, and Jamie got a vanilla latte and a Dubai strawberry cup. The crepe was unbelievably good, and the strawberry cup had great flavor, but the chocolate was hard which made it a little more difficult to eat, but it was so worth it. The food and drinks here were so good, and the vibes were definitely good. If you are in the area and looking for something a little more unique than the chain coffee shops, stop in here.... you won't be disappointed.
As we were leaving Rockford, we stopped in at Costco to top off the gas tank. When we are traveling, we always try to find the Costco stores along the route to fill up the gas tank, especially with the current state of gas prices.
We had a fairly uneventful ride to our campground outside of Madison, Lantern Deforest RV Resort (4859 Co Rd V, Deforest, WI 53532). This is the same campground we stayed at in this area last year, although it was new ownership this time around. When we showed up, we didn't have reservations, which was a new adventure for us. Theo could never dream of doing this before, but we are trying to learn and be more flexible and spontaneous. We were able to find a good spot, and we were able to set up pretty quickly. This campground would not be our first choice for wooded, remote, and quiet, but it is super functional with a great location close to Madison. It is right off of the interstate, so there is vehicle noise most of the day and night, but the camper does drown it out. There are many pull through sites that are full hook up, so it makes that part easier. We didn't really get any general pics of the campground or site, but Jamie was able to remember one shot. Isn't she cute?
Our plan was to leave the campground and head straight to Mt. Horeb, WI. We had visited here several times and loved it here. Mt. Horeb is officially recognized as "The Troll Capital of the World". The food was always good, and downtown shopping is quaint and reminds you of times gone by. The last few days we had been in the truck a lot, so we were starting to get weary of travel and feeling silly. As we were driving, we also were able to take in that quintessential southern Wisconsin landscape of rolling farmlands and patches of forest (woods), IYKYK.
When we arrived in Mt. Horeb, it was midafternoon and we were ready for lunch. We found a restaurant named Buck & Honey's (108 S. 2nd Street, Mt. Horeb, WI 53572). The Mt. Horeb location is one of 4 locations in the area around Madison. The menu had a wide selection and we were excited. We started with an appetizer sampler that had sassy curds, firecracker shrimp, and bacon wrapped dates. The pics do not do this justice. All we can say is that if you find yourself here, do not skip this. Everything is unique, especially the sassy curds. If you've had fried cheese curds, forget everything you remember. These are different, and they work. Jamie got a buffalo chicken salad and Theo got the chipotle chicken Philly. Jamie's salad was the best she's ever had. The ingredients were fresh and so balanced. Theo tried some and totally agreed. The Philly was also good, but honestly, not as good as the salad. We could not recommend this spot enough, and you have to try one if you're in this area.
After lunch, we decided to stroll the shops in their "Downtown Main Street". Jamie found some great, handmade jewelry at Sift & Winnow. We also visited a wonderful local yarn shop, Sugar River Yarns (more to come on a separate blog for this spot). We found some cute shops - Jamie brought home some Cacao Tea, and Chaga - and a new mug from Telsaan Tea. A couple of other highlights were seeing the first Duluth Trading Company retail store and Isaac's Antiques. After strolling in and out of the shops that were still open, we walked some more to get pics of our favorite trolls we found. The final stop on the way out of town was Icki Sticki (1225 Springdale Street, Mt. Horeb, WI 53572) to get some ice cream. They feature the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream from Madison, and they have some of our favorite flavors that rotate in and out. Jamie always gets the Zanzibar Chocolate - three kinds of cocoa, and it tastes like brownie batter.
When we got back to the campground, we had to get some laundry done. Because we decided to extend our trip, we were running out of some clean clothes, so we did a quick load. There wasn't a spot to sit inside where the machines were, so we bundled up and sat outside of the facility and hung out. Last year we found ourselves needing to do some laundry, but we were not prepared. Finding quarters and detergent was next to impossible in Door County, WI after 5:00 pm. Learning from old mistakes, we were much prepared this time with quarters and detergent already on hand if needed. After laundry, we went back into the camper and got some knitting and computer work done.
The next morning, we woke up and headed straight to the Saturday Dane County Farmer's Market on the Madison Capitol Square. For the several years we lived in the area, we head to the market as often as we could. There are so many vendors selling their meats, cheeses, produce, plants, baked goods, salsas, jams, body products, and so much more. Truth be told, our main reason for going back again and again is the hot, spicy cheese bread from Stella's Bakery. Words cannot do this bread justice, but if you've ever eaten, you know why it has the legendary following it does. Fun note, they actually offer shipping now, so you can get it no matter where you are in the U.S. This was the first market of the season, and it was chilly. Many of the plant vendors were having to cover their more sensitive plants. About halfway through the market, we decided we needed to grab some coffee. There was a shop right on the square called Wonderstate Coffee. I am not exaggerating when I said we waited at least 45 minutes for our coffee. The shop was super busy and crowded. The staff was swamped, but had great energy and they were just going with it all - so impressed. It was honestly an experience just being in there and waiting. Theo got a salted caramel latte and Jamie got the vanilla latte. Both drinks were really, really good and we would definitely wait again for it. We stopped It was such a fun visit with so many wonderful samples, smells, talks, and just great to be a part of it all.
From the market, we went straight to the Henry Vilas Zoo (702 S. Randall Ave, Madison, WI 53715). This zoo has free admission and it's a great place to stroll through. There were many miles put on at this zoo pushing strollers around and wrangling toddlers. When we parked, we went across the street to Zu Zu Cafe (1336 Drake St. Madison, WI 53715). We grabbed some coffee and a snack for Theo and then we were on our way into the zoo. We saw a male lion with an intense roar, a rhino sharpening it's horn on the wall, camels, goats, polar bears, and so much more. Here are some of our favorite things at the zoo:
The rain was supposed to come in, so we got back into the truck and drove down to the Sow's Ear, a local yarn store in Verona, WI (more on this in a separate post). On our way back up towards Madison, we also stopped in a great antique store called Atomic Antiques (4546 Verona Rd, Madison, WI 53711). This place was huuuuge and had so much cool stuff. If we had more space in the truck, there would have been several pieces of furniture that might have been coming back with us. Definitely check this place out if you get the chance.
For dinner, we went back to another Buck & Honey's (800 West Broadway, Madison, WI 53713). It was so good the day before, we had to go back. We got almost the exact same order as well, so no fun pics. We don't typically get desert, but we decided tonight that we wanted some coffee and desserts, and Madison had got a Cheesecake Factory since we had moved away, so we had to go. Both cheesecakes and the cappuccinos were all amazing - Jamie got the Tiramisu, and Theo got Cinnamon Roll. It was such a treat.
We finished our last night in Madison with visiting a Camping World, where we saw a very fun woodchuck. We also felt we needed a good walk, so we found the coolest little city park right behind our campground in Deforest, WI. There was this large stretch of green space in between two housing areas. There were winding cement paths, soccer fields, basketball courts, and a creek. This area seemed so cool and a great place for people to get outside. Before we went to bed, we checked the forecast for the next day's travel to home, and there were some pretty severe storms forecasted, so we decided to head out super early to avoid the storms.
On our final morning, we woke up about 4 am again and started to break everything down. Theo got caught in a crazy downfall trying to get everything hooked up for travel, but his raincoat (Carhart for the win) held up well! As the morning went a long, we noticed we were going to get caught in a pretty severe storm popping up with lots of rain, wind, and lightning. We grabbed some breakfast at Denny's in Mauston (surprisingly clean and good) and then decided to wait out the rest of it in the parking lot of a gas station, but it was safer than driving through it. The camper is just so susceptible to blowing around in the wind, so we try to stay off the road if it's too bad. Once we got on the road again, the rest of the day was a breeze. As we were coming back up the road, we were greeted to what was left of the snow on the sides of the roads.
Our trip was such a fun adventure, but we finally had to end it and head home. Getting out and traveling is such a great time for us, but we also love our home. We already have some more trips very soon on the horizon, and we can't wait to share them with you all.
Thanks for reading!
