Aloha Wisconsin

If you were hosting a friend from Hawaii where would you take her? Did a dairy farm come to mind? Well...it did for me. That's the first place I thought of when I knew my friend Nicole would be making a visit to Madison, for a few days, before her and I attended a work conference in Chicago. You see, Nicole and I have the same job (managing a statewide youth movement), except she gets to do her work on a beautiful island. We met at a nationwide youth event four years ago and have been friends ever since.

Back to the farm festivities. After she landed we quickly loaded up her luggage and headed to Cambridge for a guided tour of a working dairy farm. There we were taken on a three hour journey into "another world." A world that many urban dwellers, like Nicole and I, don't get to see and often take for granted. Tina, our tour guide, opened our eyes to what it's like to be a dairy farmer in 2008. From living off the land, to extreme debt, to balancing family life, the ups and downs of this profession and lifestyle is what being a farmer is all about.

In the end we both were glad we took the tour and now have an appreciation for the dairy industry and the plight of local farmers. Along the way, I snapped some photos to capture the moments on the farm and around town. To see all of the shots from the weekend click here.

Here's Nicole getting close and personal with a dairy cow

Some of the female cows hanging out in a cool-indoor climate

Sharing the Hawaiian spirit on State Street

Fun with a OPTRIXX lens attachment

All of that touring and siteseeing wore Nicole out