The House on the Rock | Join US Inside Wisconsin's Most Bizarre Place!

We had just spent a couple weeks helping around the property at my Uncle Tom's, and then Jose and Megan threw an awesome art show at the Martin in Chicago. It had been an awesome time filled with lots of hard work, both physical and creative, as well as absolutely precious time with friends and family. Now it was time for a very special part of the Art Weather Yet journey, going back to my roots in Wisconsin. We just had an amazing visit in Chicago. We got to see a lot of friends, so it's awesome. I've been dreaming of coming to Chicago with the bus for a long time. Finally got to do it. Now we just left Chicago this morning and we are on our way to Wisconsin! Yay! We're going to see Cora's hometown and know her very very close and dear friends, which I'm really excited to meet some of them. I already have the pleasure of meeting some of them and can't wait to see them again. Off we go. All right, let's get this thing moving. Back on the road. So we left Chicago and started driving north to Wisconsin. Now this is a really big moment. I grew up in Wisconsin and have a very deep connection to this place, and I had been dreaming about sharing this important part of my history with Jose since, well, since we met five years earlier. And now it was finally time. Our first stop was the capital, Madison, where we stopped to sleep. Wisconsin has one of the most beautiful capital buildings in all of the United States. And of course we had to go out for some comfort food. Antiques! Packers! Long live the Packers! What do they pack? Meat? Maybe? I'm not sure. Do you get the joke? We think you're great. Yummy. They're so cheesy. Wisconsin people are very cheesy. So these are the cow and cheese curds, right? Cheese curds. Fried cheese curds. So we got cow and goat. They're both great. Oh my god, yeah. Wow. The beer, the cheese. We must be in Wisconsin. So what's up with all the cheese? Wisconsin's nickname is America's Dairyland, and it's for a good reason. Wisconsin has more dairy farms than any other U.S. state, and it produces 3.1 billion pounds of cheese per year. If Wisconsin were its own country, it would rank fourth in cheese production in the entire world. And the beautiful thing about all that dairy production is that most of it comes from small family farms that have been passed down through generations. So this landscape, it's dominated by small farms rather than massive operations. But this is starting to change, and the dairy industry is really struggling to hold on to this I grew up here in Vernon County, but we had one more stop before making our way there. I wanted to show Jose something that was going to blow him away. I wanted Jose to see the house on the rock, and for a very specific reason. After we reach Argentina and the Art With Dairy It journey ends, our plan is to return to Nicaragua and build a home there. But not just any home. Jose wants to make it crazy and cool and absolutely unique. So I just had to show him this place. In the 1940s, a man named Alex Jordan began building a small house on top of a 60-foot rock column here in southwest Wisconsin. For the rest of his life, he added on room after room, each with a striking and unique architectural style. And then he filled these spaces with collections of marvels from around the world, including the world's largest collection of automated music machines. It's really hard to describe the experience of visiting the house on the rock, and most of our footage is dark and hard to see. So all we can say is, if you are ever in Wisconsin, you have to visit this place. It will knock your socks off. We are on our way to the house on the rock. It's pretty cool. Right? It's like a whole town. That's what I was telling you. I was like, it's, you have no idea what's about to happen. Super cool. It's like miniature houses. See? They're not playing, and then you walk in here by yourself and they start moving the head. Now we were finally heading to Vernon County, where I was born and raised. And wouldn't you know it, we were rolling into town just in time for... So this is really an exciting moment. We are at the Vernon County Fair. I haven't been here since like high school, and I'm super excited I get to share with this guy. And we're about to go hear my jazz band that I was part of in high school. That's great. So as a professional photographer, what do you think of these photographs? I mean, these are kids that can photograph, so they did a pretty awesome job. Look at that one. So why are there two second places? I think you just get a rating. It's not like there's only one first place, and one second place, one third place, and then everybody else just doesn't get anything. I think you just... It could be different ages too. Oh look at that. These are cool. That's pretty cool. So we got to see just a little bit. Not too much. We are heading up to West Salem today to see some very, very, very special people. And surprise, a very special person who is going to get an awesome pickup from daycare. We're going to come back tomorrow. We're going to come back tomorrow, so more to come. We were off to see my best friend Melina, her husband Nick, and his folks Jim and Marilyn, as well as a very special someone who we hadn't seen in over two years. Cora, you excited? My goddaughter Lilia was born while I was living in China. We have been video calling since she was born, but we had only met in person one other time when she was two years old. We talk all the time on video chat, but the big question was, would she recognize me in real life? Hi. Do you want to go see the bus? I think I know what it is. Well, we can take some guesses. Okay, let's hop on in. You betcha. What came next was a visit that was long overdue and so good for the soul. Yeah, we'll show them your room. Of course. Nice. Do you think DT and I, we can sleep in your closet when it's finished? No? Okay. Oh, so this is the kitchen right here. Yeah, yeah, I love the open, open floor. Oh wow, yeah. I know a little Spanish too. And there's a lot of light coming in, it's not a dark basement, that's awesome. This? What do you think it is? Yeah. You want to make a video and make a video of DT and mama? You can see them, you can grab it like this and go make video and ask questions. You want to do it? Yeah. Go on and ask questions to DT and mama. You want to see it? You remember what it looks like inside? I'm going to try and create a little of a walkthrough. What do you think? It's like a house. It's a couch. A couch, yeah. Let's see if you can find the bathroom. Uh, is this the sink? Yeah, you can pull it. I know. You can pull it, it's fine. What's this place? A shower. It's a shower. It's a bathroom. It's a bathroom. All right. Is this the kitchen? It is the kitchen. Oh, I saved these for you. They're purple. I know. Here, we'll put them right here and then we can take them in the house. What do you say, Lilia? You're welcome. Oh, that's a good question. This is where DT works. I have a car in my house. Really? I have lots of music. So this is where I work. This is my, this is where I do all my music. But it's also where Ethan and I sleep. Where's the bed? Do I have another bed? This is, well, yeah, actually we have two more beds. So this is our bed where Ethan and I sleep and it folds out like that. You'll see it later. And then, what is this? That's where I keep my clothes. It's a mess right now. This is a cajon. This is a, this is a, an instrument. It's a drum. Isn't that cool? But it's also my chair. And this is where I keep my clothes and my instruments. You see? I have a ukulele too. And a guitar and another guitar right there. Check this out. This is where Ethan, that's his stuff. It's a mess. You think it's a mess? Yeah. It's well organized. Come on, look at that. It's beautifully organized. I think it's not. Okay. I think it's a little mess. I'll fix it later then. It's not a little mess, just joking. This room is our garage. This is where we get our power from. See those? Those are batteries. And then this is paint. We use this to paint walls. Remember how Ethan likes to paint walls? Yeah. I love painting. I have a paint that I can paint pictures in. You want to see in there? You want to see a real mess? No. It's a real mess in there. And then we were off to the fair. The cows in Nicaragua, they look exactly like these cows. Yeah. We don't have any of the other cows. Oh, no? No. Now I explained the roots of the American County Fair in the episode where we visited a Kansas fair with our nephews. My county fair is no different. Chock full of lots to do, lots to eat, and so many interesting things to see. And there's no better way to enjoy the fair than with the people you love. At the fair, we got to hang out with Jim and Nan, Melina's folks, who are also kind of like a second mom and dad to me. It's a big weapon. You used to be in ringettes, right, Quarra? What's it called when you hit it like... Slapshots. Yeah. Those are fun. Nice. You can use the blue puck a little later. Did I hear you say you did ringettes? Did you do it here? Yeah. Titi, do you think maybe we could do a slumber party in the bus? And so... You can go like that. Well, if you want, you can use them and like dance around. So you watch this. You should teach Lili how you tune the... the... Nicolale. What you say when you're tuning it. That's really how you remember. Tu tienes fleas. No tengo fleas. Si tienes fleas. No tengo fleas. Yay! That was so good! You're gonna sing with me? Now one of Lili's favorite Titi songs is Paso a Paso. This is my one and only volume. Hey, con cada oportunidad en el mundo. Uh uh uh. Paso, paso a paso. Uh uh uh. Are you gonna sing with me? You know the song. Wanna sing with Titi? Paso, paso a paso. Uh uh uh. Hey. Grab your water. There it is. Make sure you hear the clap. Oh, there we go. Uh uh uh. Es imposible que vivamos every day the same. Cada una con su luto, con su maldito tengo. Uh uh uh. Paso, paso a paso. This is a little complicated. Uh uh uh. Can you sing another one? A guitar being played like a drum, and like a piano. Watch this. Take your finger and just whack it. Yeah, just like that. I see hope, and we shine. Okay, here I go. Now it's going to turn into a piano. Okay babe, finish the pancakes, so... to cook the eggs so that we're not... Okay. What are we having this morning? Pancakes. What if I lick this? Don't lick that. Definitely. What kind of pancake are you going to have? I'm going to have a princess pancake. I don't know what Lila's going to have, but it's going to be my pancake. He's going to have a princess pancake. No, I'm going to have a princess pancake. Can we both have princess pancakes? You should have... A princess pancake. No. A castle pancake. Um, we're going to check this. What do you think of the pancakes, Lilia? You excited? It looks like a snail. I know. It looks like a snail. That's a snail princess. I tried to do like the Elsa face with like... with the hair. Oh yeah, the hair. But you... It's um... But you don't have the right tool, you know? She's trying, right? Did she try as hard as she could? Yeah. Yeah, she tried the best she could. It's a Picasso princess pancake. Do you want to... Do you want to know what's cool? Lilia gets to go on her first school bus ride next Thursday. Wow. And you're going to go on a school bus. Yeah. I used to have extra time with daddy. Yeah. Yeah, how fun. Extra time. How cool. Okay, so it is what? Night? Monday night? Yeah. And we are being responsible adults. Super responsible. Melina doesn't have work tomorrow. So we are going to try our hand at... Take a wild guess. I think we got this one. Okay. Yeah. So we don't need a Jose to make this margarita. We think. She doesn't have a last name Cuervo. Yeah. So we're going to do this sans Jose and rock it. On the rocks it. We'll let you know. How it goes. Okay. So eight? Yeah. This might be the last bottle. I don't know. Okay. Oh, ow. We should get the rims also. Yes. And that you can use a sliced lime. Put it on the rim. Oh. Nice. Okay. We have our sauteed glasses. Oh, they look so cute and innocent. Perfect. I hope it's good. Cheers. They look pretty good. Yeah. They look good. Let's see. I feel like they need sugar. I do need sugar. I know. What's up? Let's see. A little punch in the balls. I know. All right. Let's see. Take two. And then it was time to move the bus and move into the next stage of our Wisconsin visit. Education time. Next time on Aren't We There Yet? The adventure continues sharing music and art and honoring those heroes among us, our teachers. Hey guys, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to give us a like. 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