Bear Den Zoo Pumpkin Farm: Of pyramids, pumpkins, and Parmesan.

Pumpkin picking at Bear Den Zoo Pumpkin Farm in Wisconsin.

“We have to take Valry on adventures or else she’s going to leave again.”
Heather

Since I came home from traveling around the world, Heather has decided that we need to take adventures,to keep me excited, so I won’t leave again to travel. Of course, I already am planning to leave again to travel to Guatemala, but we might as well have a little fun while I’m in Chicago no matter what.

Being Halloween, we decided to spend a day traveling to the Bear Den Zoo Pumpkin Farm in Waterford, Wisconsin to go pumpkin picking. (And to stop at a few must-see roadside attractions and tourist traps on the drive!)

Onan’s Gold Pyramid House in Wadsworth, Illinois

No road trip from Chicago to Wisconsin is complete without a stop at the Gold Pyramid House in Wadsworth. This roadside attraction was built in 1977 by Jim and Linda Onan to provoke the mysterious, supernatural and magical powers that were related to the pyramids and the dwelling consists of a 17,000 square foot, 6-story structure that is surrounded by three pyramid garages, a moat, and an enormous statue of Ramses II.

I first saw this piece of Egypt in Illinois on a road trip around Chicago I took years ago. And it just gets more and more impressive every time we stop!

Bear Den Zoo Pumpkin Farm in Waterford, Wisconsin

Pumpkin picking is one of the best Halloween/Autumn/life things you can do (it’s an Autumn bucket list item for sure). I’ve been before to Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm in Illinois, but this year we decided to cross the border into Wisconsin to go to the pumpkin farm at Bear Den Zoo & Petting Farm in Waterford.

We started at the zoo where we saw bears, albino peacocks, goats, kangaroos, and my favorite animal: the jackalope!

Then we took a tractor-pulled hayride through the woods to the pumpkin patch where we picked out the perfect pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns with! (I chose the one with the curliest stem I could find!)

Mars Cheese Castle

On our way back to Chicago we, of course, stopped at Mars Cheese Castle. Because you can’t drive to Wisconsin and not stop at Mars Cheese Castle to look at cheese-related merchandise, eat cheese, buy cheese, and, well, look at cheese!

Bear Den Zoo & Petting Farm
6831 Big Bend Rd (hwy 164) Waterford, WI 53185
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Gold Pyramid House
37921 N Dilleys Rd, Wadsworth, IL 60083
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Mars Cheese Castle
2800 W Frontage Rd, Kenosha, WI 53144
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Bear Den Zoo Pumpkin Farm: Of pyramids, pumpkins, and Parmesan. Pumpkin picking at Bear Den Zoo Pumpkin Farm in Wisconsin.

Bucket List Idea: Go pumpkin picking. | Bear Den Zoo Pumpkin Farm: Of pyramids, pumpkins, and Parmesan. Pumpkin picking at Bear Den Zoo Pumpkin Farm in Wisconsin.

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