Monday, September 17, 2018

St. Germaine

 Monday, September 17, 2018

We were on the road at 9:15 a.m. on a cloudless sunny sky and very warm.  We drove for two hours before stopping at Perkins' for breakfast.  Roads are very good and traffic is light.
On the way, Peter mentioned a Facebook friend that he just heard from this morning. He talked about him and his daughters and thought he lived in a town near where we were driving that began with an H.  As we were driving along he spotted a not too prominent sign with Harshaw. That's the town! We drove a little farther then decided to see if we could could find his friend, Mike Hempe.  We kept following the resort signs for a very long time, almost giving up.  At last we came to a private road, right up to the property. We exchanged warm greetings and related the details of how we arrived here.  Mike was amazed, because we came without an address and people with a GPS can't find it.  What a gorgeous view and beautiful home that he bought completely furnished. We stayed just long enough to have a short visit and were on our way.
 At 3:10 p.m. We were driving into to our cabin.  We unpacked and had cheese, crackers, and beverages on the picnic table.  We took a walk along the lake, read on our porch with light jackets, as the sun is going down and there is a chill in the air.
We finished the day at Fiddler's Restaurant, a very short drive away.  We had dark ale beers with our dinners, a half rack of very meaty ribs for me, perch for Peter.  He had enough to take home in a box along with the rest of a loaf of homemade bread.  It will be delicious in the morning toasted with the hard cooked eggs I brought.
Tuesday,  September 18, 2018
We had hard cooked eggs and toasted bread from the restaurant last night; however, the slices were too thick to fit in the toaster and burned.  So we had plain bread and some cheese.  We had coffee on the porch on an overcast 55 degree morning.  Jackets felt comfortable.  I tried casting from the pier, but the water is very shallow so all I picked up were some weeds.  
We packed our picnic gear and headed for Bond Falls in Michigan; it was a little over an hour drive.  The falls were beautiful, with wild rushing water.
We walked some paths for different views.  There was a convenient picnic table close to where we parked the car, so we set up our lunch. 
We usually get comments from passers by, and today was no exception.
We like taking a different route on our return and headed for Presque Isle.  Peter would try to look up a B&S friend there.  We parked next to the Chamber of Commerce and I waited in the car while Peter went for information, with no luck.  I recalled from Facebook that Carol and Jim lived in Presque Isle.  I called Janice for Carol's number and she welcomed us over.  Mary and Rodney were also expected for dinner.  I assured her that we were coming to just say hello and goodbye, and would not stay longer.  We got a grand tour of their indescribable house, and that's all that I can say: the view of expansive Oxbow Lake which they have full bay frontage, spaciousness, design, living space were out of this world. 
We had some wine, and since Mary and Rodney were coming shortly, it would really be rude to leave before saying hello.  Well, it didn't end there, and next we were invited for dinner: spinach salad, German potato salad, special corn from Mary and salmon, all delicious, with cheese cake for dessert.  Our conversation touched on politics, and I seemed to be the only one against Trump.  Jim was in favor some of his business policies.  We talked about books and other general subjects, some related to family.  It was a very pleasant evening.
The day remained pleasant, with the sun making feeble attempts to appear, but it didn't rain and we got up to 60 degrees.
Our trip home in the dark took us over lake roads that were not paved, and our gas was getting low; AAA would have a dickens of a time finding us.  Fortunately,  we got back on paved roads and a gas station, and it didn't take much longer to get to our cabin. 
Wednesday,  September 19, 2018
We had coffee on the porch with light jackets.  It started to mist when we took off for breakfast at the Wolf Pack Restaurant in St. Germain.  We had a very short wait before being seated.  We passed on coffee because we had plenty in our cabin.  I ordered a pancake that was thin and was as large as the dinner plate with sausage.  Peter was expecting the kind of vegetable omelet he got at Meyer's, but was very pleased with how many vegetables were in his omelet.  Very satisfying.
We drove to Eagle River and went to the shops on each side of Wall Street in light mist.  I bought a Birthday card for Brad, beer bottle puzzle for Claude and a nice fall top for myself.  Before driving off I bought some caramel corn.
We headed for the Twilight Bar and Grill that changed its name to Bull Pen.  We sat next to a man born in Munich and exchanged stories, and whose favorite German beer was Augustina.  We had beer and burgers.  I'm afraid to get on the scale when I get home after I was doing so well. We ended the day playing dominoes; I won 7-6 in close games.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
We had hard cooked eggs, rye toast (I really liked that Sendik's plain rye with a salted top), bananas and coffee.  We had our first cups on the porch.  We cleaned up the cabin, took out the garbage and are on the road at 10:00 a.m. in light rain, 57 degrees.
We had a very satisfying dinner at Schreiner's starting with loaded bloody Marys: pork chop for Peter that included navy bean soup, roll and butter, mashed potatoes, corn and coffee.  I had a salad, rice, corn and six panko breaded shrimp and coffee.  It was a perfect stop and will be our main meal for the day.  We were back on the road at 2:50 with mostly light rain on the way, turning to overcast and 75 degrees.
I was home to a warm kitty greeting from Hello Dolly at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Austrian American Trip to Stoughton

 September 8, 2018

After a week of torrential rains, with almost all of Madison flooded, we had  a beautiful sunny day that wouldn't reach 80 degrees, but perfect for traveling.  Half of our group met at the Watertown Plank P & R, the rest at Goerke's Corners.  Irma and Jerry couldn't find the Watertown Plank site, but caught up with us at Goerke's Corners.  We had 31 signed up, but one couple didn't show because the husband was in the hospital with an eye infection.

Frank didn't waste any time tying into Peter for not answering his messages and bringing the cooler with beer or other beverages. Of course, I have the same trouble as a lot of other people, because Peter doesn't make use of his cell phone and doesn't always keep up with his phone messages.

We arrived at the Norwegian Heritage Center just at 11:00 a.m. warmly greeted by Laura Trotter of the Stoughton Chamber of Commerce.  She led us into the Heritage Center where we gathered to watch a film of a traditional Norwegian wedding and were told about the establishment of the Heritage Center.  We viewed many artifacts as volunteer docents explained many of the items we were viewing.  People had a hard time leaving the area, because it was so interesting.

Next we walked to the Sons of Norway Lodge.  We gathered in the lower level, because the main floor was being decorated for a wedding.  I don't think anyone could complain about the plentiful luncheon that was served by the volunteers of the lodge.

We had cucumbers in vinegar, corn, red potatoes, ludfisk and large meatballs.  When a bowl was empty, it was quickly replenished.  Dessert was a rice pudding and donuts with coffee/milk.  Just as we finished a member of the lodge told us about hardanger, Norwegian dancing and growing tobacco.

After lunch we boarded the bus for a tour of historic Stoughton where a guide pointed out historic buildings and the people who had lived there, also some history of Stoughton.  We ended out Stoughton segment at the Veterans Memorial where a veteran who was one of the planners explained the large pillars telling about each war from the Civil War to the present.  Large memorials were engraved with the names of all who served on each respective war.  Another memorial was dedicated to those who gave their lives.

As we were leaving, Gisela was ready to take over the driving!

We had a slow drive to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, because we scheduled our trip on the same day as the Badgers' first game of the season.  We also could see remnants of the terrific flooding in Madison with record rainfall.  Puddles were still visible, along with sandbags.  We arrived at the museum at 3:30 p.m. which seemed sufficient to view the exhibits in an hour.  I read a lot of the information about Wisconsin's involvement from the Civil War to the Present, with many artifacts and scenes. Some decided to take to benches, Frank went for a beer at a nearby bar.

Everyone was ready to board the bus at 4:30 p.m., arriving at Goerke's Corners and 5:35 p.m. and Watertown Plank Rd. at 6:00 p.m.

Peter and I finished the day at Sazz's with beers and a grilled cheese for me and a loaded hamburger for him.