Had a very nice celebration in LaCrosse. Friday night, we all ate out at Piggy’s. Saturday we cooked in using the Community Room in the Landings Apartment building.
Eileen and Madeline performed grilling duties. Everyone pitched in to put this gala dinner on.
Who made it:
Dave and Nancy
Tim and Eileen
Paula and Roger
Mary Alice
Rachael and John
Madeline
Jeremy and Katie
“Uncle Ed” Pocrnic
Don and Barb Frank
Roger and Rachael serenaded the group with piano and cello. They braved their way through some Rachmaninoff! I could see the beads of sweat on their foreheads.
Day 1, Monday July 25 – Checked into Hartman Creek State Campground for a 3 night stay. Did a 21 mile bike ride, east on Stratton Lake Rd., Hwy K, Dayton Rd, Jenson Rd., East Road north to Rural Rd., then home on Rural Rd. Very nice.
Tom and Sharon D showed up in the evening with their bikes and boats. They are newbies to the charms of the area. First thing, we pitched their massive “B” line tent. Who knew a tent could provide so much merriment? After camp was set – Marl Lake for our first swim. Warm, clean, green water, great scenery. The best swimming hole ever.
Day 2, Tuesday. Tom and Cathy W. rolled in from Madison with their bikes. We all pedaled out together on a very sweet 38 mile jaunt that took us East, then south to Wild Rose, then pretty much straight north back to Hartman Creek. After the requisite social hour in camp, we decamped for T-Dubs in Waupaca. Excellent courses all around. Tom/Cathy then took off for home.
Day 3, Wednesday. Dropped yaks into Marl, ready to paddle the lower rustic parts of the chain. The weather looked really dicey, but we hung out and it mostly blew over. We made our way through Marl Lake, Pope & Manomin Lake (really one lake), Knight Lake and Lake Orlando (one lake), through a long, very shallow feeder to Long Lake, and finally, Columbia Lake. It started to rain, we headed back.
The Waupaca Chamber of Commerce makes claim to 22 lakes in this chain. This is very creative counting. Using this same methodology, I have 16 fingers and 13 toes. Even being charitable, I see 12-13 lakes, tops
Tom and Sharon then bailed for home. Something about their cat. Eileen and I were left to stare at each other. We ran out of beer and white wine. My stereo ran out of power and I forgot the charging cable. It rained. Luckily we were in a waterproof box with lights, power, running water, a refrigerator, dry beds, and plenty of reading. That flask of gin chilling in the freezer helped too. We just made it. It did rain all night.
It also rained all morning. This was enough reason for us to pack it in, and that’s what we did.
A few pictures can be seen here. (Click image for a photo gallery.)
Pictures of downtown MPLS and various urban biking trails on a weekend roll to Minneapolis and Northfield. Refer to captions for info.
(Click image to see photo gallery. There’s video at the very end of the massive spillway in downtown MPLS, adjacent to the lock and damn. The water was high.)
Ad hoc photos, in no way intended to be a complete historical record of this event.
Nancy Goode’s 90th birthday was celebrated Friday night in the church basement. It started out fun and got better when the wedding dinner let out and those folks drifted in.
The marriage between Rebekah Jones and Patrick McCarthy ensued in the Catholic church. Reception was way over there in Jackson, IL. Photos were taken outside after the ceremony.
Marty and Georgene hosted a nice lunch at the Jones compound the next day. More photos.
