Photos and happenings from Tim. Mostly photos.
We drove to Denver, hung out with nephew Jeremy, saw friends, rattled around downtown. Toured Denver University, officially Madeline’s first college tour. Went to Boulder, hung with E’s brother Tony. Played some paddle tennis in Boulder. New Year’s Eve back in Denver. Drove home in one long, marathon day.
(Click thumbnail for some downtown photos)
Informal pics, in chronological order, of our kitchen remodel.
Starts with volunteers from “Restore”, which is associated with Habitat for Humanity. 6-7 geezers came over with a big truck, ripped out everything. The next shots show Melvin Borntrager, of rural Hwy 14 west of Richland Center, installing the cabinets with two assistants. Then some shots of the granite after install, and finally pics of the (mostly) finished product.
We drove to St. Olaf on a Thursday, in a driving rain. Cold (40F), windy. Arrived for a visit, was greeted by our very own guide, had a great one on one tour of the entire campus. After the tour, Madeline met with an admission officer one on one, and eventually we the parents joined. We were very favorably impressed with all we saw. The campus is a visual gem.
Click the thumbnail for more pictures.
We drove to MPLS at the end of the day, St. Louis Park to be specific. Checked into our AirBnB quarters, owned by Rachael, or gracious host.
The next day we entered into an official U of Minnesota dog and pony show, with tour. This time we shared our tour guide with a dozen other folks, most of them from Wisconsin.
Click the thumbnail below for pictures of the tour. The weather was cold and blustery, the tour was long. At least it was dry. We were in and out of too many buildings to count. It was hard to know how to dress.
No drinking, no fighting, no hangovers. Man, all we did was read. I got through two New Yorkers.
What is wrong with us? Where did we lose our way?
Maybe it was the weather. It rained Saturday and Sunday, we got a slow start. But we did eventually get out in it. And after a long day on the lake, we did manage to survive, barely, what with three bedrooms, two baths, living room (with tv and cable, and our kick-butt traveling stereo), family room ( tv/cable) with a good pool table, pinball. We did just get by. (The two tv’s came in handy on Sunday with the St. Louis Cards in the same time slot as Green Bay. Five Packer fans, and Jeremy. It would have been ugly.)
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But let’s back up. The Friday trip up was smooth, warm, and sunny. Stopped for a pedal at the Wausau Nordic Club area, called Nine Mile. Huge place, lots of single track, much of it rocky. One crash (it goes without saying who . . .).
Made it up to our cabin on Pickerel Lake, 8 miles due east of Minocqua on County J, before dark. Here’s the scene around the cabin:
(Note: Click a thumbnail below to see an associated photo gallery, which will open in a different tab/window. Close that tab/window when finished to return control to this page.)
Drove to Sister’s Saloon in St. Germaine for Fish Fry. Long wait, but worth it. Pan fried Lake Perch – awesome. Some guy shouted at Jeremy at the bar for an hour straight while we waited. All we could hear was his voice, and Jeremy laughing.
Paddled Pickerel on Saturday. A river of sorts came out of it on the opposite side, which lead to some nice close-in paddling. Here’s a few shots of that paddle.
On Sunday, we paddled a northern section of the Wisconsin
And that was it. Monday dawned bright and warm, and we had to pack up and go. Thank you, Mother Nature! Guy, Mike, and Doug, rode Raven again. Tim and Jeremy cleaned the place and hauled everyone’s crap out, like two bitches. Few pictures of this memorable day exist.
It’s been quite a weather year. Warmest March in memory, shirtsleeve weather. A normal May through June. Then July hit and we went seven weeks without rain, temps mostly in the 90’s, quite a few days over 100F. The grass burned and died, trees were stressed beyond belief, gardens faltered. And then the fall. Dry, cool nights, warm days, and against all expectations, the colors just took off. With half the trees yet to turn, some species put on a show. Here’s what it looked like:
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