Vacation – Page 8 – Northern Loon Travelogue

Mancation 7 – 2014

Can it be seven years? Mancation is showing it’s age and the effects of pestilence and injury. Last year I didn’t make it – some horrid bug laid me low. I heard after the fact that Scott came, then laid around on the couch, ill.

This year the our numbers were further decimated. Wes was suffering from his 8th or 9th concussion and a broken collarbone. Jeremy had a shoulder and ankle injury, combined with sleep deprivation from working 70 hours a week. Scott also bowed out.

So it was down to Mike, Doug, Guy, and Tim. I think that Mike and Doug are the only ones who have never missed a year. Guy is a close second, having missed only one year, maybe?

No one planned a damn thing this year, we were so up in the air, so at the last minute we decided to eschew a cabin and just camp. Hartman Creek fit the bill: close at a mere 100 miles, with biking and boating nearby. I hauled my camper up to stand in for a cabin.

And it worked to great effect. The weather came and went. It was cool and it rained at night. Despite the late date, the skeeters were out in force, so for three nights in a row we partied it up in the camper. Ranger Betty came around one night and had her pistol half out of the holster before we turned it down, just in time. (Later she told me she actually didn’t hear the music at all, just Doug – all the way back at the Ranger shack.)

Final tally: lots of mountain biking. Hartman has enough of it to make it worth going that way. One lake float, two river floats: the Little Wolf (aka River of Crashing and Bashing), and the Mecan (River of No Worries.) Lots of music and good food. One swollen lip, one cracked boat. And the distinction of “lowest cost trip ever”.

Here’s the pics, in one big chronological schmear.

Michigan Trip 2014

Our only child is just off to college at Marquette, her bed at home still warm. But the starting gun has fired, the Honda roars to life, and we’re off in a cloud of dust.

Since our final distination is Michingan, the first stop in LaCrosse was exactly the wrong direction. But we were determined to take in Tim O’Brien, who was appearing with Darryl Scott at the sleepy LaCrosse Folk Fest. I’d never heard of this fest before but apparently it’s been going on for 30 years. This is the first year it was held down at Riverside Park. Nice venue, great weather. We only managed to snap a few phone pics. The O’Brien set was interesting. This is probably the 8th time I’ve seen him, the 2nd with Darryl. He plays with a lot of different combinations, his shows are always close to spectacular.

Given this small backwater venue, these two worked hard, played hard, the show had a gritty, ad-hoc feel to it. The crowd barely filled 60% of the tent (and we were worried on the way up about getting a seat), but they screamed and cheered mightily.

We did catch 3-4 other acts during the day, all interesting, but T.O. is operating at a whole different level.

The next day, Sunday, we drove all the way across the state and across the UP, made it to St. Ignace. On Monday we braved coal black storm clouds getting to Sutton’s Bay. Stayed in SB in a delightful B&B, the Korner Kottage, for 3 nights, Linda and Jim Monroe, proprietors extraordinaire. Excellent breakfast chefs too. This gallery includes a few shots of our bike ride on a TART trail (Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation Trails). This 17 mile paved section went all the way from Suttons Bay to west Traverse City. A very sweet pedal.

We timed the trip to meet up with old Boulder friends the Skovrons and Saffels, who were up in Leland. One night we put together a picnic at Peterson Park, high above Lake Michigan, looking west. In attendance, Goodes, Saffels, Skovrons, Bruce, Jim’s sister Annie and husband Greg. (I hope I got all that right.)

Check out the video at the end. ( They don’t even have to pay for FOOD !! )

Here’s a few random shots from around Leland, and Fish Town.

Final stop: Traverse City, our kind hosts Bob and Debbie Stuber. Bob is a LaCrosse native, Debbie hails from Cadillac. They just relocated to TC. Debbie was allegedly more “enthusiastic” about this lateral move than Bob, who “got with the program” seconds before being replaced by a younger man. They scored a very nice house in the suburbs, with a huge separate living area expressly for Tim and Eileen. We approved.

This gallery includes shots of a bike ride up Old Mission Peninsula, all the way to the Old Mission Lighthouse at the northern tip. We stopped for lunch at a MicroBrew Pub whose name escapes me. We had 40 miles in by the time we got home. The scenery looking out across Great Traverse Bay left us breathless. The water in the shallows a bright turquoise green, then a deep blue further out. Wind whipped up the whitecaps. The road meandered along the shore.

Also included are just a few shots of a really cool float of Boardman River. Bob has two yaks and a canoe. Debbie and I got the yaks. The river was full of yokels in rented yaks and tubes, having a good time and taking their time. It was hard to paddle thru some of these crowds.

Up North in Phillips, WI

The Goodes of WI celebrate the annual summer rite of renting a cabin on a lake, somewhere “up north” in Wisconsin. This year’s winner: Phillips, WI. Time frame, mid July. Our “cabin” was located on the north shore of Long Lake, part of the Phillips Chain of Lakes, and real near the thriving metropolis of Phillips itself.

In attendance: Dave and Nancy, Paula and Roger, Tim and Eileen, Madeline and Jeremy.

It was the usual deal, boat, bikes, loafing, knitting, serious computer programming and debugging, (and in Paula and Madeline’s case) shopping. And it isn’t easy to “shop” in Phillips. There was a nice sandy beach and dock as part of the deal.

Tim and Eileen brought their road bikes and two kayaks, Roger brought his green canoe. On one day Roger and Madeline paddled the green boat down the South Fork of the Flambeau, accompanied by Tim and Eileen in yaks.

There was road riding, but not as much as we’d hoped. A lot of roads are dirt. Still, it worked fine for the week we were there.

Trempealeau – Camping and Biking

We try to get to Trempealeau every year to camp at Perrot State Park and ride bikes. This year was no exception.

Unlike some previous outings, we had a varied crowd show up this time. Jean and Joe brought down their recently acquired, and totally awesome, Airstream from Minneapolis. Jane and ? came along as well.

Dave S. was in town from Missoula, along with his road bike.

On our more “festive” party nights, Iron and ?, along with Scott, came up from LaCrosse.

We rode for several days with Madison friends Guy and Ann, who camped off on their own, along with some friends of theirs we didn’t know.

One day Joannie and Ralph, along with kids, came up from LaCrosse and rented a pontoon boat for us all to enjoy a Mississippi boat ride. The river was at serious flood stage. We were warned up strong currents and debris in the water, which eliminated any notion of swimming. What we weren’t warned about was a dark rain front, which barreled in on us less than an hour after we’d departed under sunny skies. We had no choice but to turn and run for it back to the marina. Major bummer.

Colorado Solo Kar Trip

I drove out to Colorado in the Prius to visit friends. It’s been a long, brutal winter here in WI. Eileen is working from our home office and we kept bumping into each other. Between the weather and cabin fever, this trip seemed like a good idea.

I looked up all kinds of folks I never get to see. Slept on at least five different couches – it was a cheap good time. Got lucky with the weather. Half the time it was near or above 60F. My only regret was not bringing a bike.

The first half was in Boulder, second half in Denver. Went through Ft. Collins on the way home. It had been about 13 years since I’d been there!

Many of these pictures were taken just wandering around a few neighborhoods in old Boulder. Your starting price on any of these joints is $1M.