wanderingways

We headed back to Minocqua for some winter snowshoeing, the weather was great.  It was Valentine' day weekend and we Amy was off, I burned a sick day and we headed out.  Karma plays its funny hand and unloaded a bus load of middle schoolers for their field trip.  We found some more secluded trails and had a great time just enjoying the quiet hike up the hills and through the pines.  We were back in our old hotel and it is starting to look its age, but it was fine.  We had reservations at sushi place that had great reviews, it was a little cleaner than what we had found in Chinatown, but not much although the food was good and the people coming and going provided some entertainment.  We stopped into a little coffee shop earlier in the day and headed back that way for a night cap.  It was offering Couples painting sessions, but we mostly walked around and chatted with the 'artists'.  All in all a fun little get away.

 

Ice age trail hike.   Amy and I sneaked out for a backpacking trip while Emily watched Hazel (stitches), Oliver and the girls.   We met Jim our shuttle at 8 am on Thursday morning while I reassured Amy that axe murderers don’t generally drive Priuses.   He took us thirty minutes north for our SoBo trip and filled our ears with all the history of the trail and surrounding county.   The trip was relatively bug free and we logged about 18 miles on the Green Bush and Parnell Esker segments of the trail.   It was a woodland hike with dappled sunlight and beauty of a different kind.   We found golden chanterelles and saw a scarlet tanager on the second day.   The glacial kettle lakes pock marked both sides of the gentle rolling trail.   Water was from faucets at parking lots often multiple mile round trips from the shelters we we were required to stay in.   We stayed ad Dundee shelter the first night and had a nice big fire.   Amy met a spider...

  We headed out for Amy’s Birthday weekend get away.  She was turning 29 for the 11 th time and a get way was called for doing it properly.   We had reservations at The Cove and took the drive down to Lake Geneva after work.   I had always heard about the area as Chicago’s Playland and that was certainly true.   We spent the weekend wandering around the boutique shops and eating.   The first night dinner was poorly chosen by me be we did find a nice place, Sopra Bistro, for a wine and a chocolate shop that we would hit several more times over the course of the weekend.   The weather was cold but that made it easier to shop for scarves and Amy found two that were both functional, immediately, and cute.   Saturday morning we walked over to Avant Cycle for Coffee and ten a short trip to a couple’s message with hot stones. We did find Simple Café for a late breakfast.   It was a wait, but worth it.   We bought some CBD oil across the s...

  Amy and I had spring break together and the kids were still in school, it was time to get out of town.   WE found cheap flights to Nashville and headed back to Tennessee.   We grabbed a stay at a new hotel, Cambria and were in town by 7 pm after a full day of work.   We walked from the hotel to Pucketts and had our first Nashville meal.   The place was packed and we slid across the grease floor to the bar seating for drinks and collard greens.   The Band was setting up and the sounds, smells, and BBQ flavor was what we had imagined Nashville would be.   We had almost no itinerary for this trip and only a handful of restaurants and honky tonk bars to hit, but in no particular order and at no particular time.   We ate the hot chicken at Hattie B’s, standing in line for 90 minutes was worth i. SO too was Ubering back to the hotel when the down pour of rain came.   There was a group of bachelor parties in line all dressed up as Mexican wrestler...

  Early August is a good season to be outside. Dry enough to keep the bugs down and usually avoid the rain too.   Amy and I played host to Scott and Sonya again this year but on the lakes and in the canoes rather than under the harness of a backpack.   We hadn’t been back in the canoe since our first trip a few years ago and we were both eager to get back on the water.   We headed to Hidden lakes Canoe area again.   We had some new canoe packs to try and packed more drinks and underwear this time too, although we did far less skinny dipping. I was impressed at how well/efficient we portaged. Amy carried her Duluth pack and we were back and forth in two trips.   We set up camp along the portage trail to Lost canoe lake.   It was a nice flat site with plenty of room to spread out the tents and hammocks.   Amy cut some firewood for the fire, we planned soldi meals: kabobs the first night and grilled steaks the second night.   We weren’t exactl...