Madeline Island

The last week of September 2010, we went to Madeline Island just off Bayfield, WI in Lake Superior.  Madeline is the largest of the Apostle Islands and is the only one not part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It is inhabited and there is a small town (LaPointe) and a WI State Park, Big Bay.  We camped in Big Bay State Park and our friends, the Nelson's, joined us for 2 nights.

We hit the peak of the colors and had great weather with only a few gray hours and a little rain.  Mostly sun and beautiful colors.  Pictures at Picasa.

Madeline Isle was discovered in the mid 17th century, and the French built a trading fort there in the 1690's. The English built a fort in the 1790's (always a day late and a dollar short!)

Part big top, part bar, the café was born in 1992 when Leona’s, a popular night spot, burned to the ground. “Thirty-six hours after the fire we were tapping beer on the front lawn” said owner Tom Nelson. Recognizing a good thing, Nelson propped up the surviving floor and deck with two old Cadillacs, stretched a tarp over head, and backed a semitrailer up to the makeshift bar to hold the beer and snacks. Signs greeting patrons convey the informality of the place: “Build it first; design second.”  Signs are a big part of his exterior decoration:

If we are to save ourselves, economists must learn to subtract.

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. –George Bernard Shaw

It doesn’t take a Mason to make potato salad.

Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention. – Molly Ivins, 1944-2007

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing, once they have exhausted all other possibilities. – W. Churchill

A page in history is worth a volume of logic. – Oliver Wendell Homes

Children are more important than a comfortable retirement for the generation that got us into this mess.

The people must believe that they are not manipulated in order for them to be manipulated effectively.


Next trip is next week to Rochester and the Mayo Clinic.  Two referrals for Barb so we know we'll be there almost all of next week but don't know how much longer.

June/July 2010 - G's Cottage and then Big Bear Head Lake State Park, MN

We went to the Gabrielse' cottage just outside of Big Rapids, MI in June, stopping in Sheboygan on the way to pick up brats and hard rolls.  It was a great week with all the families there at times, and at times all together!

For an album of pictures: Picasa

After a few days at home we went to Big Bear Head Lake State Park in northern Minnesota for a couple of days, camping with Wendy and Bob Nelson.  It's a gorgeous park near Vermillion. When we got back home, we heard about the AT&T competition for "your favorite park".  You could log onto an AT&T page and vote for your favorite park (as many times as you wanted!)  The winning park would get $100,000.  At the time Big Bear Head Lake State Park was ahead of second place Smokey Mountain National Park by ~1,500,000 to 1,000,000.  By the time the competition ended, Big Bear had won by over 600,000 votes.  $100,000 being nothing to sneeze at in these financial times!

Some pictures:

Barb with Spanky & Darla, the Nelson's dogs.

 

                                                Barb with Spanky.

Finally! An Update!

It's August 2010, only a year since my last update - what do you want!  I'm retired, busy, sometimes depressed and often napping!

We missed out on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia and North Carolina trip; Barb was having medical problems so we stayed home. We bought a car set up for towing behind the View: a '93 Honda Civic Si. One owner, only 2300 lbs. and only 131,000 miles (and 20,000 of those towed). Very nice!

This is a stock image - ours is black but doesn't have the rollbar!

Barb solved her medical problems by drinking enough water each day so we celebrated by going over to Michigan and visiting her Sister and family at their lake home just north of Grand Rapids. That's the next post!