alexandriacardinals

Tuesday morning I awoke with a start, realizing we had nothing on the calendar for the rest of the week.  I had no recollection of that ever happening before?  So, when the Super roused herself a few hours later, I proffered, “Dear, how ’bout a road trip for the rest of the week.”  After her “are you nuts” gaze dissipated, I explained the situation and reminded such has been in our long range plans ever since we sold the pontoon and gave up our golf membership.  Plus, our friends Viv and “Weakie” had planned such adventures for themselves a few years back – to do two and three-day adventures to parts of Minnesota never visited before – but illness and injury have prevented them from doing so.  Better do this while we’re still relatively healthy!  I directed her to a couple of websites I had discovered about 1:00 am that morning – travel routes through far northwest and north central Minnesota, parts of the state where I had never been farther north than Moorhead, Detroit Lakes, or Bemidji, respectively.  We tossed some socks and undies in suitcases, packed a couple bottles of wine, forgot my razor, said good-bye to the kids (who looked at us like, “old people, what’re ya’ gonna do?”), and were on the road by 10:30 am with no plans for a return date.

[This is (Part II), because (Part I) was actually part of the Wisconsin trip to Camp Brosius.]

August 25

[The first stop, an hour and a half down the road, was at the aforementioned Detroit Lakes, and Detroit Lake, where the only thing we missed along the way (again) was to get a shot of the world’s largest turkey in Frazee.]

[We took US Highway 59 north out of Detroit Lakes – everything from here on would be places of first impression.  As a travelogue, we’re mostly cataloging the places we went through.  And as the supervisor noted, there’s not much topography in this part of the state – this is the world of potatoes and sugar beets.]

[At Brooks, we hit a detour on US59.  It worked out great as we had to go west to State Highway 32, the location of Red Lake Falls.  I always wanted to visit here because as a kid growing up in Victoria Heights one of my best friends was Craig Gullickson, who just happened to be from Red Lake Falls and from which he brought hockey skills such as we’d never seen in Alexandria.  🙂    I’m writing this on August 28, the day on which the StarTribune reported on the city taking the Washington Post to task for ranking its county as the worst place to live in the entire country (based on 15-year old data, mostly saying it’s cold up there – duh!).]

[Mn32 took us to the only BIG city we would hit the rest of the way, Thief River Falls.  TRF’s population is a tad over 8,500, almost exactly the same size as Detroit Lakes.  The city is known as the home of “The Little Ralph,” the hockey arena built for the high school by native son Ralph Englestad.  Ralph also built “The Ralph,” the hockey arena for the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, some 30 miles to the west of TRF.  Oh, and the Prowlers and Alex have had quite a little competition going in girls’ basketball the last several years.]

[Hay!]

[Handy signs to let you know that, in this case, if you turn right off the highway you may be turning right into an onrushing train.]

[At TRF, we got back on US59 and continued north to here.  This may have been our overnight stop, but I knew it unlikely to be a place big enough for a motel.  But we turned east from here on designated scenic highway, Mn11.]

[This was the scenery to date.  Ruthie thought it looked like Texas – the trees gnarly and a bit on the smaller size; in Texas from heat, here from cold.]

[Greenbush was on  the way to Roseau, a blue line slap shot from Canada.]

[Roseau is famed for Polaris and in Minnesota hockey lore as the home of  . . . ]

[Among others, the Broten brothers and Butsy Erickson.  And Mary Loken, the 2nd player down on the left side margin of this blog, played for Roseau against our Cards in 2008 when we won the state championship (she then went on to play D-1 hockey at North Dakota, as I recall).  This facility is a nationally-known mecca for hockey.]

[How could I not?]

[Back Checking 101 taught here.]

[We came into town on a side road (another detour, on Mn11) and started looking for lodging.  Nada,  up and down the main streets?  Well, there has to be motels . . . Mn11 was dug up right into the city, so maybe back where the construction was.  Yup, found an access road and there they were.  This was the first place, North Country Inn – the Super didn’t like the quoted price but it was about the same as the other places so we moved in. Then she found out it came with dinner, two drinks, and breakfast.  Then she was all smiles.  This is the concierge room where they served the meals and had a bar.]

Editor’s note:  There was a long break between posts (you’re welcome).  The Cardinal sports season has begun, and I thought I would be covering the first football game last Saturday.  Well, the weather did not cooperate – at least to the standard I now require as an older person.

August 6

[Ahhhh, screen porch overlooking a lake.]

[I hope my drive-in starts to do better?]

[“My” drive-in was on our field trip way to the newest winery in Wisconsin.  We have also been to the oldest, making us a “question” on Jeopardy.]

[This, with the The Blind Horse front house, is the only complete restaurant and winery combination in Wisconsin, and among the few in the country, so we were told.]

[Then I had an afternoon nap.]

The FB posted camp photo of me napping on my back drew inquiries as to the depth of the distance from my back to the top of my tummy on which my hands were resting. It was suggested that maybe it was an extra thick sweatshirt (which it was) or that maybe the pouch was filled with candy wrappers (which was a possibility). Anyway, as an old guy myself, I have observed that old guys who lose weight “look” older and unhealthy. Who wants that? Of greater concern, which aligns with the plastic surgery I may need in light of my injury (just kidding), is the dappling of my aging skin. I don’t see this as a vanity issue, but I’m scaring small children and dogs!

[The evening led to our annual pontoon ride around the lake.  Our driver was Andi.]

[This, as I’ve noted in the past, is rumored to have been Tom Cruise’s house, back in the day when he and Paul Newman (also a home owner here) came to race at Road America.]

[The monster Osthoff Resort and Condomium, next to the Victoria Village Resort with the colorful umbrella Tiki Bar.]

[Lost our sunset in the clouds.]

[The Super loves lakeside boathouses.]

[Ain’t we got fun?]

[The DOM and Reetz, chillin’.]

[By going forward for this shot, we took on water over the bow!  Andi recovered us.  Oy!]

[Shooting over Chris and Beth, deniece and denephew, is the Johnsonville Brat mansion, home of my favorite lake walk sculpture.]

August 7

[Our last full day at camp, it rained all day.  Thus, it rained out the final night’s campfire. That made it the fist time in collective memory that both the opening and closing night’s ceremonies were rained out.]

August 8

[The last breakfast morning with the camp’s three Ruthies.]

[Goodbye, Rappaport!]

[Heading for home, a mile down the road is Broughton Marsh Park.]

[Probably decent advertising.]

[If we go home via the northern route, we always stop at Leinenkugel’s in Chippewa Falls. Unfortunately, it was Chippewa Valley Days (or something like that), and both the town and the brewery were overwhelmed with people.  We sampled nothing.]

[Crossing the St. Croix River from St. Croix Falls to Taylors Falls, where we noshed at the Drive-In on the Minnesota side.]

[We arrived home to a weird sky, part of a continuing series of weird summer skies.]

Travel is only glamorous in retrospect.  ~  Paul Theroux

Up next:  Egypt, Portugal, the Galapagos?  OK, just kidding.  How ’bout the start of the Cardinal football season?

Catch you next time!

August 4

[Love going down to the lake early on sunshiny days.  The Sunfish provide great photo ops.]

[It was regatta day, so The Biddies went to check out a paddle boat so they could keep an eye events, to see that nobody was missing their checkpoints!  Actually, I think they just wanted to visit with the hunky shore staff on the dock.]

[The regatta rules are explained to the contestants . . . ]

[The shoreline is awash with spectators, the usual yacht club crowd . . . ]

[The competition tacks for starting position, and – they’re off!]

[The Biddies are keeping an eye on things.]

[Here comes our winner.]

[Here comes Jack, the geologist from Austin Peay.]

[The Biddies work is thus done.]

[The contestants arrive in the landing zone, then Jack and Phyllis (also a geologist at Austin Peay) take off in the doubles.]

[Dinner, the Super catching Jack and Phyllis at the end of our dinner table.  This was the “adult” dinner, with wine, and stuff like prime rib and fish.]

[Part of “our” group, after THE dinner – the DOM in the rocking chair holding court.]

August 5

[The morning was the lake walk, meeting at what next year will be the new camp office.]

[The flag raising and birdie song precede our departure.]

[Then we were off, and soon were looking at camp from across the bay.]

[At times through rugged forests, then with The Biddies leading us on the lake shore path (well, actually I guess we were following everybody else).]

[Hi, camp!  We’re waaaaayyyy over here!]

[Then we came upon my longtime favorite sculpture (for reasons incomprehensible to me) along the path in front of the Johnsonville Brat family house.]

[This was something new for me?  🙂  ]

Now before we enter the town of Elkhart Lake, we’re going to back track a bit for the Super’s much more comprehensive coverage of the hike.

Now we enter town at the big Victorian Village Resort.

[These are my contributions through town.  We walked back the way we came, but on the road, something I’ve never done before.  We had to go back this way because there’s a bit of an issue among the homeowners on the lake.  Their lake association by-laws have long required that the property around the lake be made accessible to people who want to walk around the lake.  Who’da thunk it?  But they do.  Well, now there’s a homeowner, don’t know if he’s new, who has put a locked gate across the lakeshore path, denying hiking access.  We hear other homeowners are quite upset about this.  As of this date, we are not aware of any resolutions.]

[And these are the signs you see on the road back to camp.]

Now the Super’s turn again.

And I’ll finish the hike.

[Hi, Mom, we’re home!]

[The afternoon gives way to games.  Starting here with cornhole, we’re covering our longtime camp buddy, the DOM, on the far right.]

[Two longtime campers pitching shoes – a physics professor at IU on the left and an environmentalist with his own company on the right.]

[And the big event, my two fellow Medicare guys, the DOM, and on his right, Ed, the father of our nephew Chris, also at the camp.  I did not participate because as the cub reporter I needed to provide coverage and sit in the shade with cold beer.  We all gave Ed “10’s” for style points (he was every elegant in his delivery), while the DOM used the quick wrist flip – they proved to be equally effective.  I did not shoot many family pictures this year because . . . well, I already know what they look like.]

[Resting up before dinner, Ed on our porch.]

[The euchre tournament – The Biddies were merciless against the DOM and Vick.]

[Niece Beth, Reetz’s daughter and Chris’s wife, catching up on stuff.  Every morning she either ran, walked, or kayaked around the lake.]

[Down for dinner, the clean-up crew was there and ready for the outdoor diners.]

Travel becomes a strategy for accumulating photographs.  ~  Susan Sontage

Up next:  Time to leave.  Discussions began this morning for the monster trip.

August 3, Camp

We arrived at camp Sunday afternoon in a heat index of 100 degrees.  By dinner time, you could feel it coming.  Before we had slathered butter on our second roll, people were rushing to close doors and windows in the mess hall.  It came up so fast, bass boats caught in the lake were struggling to make shore with thousand horse motors.  It blew heavy rain sideways, with we heard 70-plus mph winds, and before dinner was over the power was out – for 3 hours.  The evening’s opening ceremonies and camp fire were postponed.  The storm did usher in a week of beautiful, if windy, weather, which was great for those of us who love jacket weather.

[Awoke to a beautiful morning and trundled down the aforementioned 70-some stairs to the lake front for coffee in the Round House before breakfast.]

[The Round House contains copies of a family’s photo albums from previous years, and of course the Super immediately found one with Grandson Tom’s picture in it when he was a counselor.]

[Then a short stroll before breakfast to see how camp was doing.]

[At breakfast, we heard a tree was down at a next door property blocking the path that circles the lake.  It was.  The owner had it cleared in short order because circumnavigating lake walks are a big part of camp.]

[Back up to the cottage after breakfast, the Super captured the 9 o’clock flag raising and kids singing “the birdie song.”]

[Then let the day’s excitement begin with The Biddies crafting . . . ]

[Then a little photographic housekeeping around our abode . . . ]

[Then grab your book, head back down to the lake, watch sailing and the Super grilling the lifeguard . . . ]

[Just let the good times roll.]

[The boat catcher, ultimately he who would win the regatta, a grandpa who has the audacity to be in shape and paddleboard, and practice sailing . . . ]

[And The Biddies worked up an appetite for lunch.]

[Then we took a road trip back to Plymouth for supplies, past the Elkhart Lake fire station (for a town of 1,000?  for the Starks), past Road America where there was serious racing all week.]

[Continuing past Road America to Plymouth, which was hit hard by the previous night’s storm. Trees were down all over town.]

[Past the Plymouth cow (their Big Ole), and on to Vinnie’s, Plymouth equivalent (in a way) to Ron’s Warehouse.]

[Back to camp for dinner with family and friends.]

[Then back up top for the one-night-later opening night camp fire.  Then I was tired.]

Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers.  ~  George Carlin  [We took the Super’s VW diesel convertible, which seemed appropriate to Carlin’s quote, getting 73 kilometers per gallon!]

Up next:  Camp all week.