Feeling Manitow-ish

 

Travalon and I had a fantastic trip to the North Woods. We started by going to the Red Cross, because I had left my license there when I last tried to give blood at the beginning of July, and I hadn't noticed it was missing until Friday night. The next day when I called, they had it, but when I asked why they hadn't told me, they said they aren't allowed to contact donors. So here I had been driving around - even all the way to Racine! - without a driver's license on my person. Our next stop was in Portage, to get the Earl Gray scones with lavender frosting, and then our next stop was to take a vigorous hike on the top of Rib Mountain. We got to Minocqua in time to walk on the Bearskin Trail AND stop at the antiques shop so I could get some more rosaries before 4 pm Mass. Afterwards we hiked more on the Bearskin Trail and then had pizza at the place overlooking a lake. By the time we got to our cabin in Manitowish Waters on Rest Lake, it was dark, and we tried to get into the wrong cabin at first because it was hard to tell what was going on in the dark. At night up there, it's REALLY dark, and we had no computer access, so we went to bed relatively early. Our cabin was called the Laughing Loon, and it had lots of pictures of loons inside of it. (We tried to get into the Poky Turtle cabin at first because our parking spot was in front of that cabin.)

Yesterday we got up in plenty of time to have gone to Mass. We went to a really good coffee place called Dixie's, which was the hopping joint in Manitowish Waters. Then we hiked on the town's bike trail for an hour, and then we just sat down by the lake. It was too cold and windy to take out any of the watercraft we had access to at the Red Feather Lodge, but I did see an eagle and hear a loon while Travalon was in the cabin. Then we went to the Flame, the restaurant on the Lac du Flambeau reservation that we had been to last summer and loved. There was a huge family group there from Chicago, and they finally left in five pontoon boats. We had fry bread tacos and maple shakes - so good and so many calories! We bought T-shirts, and check it out! They glow under blacklight!

Then we hiked on the Awassa Trail in St. Germaine before taking the same pontoon boat ride on Lake Minocqua that we had taken twice last summer. We saw so many eagles and loons! We had a late, light dinner at an Irish tavern in Manitowish Waters, but they were out of their famous Guinness and mushroom soup. "Come back at eleven tomorrow," said the waitress, "and we'll have it for you then."

This morning we were supposed to be checked out by ten, but they said we could take out a watercraft since it was a much nicer day. First we got coffee at Dixie's, then we tried to take out a paddleboat, but the steering mechanism didn't work and we just went in circles. There were two other paddleboats, a canoe, three kayaks, and a couple of rowboats, so we took out a rowboat. Travalon said he felt like he was punting on the Avon River during the Victorian Era, but I felt a little lame to be doing nothing but just sitting and enjoying the ride. We heard the loon on Rest Lake call a couple of times, but we never saw it. Travalon rowed us around an island, and we both took photos on our cell phones. (He has pictures of the rest of the trip on his good camera, so I will probably post those tomorrow.)

This is the view from the beach at our resort, the Red Feather Lodge. Travalon posted it on MyFace, and I commented that I was "feeling Manitow-ish," which is something I thought I saw on a T-shirt worn by a woman on the bike trail, but I could never find the shirt for sale.

Here is a view of the resort's piers, including the rowboat we took out.

And here is Travalon, rowing away!

This is the island we rowed around.

This is Cardinal Point, which is where the largest cabin (also called Cardinal Point) is located.

This is the channel we rowed through between the island and the mainland.

Here's my favorite captain at the helm!

And here I am, just enjoying the ride.

You can see there is a tiny island just to the left of the big island.

Then we went back to the Irish pub, which is called Shillelagh's, and we did get our Guinness mushroom soup, which was creamier than I was expecting but very delicious. They had a hilarious sign on their outdoor bathroom:

And there was a shamrock on the patio.

Then we hit the road, and we went to a section of the Bearskin Trail near the tiny town of Harshaw. It was so beautiful, with a really long trestle that went over a bog area. There was a plaque explaining that a train had gone off the rails many, many years ago, and it was still in the bog. We walked on the path for an hour, then we went to Sara Park in Tomahawk and walked on the bridge over the Wisconsin River that is part of the Hiawatha Trail. We stopped at a county park on Lake DuBay and waded into the water, but it was very cold. Then we went to the dam on Lake DuBay and walked along the top of the levee. We got home just before eight, which had been my goal.

Here is a bonus photo: my colleague ordered a bunch of masks and face shields, and then she found out that you have to wear a mask under the face shield, so what's the point, really? Here I am demonstrating.

It fogs up very quickly. Now she has all these face shields that nobody will want to use, because they thought they could use them in lieu of masks. Guess not. At least she didn't have to pay for them - the university supplies all protective equipment for free.

Stay tuned, when (hopefully tomorrow) I post the photos from our trip that are on Travalon's good camera.

Famous Hat