Summary of Our Mammoth Challenge on the Ice Age Trail

 

I worked from home today and have nothing to say, other than we went to the optician's place to get new glasses for me, and the optician was overwhelmed with people so we just left. In the evening we went to Bierock and listened to a guitar-heavy band, but they cranked the volume and we left. We went to the rail yard, but nothing was happening there. However, I submitted our Mammoth Hike Challenge completion form this evening, and it occurs to me that the narrative I had to write for the form would make a good blog post. So here goes:

Every year before this, we have succeeded in hiking all the miles of the Mammoth Hike Challenge, but this year we only hiked 37.6 miles because Famous Hat lost a whole week going to a wedding in Philadelphia. The first weekend we spent a lot of time on the Lapham Peak segment, and the weather was so beautiful that Famous Hat had to take off her Lapham Peak hoodie, but she did wear her Mammoth Hike Challenge T-shirt.

One of our favorite segments is the Verona Junction one. The expansive vista has us feeling like we're on top of the world. Famous Hat never particularly liked autumn until that first year, during the pandemic, when we hiked there and she beheld the world splashed in vermilion, gold, and scarlet. Now October is her second-favorite month after May, which not only looks beautiful but smells wonderful too.

Travalon hiked several segments while Famous Hat was in Philly, and because he starts work later in the day, he hiked some mornings to try to make up the lost miles while Famous Hat was driving with Tiffy through the mountains of Pennsylvania at their color peak, astounded by the sight of the Penn State campus. Though to be fair, the Madison campus on the edge of Lake Mendota is just as beautiful.

On Halloween we hiked on the Blackhawk Segment. This was the first time we had hiked on this segment,  and were amazed at how beautiful the lake was. Famous Hat wore her monster hat and found a tree that also looked like a monster. (Photo attached.) 

We loved the view of the lake, and Travalon said it looked like Maine, and he half-expected a moose to come charging out of the woods. There was apparently an ultramarathon going on that day, so every now and then a very tired runner would pass us and say, "Have a great hike!" Guess they could tell we weren't ultramarathoners! Not sure what gave it away... 

We just love that first weekend in Delafield! It's like a great big, fabulous Mammoth Challenge party! We got a ton of Trail Magic that day and attended a local event. We even got our photo taken with the Mammoth! Shared plenty of photos on MyFace, since we are Gen Xers and don't do the other social media.

We visited the Black Earth Creek Bridge by the Ice Age Trail Headquarters in Cross Plains, Historic Clock Tower Square in Delafield, and Nixon Park in Hartland. Travalon visited the Greetings from Portage mural, the Old Indian Agency House in Portage, and the Slinger Historical Museum. He enjoyed watching trains at the Portage rail yard and by the Slinger Historical Museum, in the Rail Fan Pavilion. He also went to the Historical Janesville Roundhouse. We are both rail fans as well as hikers and bird paparazzi (Travalon's word for it).

In Delafield we both got coffee at Blue Collar, the commemorative cup at Voodoo Brewing (full of their sour beer), a patch and a book at the local event, lunch at Guiseppe's Pizza, and Travalon bought a T-shirt at Clearwater Outdoors. We also took our photos in the big yellow chairs there and in Hartland, and we had the Mammoth Challenge sundaes at Here's the Scoop. (Good thing we hiked some of those calories off!)

Famous Hat missed a weekend for the wedding in Philadelphia, but Travalon got Trail Magic with a protein shake from DeWitt Street Nutrition in Portage, coffee and a brownie from Birch and Banyan in Hartland, coffee from the Common Grind in Lodi, and a Brewers smoothie from the Daily Dose in Slinger.

We both got lunch and coffee from the Crossroads Coffeehouse in Cross Plains, and coffee from Icki Sticki in Verona. The most fun Trail Magic was making glass magnets at the Vinery in Whitewater.

We tried to go to Center Street Cafe, but it was unexpectedly closed that day. Since it was Halloween, we couldn't get Trail Magic the next day.

We saw an Ice Age Trail license plate in our church parking lot - good to know there are other Catholic hikers! Famous Hat also sees one every time she gets in her own car. She wore her Mammoth Challenge T-shirt every Saturday on the trail.

We missed registering by September 7 by one day. Will try to do better next year.

So do you feel like you joined us on the Mammoth Hike Challenge? I had an infused drink for the first time in weeks - can you tell? Do you think the Ice Age Trail folks will be able to tell? "Man, was this lady ever stoned when she wrote this!" One thing I never tried was hiking while stoned. While the Ice Age Trail is not particularly dangerous, it does seem like the sort of thing where you'd want to have your wits about you completely. There are some steep drop-offs along the trail now and then.

Famous Hat

Last Boat Ride of the Season?

 

Today Travalon and I took what might be the last boat ride of the season. I took some photos.

Walking back along the dock, I saw this old lotus leaf with its own little pond.

Our neighbors were coming in at the same time, and they said it was going to rain. Soon after I got back in the house, I heard the steam whistle warning the boats to get off the water, and then it began to rain. Our timing was so good! 

It stopped raining by the time of my afternoon break, so I went out and ate some crabapples. Our new little sugar maples are changing color. This is the best of the three.

I went for a walk after work and could see there would be an incredible sunset, so I hurried back home to go check it out from the dock. This picture is from the start of our road.

Then I heard a train horn and rushed to where I could watch it, a spot where I couldn't see the sunset, so I missed it, and no train ever came. But yesterday Seabird and I watched one on campus going backwards, stopping, going forward, stopping, and backing up again. The cars must have hated it!

I thought there was an Oktoberfest party at the Edgewater tonight, but I checked the website to make sure it was still on with the weird weather... and it had been last Friday, when we were eating noodles with Seabird and her husband. We decided to go to Bierock, where I had a small infused drink and a small pumpkin beer with dinner, which in my case was a spinach puff, mushroom spaetzle, and a bit of a tikki masala bierock. Once we got home, I said we should write a story, but I was too lazy to write, so we recorded it on my phone's voice memo app. That's how we wrote our song about songs about trains, but this might not be the same kind of masterpiece. I'll listen tomorrow and see if I still like it.

Famous Hat

Willy Street Fair 2026

 

Since we went to Mass last night, Travalon was able to watch the Wolverhampton game this morning, and they won! Sadly, there was a brand-new mural someone had pained with some of their star players on it, and a guy from the other team defaced it - it wasn't even 24 hours old!

Then we went to Willy Street in time to catch the parade. It was surprisingly cool today, and I was trying to think how to be extra in warm clothes, when it occurred to me that I have that silly thing that looks like a fuzzy, three-eyed blue monster that sits on my head, and I can make the ears move. Is it a hat? Is it a stuffed animal? Yes. 

We watched the parade, and I made the monster's ears move in time to the music. I could see that some of the Brazilian drummers saw me and laughed. Travalon made some videos, and I compiled them into a movie but am having some technical difficulties so watch for that hopefully tomorrow. Here are a couple of photos. Sorry, my monster hat is not in any of them.

After the parade we went to check out the fair and immediately ran into the Kiwi from the Shamrock Club and his delightful girlfriend. Then another person they knew saw us and told us it was his birthday, so I sang him Happy Birthday in Basque, which he loved - he said, "That's a great birthday gift!" Travalon and I found the booth with the amazing kebabs, then we continued on and came across a band playing Latin music, so we sat and listened. They also did reggae and other styles - very versatile. Travalon got more kebabs and baobab shakes, then the Kiwi and his girlfriend joined us, and we split into two conversations based on gender. Then they went to check out other bands, since there were at least three other stages at the Fair, while we heard the whole set by that band, called Los Bad Hombres. Then we explored the Fair to the end, getting pork dumplings and coconut shrimp and hibiscus juice, and Travalon bought a pair of sunglasses from the local radio station just like the pair I bought last year. Somehow I lost a $5 bill. We passed a place selling gummies, so I bought a package and took one, since that was 5 mg, but it didn't seem to do much at first. 

We went back to the main stage, where a funky jazz combo called Rare Element were playing, and we listened to them. At some point the Kiwi and his girlfriend came back, and some guy gave them free little books, but he was gone so I couldn't get one. There was one of a poem of Gerard Manley Hopkins, my favorite poet, so I would have liked that one. They chose Dante's Inferno. They wandered off to hear a band called Yolk, and then the third band on the main stage played, I think they were called Automatic Lover. They also played funky jazz and Latin music, and at one point the lead singer asked, "Are there any Capricorns in the house?" I hollered, but nobody else did, and I felt a bit like that time at World Youth Day in Paris when the Pope was giving a shout-out to each country in French, and when he said, "Etats-Unis," Ethel and I hollered, but nobody else did for miles around, and the people around us asked, "Only you two from the US?" 

I saw a little kid looking at me, so I made my hat's ears move, and he was transfixed. Then someone brought over a baby to watch my hat. I had to keep doing it for so long that my FitBit said I got my steps for the hour just squeezing the paws of my monster hat to make the ears keep moving. Then we saw the Daughter of Denni, so I showed her how my monster hat's ears move, and she was as delighted as the children and bought us a beer. Part of a beer on top of the gummy did finally make me feel stoned, and suddenly the bassline in the music sounded AMAZING. Wow! Oh, I forgot to mention that at the place where I bought the gummies, Travalon bought an adorable stuffed bong.

So cute! Then on the way home we saw some train graffiti - thought I'd forgotten about that, didn't you?

We were enjoying the Willy Street Fair so much that I never got to the Slow Irish Session, and I would have had to miss the second half anyway to get to band practice. It was at our newest fiddler's house, and I stupidly didn't wear the blue monster hat, since she has a four-year-old, and also a four-month-old named after the Pope who was asleep the whole time we were there. We practiced some hard Cajun music that we had never played before, so I think the preschooler was annoyed. Cajun music does have a whiny quality even when played well, so you can imagine how weird it sounds when people are sight reading it. Travalon picked me up with a decaf iced pandan latte, what he always gets me when he goes to Leopold's. A wonderful ending to a wonderful day! 

Famous Hat

Christmas in July at Lola's

 

We finally heard that we will be going back to campus for work on the 10th of August. Meanwhile, I worked from home today, and Travalon had a short day so he went to Columbus and Portage. Here are some photos of graffiti in Portage.

 He took some other photos too.

This engine looks like it's smiling.

Right after work we got a bit dressed up to go to Lola's for Christmas in July/World Music, but some neighbors reminded us that it was Thirsty Thursday down on the dock, so we went down there and chatted for a bit. Someone made chocolate chip caramel cookies, and someone else made peach mango salsa, and someone else brought this incredible hard white cheese with herbs on the outside. Then, as we were heading back to the car, I heard the train horn. Sure enough, it had passed by, and there was a video on social media. Here are some screen shots.

There were a number I had posted already, and I can't remember if this was one of them.

At Lola's we were seated immediately and our server was very attentive, so despite getting there later than originally planned, we weren't there very long. We got a new type of pizza that Travalon wanted to try, and he loved it. It has pepperoni and sausage on it. The DJ wasn't starting up until 7:00, and until then they were playing jazz and salsa, so I was happy. Once the DJ started, he played some really weird stuff that probably is world music, but it's not what I think of when promised "world music." Travalon thought the second song sounded like a sick cat. Also, the bundino was butterscotch, not chocolate with lavender whipped cream, so it wasn't that tempting to me. I had a couple bites of Travalon's and found it too sweet. Still, I love the vibe in that place, especially with all the Christmas lights up. The weirdest thing is that at the Mallards game I had an infused drink with 10 mg and didn't feel much, but tonight I had an infused drink with 5 mg and totally felt it. At least this means my fears of having built up a tolerance are unfounded, but I'm not sure what's going on - some brands lying about how potent they are? Now I'm just sleepy, so I should go to bed soon since tomorrow I have to get up for my annual eye exam that I remember to schedule about once every three years.

Famous Hat

Mallards Game and Pagode Practice

 

Yesterday I had a really strange day. I was working from home when suddenly the internet stopped working, so I texted Travalon, and he confirmed that there was an outage. I couldn't just go to my own office to work, so I messaged my boss, who said I could go to the coworking space I had worked in the day before. I thought about it, but the day was so nice and I was feeling so sniffly that I just took half a day of personal time. This was probably due to the road construction I complained about on my last post. At first they said the internet would come back at 1:30, but then it was 5:30, and then it was 10:30. When Travalon came home from work, we went to the Culver Springs Natural Area. Here are some photos.

We hadn't been to a Mallards game yet this year, and the happy hour on the Terrace was canceled due to the police killing here in town, so while everyone else was at the vigil for the victim, we watched baseball. I had an infused drink, forgetting that they slow down time and baseball is already so slow that time seems suspended, so it was a very meditative game for me, although the Mallards did keep hitting three-run homers. In the end they won something like 14-2. Here are photos.

This guy was batting 1000 because he had one at-bat and hit a three-run homer. 

They have this stuff over the bleachers now, I guess to block out sun? And at night they light it up.

Here is a video of that.

Oops, this is out of order, but before that we went to a place in De Forest where train cars are parked, and we saw some graffiti.

And then, still before the game, we went to my future parking lot and saw more graffiti.

And here are a couple of Wisconsin and Southern engines.

And here are some screenshots I got off a couple of videos of local trains posted on social media. I recognize a lot of this graffiti, but now I'm wondering... is 4AL "for a laugh" or "for all locations"? Both are represented on the same train!

Today I was supposed to work on campus and give blood, but I felt sniffly again and canceled the blood donation, since they won't let you give when you're under the weather, and that was the only reason I was going to go to campus. Oh, and also to make sure my plants were okay, and to check for a book someone was waiting for. In the evening I went to the pagode jam again, and this time there were nine of us, which seemed like a better number than the large group last time. I am the weak link, but I still had fun, especially playing the drums with the deep bass notes. I brought the mandolin but never cracked her out. A lot of the group are in the real Handphibians, and they were supposed to play tomorrow at the Atwood Fest, but the whole festival has been canceled because of the shooting. Bummer, I was hoping to check it out tomorrow. I don't understand the facts around the shooting enough yet to have an opinion; it's always bad when cops execute people of color when you feel like they could totally de-escalate if it were a white person, but I've also heard the person was armed and had wounded one of the cops. But then I've also heard the guy was on the ground and they shot him point-blank in the back of the head, so that doesn't sound like self-defense on the part of the cops but rather vengeance. All I know is the system has got to change because entirely too many people of color end up dead at the hands of cops. I read something recently that said liberals believe the law should treat everyone equally, so they try to appeal to fairness with conservatives, but it's a lost cause because conservatives believe the law should protect high-status groups and bind low-status ones, never bind high-status groups or protect low-status ones. Which I guess if you want to be that horrible, that's your right, but then quit saying how Christian you are. Jesus totally taught that everyone is equal in the eyes of God, so they should be equal in the eyes of the law too.

While I was at pagode, Travalon went out on the dock and took sunset photos. Here's my favorite.

When I came home, the moon was big and bright, so I brought my telescope out to look at it. I would get it in view, but then when I tried to focus, I'd lose it again. Travalon came out and took a photo.

Honestly, this is probably as good as it would have been looking through the telescope. 

Famous Hat