8/12/12 -- Milwaukee to the North Woods

We've been camping in a "dead zone" for wifi for the past few days so this is the first chance I have had to let you all know what we have been up to.

Hawthorne Terrace

Last Friday at 9:00am as we brought the last load out of our place to load it into the trailer, a dozen of our wonderful neighbors came out and gathered to say good-bye and wish us "Good Travels."  We loaded up and then stood around for half an hour exchanging hugs.  I think I hugged everyone twice.  I hope I did, anyway.  Drichab's husband brought her with her gear and he gave us all sorts of helpful advice about the rig.  It was hard to say good-bye but it was a travel day and we needed to get going. 

Our Ford Explorer has a good engine in it but we have found that, with the trailer, if we go over 55 mph the gas gauge drops like Newton's apple.  That first day, we drove two hundred and fifty miles to Lotus Lake Retreat Center outside of Neilsville WI near Marshfield.  We encountered construction here and there, of course.  People say that Wisconsin has two seasons -- winter and construction.  It didn't slow us down much.  It rained all the way.   

Midday we stopped at Horicon Marsh Interpretive Center just south of Hwy 49.  What an interesting place!  They had wonderful displays and videos of marsh life.  One of the videos showed a deer walking across a meadow.  Now, Adina and I have a long standing, well, agreement.  She expects me to produce a deer everyday we are traveling.  Drichab and I tried real hard to convince her that the video deer counted, but she wasn't impressed. 

At Horicon, we learned about whooping cranes.  There are less than two hundred left in the world.  Three of them have graced the marsh with their presence this summer.  They had a cut-out of a whooping crane. It was taller than I was.  I thought of the poem that Roselyn wrote about walking down a country road and suddenly coming eye to eye with one.  I had thought that might be a little exaggeration.  It wasn't.  What an amazing creature!

We rolled into Lotus Lake about 5:00 pm where, for the first time, I got to see the place that has become so dear to Adina.  They have created a wonderful complex in the middle of Wisconsin cornfields and hay bales.  Through Rimpoche's magic, their facility is full of original art, mosaics and beauty.  Domo Geshe Rimpoche has been Adina's teacher for 7 years.  After our move out west, Adina will come back for retreats here a couple times a year for a transfusion.  I wholeheartedly support this because it is her heart's desire and because it has made such a difference in her life.   

The next day, Saturday, we headed north.  It was delightful to drive through the North Woods on our way to Little Sand Bay on a thumb jutting out into Lake Superior.  Our campground is crowded but people are respectful and friendly.  We are within walking distance of the National Parks Beach which extends for 12 miles.  It is a place of beauty.  We have had two sunny days.  Today is overcast and a little cooler.  Nights have been cold but we are prepared and all of us slept well.

Yesterday we spent exploring Bayfield WI on the east side of this thumb.  After a picnic on the bay, we took a great walking tour of Bayfield.  We saw magnificent houses and learned a lot of the history.  This was a primary shipping center for the Great Lakes in its heyday.   In 1949, they had a flood that nearly wiped out the town but they rebuilt.  Now they have a population (in the winter) of 731.  In the summer, of course, tourists like us swell their ranks.  The Rittenhouse Inn was originally a private dwelling, then served as the town hospital.

The Rittenhouse Inn

Brownstone comes from this area, quarried on the  Apostle Islands that surround us.  It was shipped all over -- to Chicago, Detroit, Indiana, even as far as New York City.  For a decade or two it was the preferred building material.  The disadvantage to it is that it is a form of sandstone.  If you use it to erect a building higher than three stories, it will collapse in on itself.  It was used for public buildings and apartments.  These apartments, all built on a similar architectural design, were called Brownstones.  At the end of the brownstone era, steel came into its own.  Builders could erect buildings that were much taller and the use of brownstone fell out of favor.  I always wondered why they called them "brownstones."

The voyageurs shipped furs out of Bayfield and magnates shipped timber and fish.  After the railroad reached it, Euro tourists made it a vacation destination.  This place was an important Great Lakes port. 

Ojibwa Fancy Shawl Dance

The Ojibwa tribe lived on the east coast when their shaman had a vision that they should go west until they found a place where food grew on the water.  They came through Great Lakes to Madeline Island where they found it surrounded by wild rice growing in the water.  From here they spread out, settling clear across Minnesota and beyond.  Madeline Island was their tribal center, seat of government, spiritual base. 

The US government tried to move them to a western reservation, but the man who came to move them was so impressed with them that he went to bat for them instead.  They live here still.  Madeline Island is still their center.  The Red Cliff reservation and settlements lay on the east and northern parts of this thumb. 

It really is beautiful, rich in history and very interesting.  Of course we also had to spend some time in the darling downtown.  I think everyone found something to buy. 

I found a Norwegian horse (they are orange and hand painted in Norway).  The two in the picture are painted onto a plate.  I got a little horse (not a plate) about 2" tall.  I have had one just like it since I was a child.  She comes out every Christmas to help decorate our home.  Now she has has become old and arthritic and her paint is peeling.  I thought if she had a friend, Christmas might be easier.

Today is Sunday.  My cousin, Nancy Neilsen, and her friend Anaceli, came from Minneapolis to join us here for a couple of days.  We've had a great time with them.  Drichab and Anaceli really got into fire-building or playing in the fire, I'm not sure which.  Nancy and I got a couple of games of Scrabble in.  We had picnics, walked on the beach at night, roasted marshmallows and cooked in the fire.  We also laughed a lot. 

As I write, they are out on the water kayaking. Nancy is experienced but it is a first for Anaceli. They looked pretty good as they paddled up the coast for the water caves. They invited us all to go but Adina wanted a day in camp and I had a blog to write. Drichab is keeping me company and helping me drink coffee.

Have any of you ever been in this area?  If you are close enough to visit sometime, I recommend it.  Use the comment space below to tell what you found in the North Woods of Wisconsin that was interesting or that fed your spirit!