We begin the month with hazy skies, smoke from the Canadian wild fires. Our young animals are getting bigger each day, we added rabbits to the menagerie of critters with young. Rumor has it the Wood Chuck also has young but we have not seen them yet.
the new neighbors ducks got loose!
Band on the Barge was not well attended this year. we anchored away from the crowd but was able to hear the band clearly.
Monday Aug 4: Brother Ray came for a 3 day visit.
Aug 5: Happy Birthday to me! We had a good day, a little pontoon ride in the afternoon, then off to Hayward for a drink at Angry Minnow and dinner at the Steakhouse.
It's been Hot and Humid for a few days. Good weather to take the SUP out for a paddle and a dip in the lake.
Tues Aug 12: off to Chicago land for a 50th Wedding Anniversary on Saturday. We will spend 2 nights in Wisconsin Dells )200 miles), then to DeKalb Illinois for one night and Bridgeview Illinois for 3 nights.
Great trip to the Dells. A few stops for hiking and eating before checking into the Hampton Inn. We went to check out a place that has a "you pour" your own beverage but they were closed! So off to the River's Edge Pub on the Wisconsin River for a drink and chicken wings. A little walk downtown with a stop to purchase Fudge then to Nig's for a Swig. A bit warm today but not too bad.
Wed August 13: We headed to Devil's Lake State Park for a really nice hike along the lake. then a really nice stop at the International Crane Foundation. in the afternoon before dinner we took a ride down the river.
After a much needed nap we went to Pal's Brewing Company for pretzels 🥨 and beer. It was OK but don't need to go back here. Dinner at Moose Jaw's Pizza and Dells Brewing. The pizza was not bad.
Thurs Aug 14: off to DeKalb Illinois (150 Miles). Well that was our intention but we made a detour to Milwaukee to look for the Kelp Gull (lifer) at the port of Milwaukee. We did find it and met some new friends while there!
It did not make sense to go to DeKalb so we canceled our hotel there and made a reservation in Elkhorn Wi. Luckily I was allowed to cancel as I had already checked in and picked my room. Was not sure if they would charge me but they were really nice and just canceled with no charge.
We did stop a few places before getting to Elkhorn, checking in by 3:30. Off to Duesterbeck"s brewery for a fun afternoon and left over pizza in our room when we got back.
We walked across the street to Branding Iron for appetizers and brews. good service and food.
Sat Aug 16: we went hiking early as the weather was expected to be very hot and humid. Great lunch in Willow Springs, time for a nap and relax before the 50th Wedding Anniversary party. the storms came after we were in Mama Luigis.
Fun party, about 60 people, got to meet the boys and their families. Dinner was great, the band was the boys (men)!
Mon Aug 18: time to go to Janesville Wi, 115 miles. It was a nice visit and fun to be back but too much noise and concrete. It's been well over 20 years since we were in the area, lots of changes but some places were still there and looked the same!
Our hotel was nice BUT way too noisy. It's right next to the soccer field and when there is a game there is lots of noise in the parking lot. And there is an outdoor music venue that goes from 11:00 am to 3:00 am! lots of bass that we could actually feel. would not recommend this hotel for the noise. Looking forward to being home and hearing nothing!
took a walk around a park and seen this sign
we arrived at the Hampton Inn in Janesville WI at 2:30. Very green, very little noise but cloudy and expecting a storm.. all good
Dinner at San Miguel de Allende, Mexican restaurant. All I can say is the Carnitas are to die for! The best we have had in a long time. Fun pitcher of beer to accompany our meal.
Tues Aug 19: off to Marshfield WI. A few stops along the way before getting to the Hampton Inn.
Dinner at Nutz Deep 11 was fabulous, probably the best hamburger we have had in years! The meat was fresh, juicy and oh so good. We stopped at Southway Pub and Grub for a beer, had a nice conversation with the owner.
Wed August 20: a fun day in the Marshfield area, no new places but some old favorites. A quick stop at the dairy for cheese. Great Kurds!
Cheese curds! oh so good.,,After a nice nap we headed to the Central Wisconsin State Fair. Wednesday is Senior day so we paid $5 each to get in.
They had animal buildings, pig and duck races, music, food, crafts etc. pretty much a smaller version of the state fair. We did not eat or drink anything as we ate our leftovers from the Mexican Restaurant from the other day.
We walked around and enjoyed the people and animals for about 2 hours. Went to the Blue Heron Pub, Pour Choices and 501 Sports bar for a beer at each venue. We liked the 501 atmosphere the best.
Thurs Aug 21: we are heading home today!150 miles. our first stop was the zoo in Marxhfield
Kodiak bears! they are so huge
of course a few stops including Best Buy in Eau Claire for a new laptop for me. Waited about 30 minutes for help, then walked out and ordered one online..
We ended up with 2 new life birds and 9 year birds! great birding trip...
good to be home! we mowed the lawn and Sharen came over for a visit. and I ordered a new computer on line from Apple. It was delivered the next day!
Aug 27: off to the Minnesota State Fair, the last time we went was in 2019! I wonder how much has changed? We have reservations at the Doubletree in downtown St Paul.
After a few stops we arrived at the hotel by 2:30. We finally got an upgrade to a corner room on the 9th floor. After checking in, parking the car and unpacking a bit we took the metro bus to the fair! $1 each for the fare.
Of course the entry fee has risen to $18 per person. tomorrow we get in for $15. Of course new vendors for food etc. Beautiful day to hang at the fair. We stopped to listen to some music before walking the grounds. We did get a Turkey sandwich, hmmm... not as moist or tasty as before and $15 instead of $8. The only good thing about the rise in prices is they all take credit cards. We also had some delicious cheese curds. they were the same flavor and of course double in price.
We walked the Midway, it did not really change too much. We actually listened to 4-5 bands and enjoyed them all. We kind of hung on the first two streets so we can check out the animal buildings and grandstand etc tomorrow. We got back about 9:30.
Aug 26:
Aug 28: After a pretty meager breakfast at the hotel we took the bus to the fair. Arriving at about 9:30. We ended up listening to about 4 different bands, eating no new foods but some oldies and favorites and missing out on the animal barns as they were all closed for cleaning etc when we got there! We did enjoy the different buildings, Agricultural, 4H, etc. There were lots and lots of people with some very long lines to see the Crop Art, Apples, to purchase donuts!
We left the fair at about 5 pm. We then walked to the Gambit Brewing Co. Very cute, very interesting and good brews. They had a DJ(?) spinning vinyl! how fun that was..
Aug 29: time to go back home. We thought about going back to the fair but we did manage to see everything we wanted to see, of course we were not able to eat everything we wanted to try but.... what we had was all good!
Plims are ready for picking
Spot and Dot are getting so big!
Labor Day weekend was warm, sunny and lake worthy. We went to the Red Schoolhouse Wines to watch Sean and Ian on Sunday night. They were just ok, the venue is really fun, outside and good appetizers.
I finally got in
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