You Won't Recognize Us...

...when we come to your house because we will be driving a truck with DEER BARS!

Don't they look great!!!!  Don't they look cool!!!  Don't they just scream WISCONSIN!  Of course, the real reason is to minimize truck damage when we hit a deer.  It hasn't happened yet but we know its a matter of time.  Why not look good while waiting!  This is our 2003 Dodge Dakota.  Case ordered the bars (80 lbs.) online and our strong FEDEX guy brought them to the house.  Case installed them.  (I was asked to assist in holding the bars while he did the first bolts.  Happy to do it.)  Can't wait to drive to my hiking group to show them off!  

A Bird in the Hand...

...is worth two in the bush.

Milsie, the Lovebird, chillin' out after dinner in my palm.

Ice Roads

On Tuesday my walking group decided to go to the Apostle Islands Ice Caves.  They closed for the year on Monday.  Oh well, let's drive the ice road to Madeleine Island instead.  We can hike Big Bay State Park overlooking Lake Superior, eat the the Beach Club, and a good time will be had by all. 

First of all, Case forbade me from driving.  "None of my cars are driving on ice period close quotes.  So someone else needed to drive.  A friend smartly didn't tell her husband where we were going.  Stopping at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center for a bathroom break on the way, we asked the Rangers about the ice road conditions.  "All clear.  Have a great day."  The rest of the narrative is written by a friend who also writes for the local newspaper. 

The original plan was to go to the Ice Caves, but they were closed because recent winds and temperatures made the walk unsafe. So. . .

We went on the Ice Road to Madeleine Island instead.

Of course, we watched the condition of said Ice Road very carefully. I think all of our husbands were worried as we left our homes this morning. But, a computer check said the road was fine. And, we stopped at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center on the way to check. Everything fine.

We hiked a trail in Big Bay State Park. Had lunch on the island. (Beach Club - it was good!) What an adventure!

On the way home, Jo wanted to stop at the NGLVC gift shop. When we went in, Penny, a ranger there, asked us if we had gone on the ice road. I told her we had. Her eyes got wide. She asked how the experience was. I told her that coming back, there was a lot of water.

She said she wanted to show me something - she turned a message board in my direction. . . right after we left the Visitor Center this morning, she got a call that the ice road was closed.

Fearless leader Barb driving her Tundra over these cracks in the ice road.  No one was wearing seatbelts and all the windows were open.

Yes, we did travel at our own RISK.

Women of the Woods and Water enjoying the island in Lake Superior.  We all made it home safely.  There is never a dull moment in the Northwoods.

 

Enjoying the Indoors

On unbearably cold days, I have been quilting, and we have both been working on puzzles.  Here are the latest ones.

750 pieces

1000 pieces - This takes up the entire puzzle table that we use so no puzzles more than 1000 pieces. 

This quilt says SPRING to me!

When the Rubber Doesn't Hit the Road

Just look at these monster snow tires that I bought for my Neon last fall.  They are worth their weight in GOLD.  They are One Directional tires, designed to get through snow and that they do.  No four inches of new snow, of course, but for the usual winter driving in the Northwoods...they are great! 

Only the interstate and state highways get cleared to the pavement.  All other roads stay snow packed for the entire winter and receive a bit of sand on the corners and intersections every so often - that includes the Town of Hayward.

Absolutely No Photo

But you can picture it in your mind...the middle ages (not Case and I because we are in our 60's!)  - but the dark time of civilization - people laying in the streets - the plague has come.   That is what it is like around here.  Both of us have something that is going around Hayward and it takes three weeks to get healthy again. 

Accidents Happen Near Home

You have heard the statistics...most accidents happen within 5 miles of your house. That was my thought yesterday.  On a beautiful sunny afternoon Case and I decided to snowshoe up Davis Creek that we can see from our living room - and definitely without a paddle.  It was all good until we reached an area that is usually bog in the summer.  We then began to go down through the snow into the slushy water beneath it bringing up slush with the snowshoe which froze right away.  Snowshoeing with two blocks of ice is not fun!  Of course, we were in the middle of the bog so no quick exit.  On we trudged - getting heavier with each step.  I was thinking of the above statistic with the headline "Woman Freezes in Bog Half-Mile From Home."  Or it could read "Woman Freezes on 60th Birthday."  Yes, my birthday.  Well, of course, we made it to the road where I then carried my ice blocks home and ate a piece of cake.