Time in the SUN (& the Rain)

Yep...That's me practicing my technique
for the upcoming 'Boulder Jerk & Lift'
olympic trials , held up here in The Great
Wisconsin North...immediatly
followed by the well known
'Back Wrench & Spasm' ordeal...

Ahhh !10 days camping in

the back woods around Eau Claire ,

Chippewa Falls and Medford ...Plenty

of time for active pursuits of biking ,

hiking,kayaking , a daily dose of ice cream

and a wee bit of Gin & Tonic

to smooth the rough edges ...

Now Thats the High Life !




Paid a visit to Nancy & Bruce in

Minnesota for the day...

Thanks you guys --- I now have a

terminal case of 'Deck Envy '...

- Nice job there !

We were taken to a wondrous place called

Como Park in St. Paul , home to the zoo , an

arboretum , a butterfly house and other

wonders , including this ride in the video :






---And back to the wilds ...

We kayaked , in turn , parts of

The Chippewa R. , Fisher R.

Holcombe flowage , Skunk R. ,

Jump R. , Mondeaux flowage ,

Chippewa Waters flowage (where

the mouth of the Yellow R. eluded us ),

and the Wild rain-swollen Black R.

west of Medford --a short trip , due

to debris - blockage.

Yeah ... we earned our merit badges....and gave Mr. Mango & Lil' Red their workouts...

While waiting out the rain in our car

to check out our 2nd campsite , this

Big ol' pine tree - 100' away - was

zapped by a VERY LOUD & SCARY

bolt of lightening . KAPOW !!!

--Who needs caffeine with This kind

of action ?

Obviously , it made sense to camp

the next few days in the site CLOSEST

to the struck tree , figuring that the

odds dictate this to now be the safest

spot around from a repeat strike...

....except that the rangers now had to FELL

that tree the following day (after warning us to move our car )

as you see here :

Here I am laying claim to the

highest ground I could find...

to escape the coming 'Mother-Of-

All-Floods'

A Great Trip !


Fond memories of --

getting a new Leinies t-shirt ,

and a new birdhouse...

Riding 44 miles on the Red Cedar River
bike trail..(and NO butt sores !)

Having a new favorite county park
(Dells of the Eau Claire in Marathon Co.)..

Archie's hand-made pizza at
Mondeaux Flowage Lodge ..

and some nice sunsets...





And no more Lightning strikes !

Happy 70th Birthday Ringo !

And he Does look FINE too !

Other celebrities b'days include Kelley..
turning 25 on the 26th
(Next year's the
magical Golden Birthday ..woo-hoo !)







Speaking of celebrations , it was a very nice
Father's day for me a couple weeks ago
while camping at Long Lake in the North
Kettle Moraine S.P. ; all the girls and their
guys joining Kathy & I for some R&R...
and the ice cream cones at The
Hamburger Haus in Dundee
are still HUGE !
(although no marshmallow at the
bottom of All of the cones , as we remember
from years ago...so sad.



We caught some Humongous fireworks
at the Big Bang , first day of Summerfest..
..And at Oak Creeks' display on the 4th

Amazing what they can do with
gunpowder --always something new..

And the Summer...
she keeps rollin' on...