Packer Time!

Football starts for real tonight, which begs the question. Is taco dip a food group?

A real vacation

These baby bunnies lived next door to our cabin

Cat, of course, on the Bearskin trail. We rode the whole 18 miles, had lunch in Minocqua, and rode back again. Talk about tired!

Another view of Bass Lake

A little to the west of Tomahawk, we found High Point Village. It's an adorable cluster of cabins surrounding the Hill of Beans coffee shop, and facing Bass lake. Right across the lake is Timm's Hill, the highest point in Wisconsin, and a great place for hiking and biking.

We stayed in the Northern Sky cabin, it has a full kitchen so we ate in some meals but also had some great breakfasts and lunches in the coffee shop.

Bass Lake, from our vantage. Cat thought I was going to drown her in the rowboat our hosts provided, she's like any other cat around water...


We really enjoyed our stay, and will definitely go back there.

Peace at last

This was the first pic I took, not the last, when we unpacked, and realized that we had made a very good choice! Tomorrow we ride the Bearskin trail, now we relax.

Hot Chick

It was 94 degrees! Cat was great, she did 32 miles on the Sugar River trail from New Glarus to Albany and back. Did I mention it was hot? Along with the 4 bottles we each swilled down there was iced tea and water that we had with our lunch. After showering and a nap, dinner and a couple of beers were found to be excellent at the Glarner Stube.

Guarding the bikes

If anyone tries to mess with our bikes, I will snap my towel at them...

Cat and I had one of our random Fridays off, and it could not have been better. The temp was summery, so we got in our inaugural bike ride before it became too windy. Lunch, and a nap afterward erased any residue of the work week which may have remained. Now that we have had an afternoon of leonine lounging, the queen of our pride raised her head, scented the air, and said "what's for dinner?" My preference was for something in the neighborhood of friendly Walker's Point or the soon to be fashionable Bay View, and I knew we couldn't go wrong with Transfer Pizza. It's in a converted drug store on first and Mitchell, full of character and charm. So we went, and as usual were not dissapointed by that crust, a true italian rustico with a fresh tasting sauce and lively toppings. A large glass of locally brewed beer went with it nicely. Afterwards, on the way home, we followed kinnickinnic ave and stopped at a couple of other places. It was a beautiful day of sunshine, pizza, and fun.

We wish it was summer!

Can I have a bailout?
It's funny, as mortgage intrest rates approach zero, the difficulty in obtaining a loan rises to infinity....

Place in a 350 degree oven and bake until quiet.

Pepper relish weekend. We went to Witte's farm for tomatos and peppers, and spent yesterday and today in the kitchen. We put up 26 jars of pepper relish, some salsa, and a couple of jars of tomato sauce. better late than never...

One great day off is better than a mediocre week of leisure. This was one of our semi-random three day weekends, and of course we went on a nice ride. The Ozaukee Interurban trail hadn't felt our rubber since April, so we gave her a go. It was a little cloudy and not too warm as we made good time, heading from the fish cleaning station in Port Washington and on toward Belgium and Cedar Grove. Our appetites preceded us to the turn-around point and we were looking forward to a sandwich at a local coffee shop. As we rolled into the middle of town we were distracted by some old sounding music, played on an old PA system. My plane of reference was beginning to tilt, but was quickly grounded again by the scent of grilled food, why, it must be a festival! It turned out to be Cedar Grove's Hollandfest, and we arrived just as it had opened. Looking around the park while we ate some brats, we passed a small pavillion where they were selling something called Oliebollen, which were being kept warm in a dozen or so nesscos (roaster ovens). The oliebollen turned out to be small round fried cake doughnuts, did I mention that they were homade? They had raisins, or not, and were rolled in sugar. Warm and fresh, they were very tasty. Honey asked if we had died and gone to heaven, I wasn't sure...
We lingered a bit, and turned to the way back. It was a bit windy but the doughnuts were great fuel for the remaining 15 miles.

Vacation week. Last week was spent mostly relaxing around the house, a "staycation" if you will. We got out on our bikes several times and that was nice, but it's fun to get out of town and ride some of the great state trails, many of which are only a short drive from Milwaukee or Madison. The choice this time was to do the Sugar River Trail, it's pretty with wildflowers this time of year and is fairly flat, so we could get in a nice long ride. This whole area is very bike friendly, and while Honey and I love the rail-trails, there is plenty of smooth quiet road to be followed as well.
Brodhead was the starting point this time, because we really wanted to stay at the wonderful hotel right at the trail head. Earth Rider Cycling is a lovely little hotel upstairs, and a real bike shop downstairs. The decor is all about le Tour de France, and each room pays homage to a different rider of that race. Bike friendly and comfortable, we really enjoyed our stay and look forward to returning.
The ride itself was interesting, after a big small-town breakfast at the restaurant a couple of doors down from Earth Rider, we headed out on a trail that was wet from a heavy storm the night before. We made about 7 miles, clearing limbs where they fell across the trail, when we were caught by a fairly heavy shower. Honey was convinced that the rain would not last, and as we continued it did clear up. At about 11 miles we were stopped by a small tree that had fallen, so we turned around and beat it back to the hotel, then we could get in a shower before going home. Though not as long as expected, it was still a nice ride.

One day, 3 bike trails. It was honey's idea to ride from home all the way out to the Glacial Drumlin trail yesterday. I thought it was an excellent idea, but knew she might regret it by the time we were done..

The Kinnickinnic river parkway is near our home, it's part of the Oak Leaf trail. We started on that, then cut across town towards the Honey Creek and Root River parkways, which took us to Greenfield park.


The New Berlin Rec trail is a great way to get from Milwaukee to Waukesha. One must traverse some city streets to reach the Glacial Drumlin trail, but it's pleasant, and there are coffee shops!

We made it! Twenty miles from home, and all we have to do is turn around and ride back...

Jamming speed Sir!

Blueberry-rhubarb and strawberry-rhubarb. Honey and I made jam today, toast tomorrow with jam hooray!

Wagons, Ho!

We're all set for Jazz in the park . I purchased a great little wagon from a nice guy who had posted it on Craigslist. Now I can grab a couple of sandwiches, pack some beverages, and go stake out a spot in the park. Shortly thereafter, my honey will get off of work and come down to meet me. This is pretty much heaven for us, and one of the best parts of Milwaukee's summer. Click the picture for a biggee if you wish a better look at the neighbors' puppy.

It could be worse

At least I'm not bald...

Bagel french toast! We didn't have any regular bread in the house, there's always Hunger Filler in the freezer, but no soft squishy stuff. There was a package of big soft wheat bagels though, and after an extra long soak in the milky egg mixture we browned them in a frypan before baking them in the oven for 20 minutes. The thing that made them jump from tasty to incredible was a little spoonful of cream cheese in the center of each puffy treat.

Jazzy Fetch from baldyeaglehead on Vimeo.

Jazz playing from baldyeaglehead on Vimeo.

Snowy Milwaukee

This is the first day in a few where I haven't needed to go out and s****l, and boy it's nice to just sit!

Aliens are eating your Christmas pie!

Have a happy holiday.

POP!

Note to self. When using the bathroom, remember to leave the cat out. I happened to be sitting down on the porcelain this morning when I felt a curious paw reach between the rim of the seat and the crease of my backside. Damn, I thought I had an airtight seal.....

We put the bikes in the basement today, sigh. We'll have to try to get on the Nordic track once in a while, or go over to big fanny (Bally's formerly Vic Tanny, get it?) We did ride about 840 miles this year, and had a great time doing so. Congrats to my honey for sticking with, and occasionally kicking my butt.

Play nice!

Kitty Sweater

Someone decided to try and remove their own stiches after a spay operation and is now sporting a stylish sweater. The doctor used plenty of glue to hold all the sweetness in, and Jazz should be fine as long as she behaves herself.

Jazz is a very soft and sweet little kitty, but very sassy. She is like a monkey in a mink coat!

Another boring cat video...

By popular request
more kitten pictures

This was our show for sunday morning, two furry dorks...

Lazy Kittez from baldyeaglehead and Vimeo.

After a nice breakfast, we'll drive up to Port Washington for a relaxing bike ride.

Kitten eyes, sassy and sweet

We rode the Mesabi Trail with Andy and his folks a couple of weeks ago. The ride was very scenic, and 52 miles was plenty long enough. Did I mention climbing 2500 feet of elevation? I'm very proud of Cathy for toughing it out to the end