Driftless Area

Much of southwestern Wisconsin is known as the driftless area:  where the glaciers never covered the land in ice.  It's characterized by steep bluffs and deep river valleys. The Kickapoo River runs through here.  

Kickapoo is an Algonquin name for "one who goes there, then here."  Sixty miles as the bird flies from its source to its mouth, the Kickapoo zig zags 126 miles.  The Kickapoo watershed is nearly half a million acres. 

Recently, Julia and I set off for Wildcat Mountain State Park between the small towns of Hillsboro and Ontario.  We elected to ignore Google Map's fastest route in favor of county highways and town roads that took us through Amish country and beautiful scenery.  

On a weekday, we were the only vehicle in the state park's parking lot.  Trail conditions required some caution with snow and ice on the north-facing slopes and mud on the south-facing slopes. The views on top of Wildcat Mountain (a Wisconsin hill/bluff) and the brisk wind made us feel alive. 

Callie is catching drops from the melting icicles.

After finishing up our hike on the Old Settlers Trail, we drove to the Hillsboro Brewing Company for pizza and beer. 

The pizza was good, inexpensive and was big enough for leftovers on a second day.  As I was sipping my "Joe Beer", a no-nonsense porter with no added flavoring, I spied an interesting sign over by the cashier.

 

 

Of course, I had to ask.  Apparently, the new canning equipment wasn't filling all of the cans full of beer.  Some had as little as six ounces in a can, while others nearly 10 or 11 ounces.  The shorted cans couldn't be sold with the regular labels.  Hmmm, at $12/case, we were pretty excited to bring home a case of "no label" stout.

Harvest

For many years, Julia and I have followed a tradition to harvest our Christmas tree from one of the many area Christmas tree farms.  This year, we tried out a new place:  Miller's Christmas Trees near Rio, Wisconsin.

Julia is always very excited about these excursions.  I might be a little less excited.

I trudged down the rows of Christmas trees in search of the perfect little white pine.

This one will work.

No chain saw  necessary

Next, we were off for a celebratory margarita and dinner at a new Mexican restaurant in Columbus, Wisconsin.

Mine proved to be a little bigger and stronger than I expected.  Since I was driving, Julia offered to use my regular margarita to dilute her jalapeno margarita.  The food was excellent (for small town Wisconsin).

The Sound of Silence

They say that introverts gain energy from reflection and lose energy in social gatherings.  Yeah, that's me.  I like being around people, but it does suck my energy.  This past week, we had a house full of invited guests, and it was great to see everybody.  

But when everyone was gone, I found myself breathing a little easier.  One of the things that I really like about our house is the quiet.  We are a long ways from the road and any neighbors.  In the winter, the silence is palpable.  

Justin ended up in the hospital yesterday with extreme side back pain.  He told the doctor that he had sprained his oblique muscle.  Nope, the doctor said, pneumonia.  So they set up an IV with antibiotics and opiate pain relievers.  Today, he's already feeling better, but I hope they can figure out what caused the fluid in his lung.  

He had pneumonia a few years ago, but it was associated with a bad cold and fever.  This presentation was much different with just the extreme back pain.  Young men with Duchennes muscular dystrophy have two big worries:  heart failure and lung failure.  Justin's heart is in good shape, given his diagnosis, but his weakened lungs are a concern. We're all hoping for a quick recovery.  

Oh, in extended family situations or with people he knows, Justin is definitely an extrovert.

October Snow

The weather has definitely turned cold here in south-central Wisconsin.  With lows in the 20's, highs in the low 30's, and light snow today, it feels more like winter than fall.  

Not much going on this week, so it will be a quick update.  The truck has continued to start each day, although my confidence has kept me closer to home for the time being.  

I spent Saturday afternoon and evening at my son Justin's apartment, watching a movie and a football game.  I also brought requested Culver's.

My outdoor pickleball season is close to the end or has ended.  I might get another day or two in if temperatures approach 50 again.  It's been a great summer, and I comfortably play at the 4.0 level now.  That's good enough for me.

With the weather turning cold, I winterized the Scamp and put it away for the winter.  My attention will now turn to firewood processing and stacking for next year.  This year's stacks are ready to go, and Callie has assumed the position by the stove.

 

We will stay close to home for the rest of the year.  There is a large extended family gathering planned at our house Thanksgiving week.  Allie is headed for Puerto Vallarta that week, but will be home for Christmas.

Some of  this winter's plans are up in the air, but they will include an extended stay at Doreen's place in Bisbee for late winter/early spring.

Road Trip to Dubuque

Julia came back from her early morning workout (4:50 a.m.) full of ambition, as I lazily sipped my cup of coffee. "Let's go somewhere," she suggested.

The weather forecast for home was not promising.  It was supposed to rain most of the day.  In fact, while we were gone, there was significant hail denting cars and rooftops (not ours).

As regular readers of my blog know, we are fans of the Mississippi River and surrounding bluffs.  With the weather front moving northwest, the skies of Dubuque,Iowa would be rain-free by noon.  For this trip, we retrieved Callie's soft-sided, portable kennel and all climbed into Julia's Subaru.  

Ninety minutes later, we crossed into Iowa.  

Quick story:  When my father was a young boy, he decided that he wanted to leave Cedar Rapids, Iowa and sneaked on to a train west.  He got as far as Dubuque before being discovered.  His father (my grandfather) was not pleased.

 As soon as we descended from the Mississippi River bridge, we took the first exit and backtracked to one of Dubuque's riverside parks, which includes a municipal campground.  I haven't stayed there before, but $15 seems like a fair price for a "no electric" site on the river.

Site 56

From the park, there was a paved walking trail with nice views and sitting benches.

Callie letting me know it was time for more walking

We followed the trail along the back bay behind the old Greyhound Park (now a casino).  

 

When the track first opened in 1985, I attended one of the first races.  I was disappointed to learn that the dogs often knock each other down.  I was never a big gambler, but even making a $2 bet on a dog that gets knocked down on the first turn isn't very satisfying.  Wisconsin's dog tracks didn't last very long before going out of business.  Dubuque's track was in operation from 1985 until last year.  

From the river, we could see a lookout way up on the bluffs on the north end of Dubuque.  After consulting a map, we learned that there was a city park on top of the bluff and drove off to find it.  Eagle Point park has an admission fee of $1, and there is a sign on the booth, "Everybody pays."  There was no one there to collect the fee or donation box, so we headed up.

I would have gladly paid $1.  The views were spectacular.

Later, we drove through the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Garden.  We drove through some neighborhoods, checking out a new 55+ community going in.  And we had to check out the pickleball courts, which didn't seem too active. 

Before heading home, we enjoyed a meal at 7 Hills Brewing Company.  I can recommend the IPA.  I was tempted to try one of their imperial stouts, but Julia informed me that I would be driving home.

Anyone who says that Iowa is flatter than a pancake hasn't been to Dubuque.  It's a small city that we both look forward to exploring more.  

New-to-me truck update:  The local guy who owns a tow truck and service shop came yesterday morning, tried to start it, and gave me his preliminary diagnosis that it needed a new starter.  ("Click") He verified that the battery was good and ordered a new starter.  Before pushing it out of the shop, he tried to start it one more time, and it started right up.  

From that point, he couldn't get it not to start.  I picked it up and it started right up, and it has continued to start.  The woman at the front desk joked that my truck had a ghost.  I don't know what to think at this point but am hoping for the best.  At least I wasn't charged an arm and leg for the tow and nothing for the shop time. 

Replacement Tow Vehicle

While Julia hates the vehicle purchase process, I rather enjoy it.  

First, I made a plan.  I wanted a truck that was 2019 or newer and had less than 60,000 miles.  If it worked within my budget, I wanted to upgrade from my existing towing capacity and payload capacity.  I also wanted at least a six foot bed, so that I could camp in the back at some point with the purchase of a new or used topper.  

I didn't have any particular manufacturer in mind.  I considered and looked at the Nissan Titan, Toyota Tacoma and Tundra, Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, and Dodge Ram.  I stopped at about a dozen dealerships and talked to salesmen until I had a real good idea about the used market and what my trade-in was realistically worth  

I considered standard cab, king cab, and crew cab.  I liked the standard cab for the long bed feature, but I would have needed to buy a topper almost immediately because Julia was not going to ride shotgun with Callie.  The ideal would have been a king cab, but they just don't make as many of those anymore.  Selection was very limited.

I found a 2020 Nissan Titan in my price range with low miles, but realized after laying down in the back of the bed that it was too short to sleep in.

I nearly bought a 2019 Toyota Tundra with 60k miles on it, but it had these huge butt-ugly red splash decals all over both sides of the rear half of the vehicle and also red splashes inside the cab.

That would not have passed the Julia test.  The salesman didn't think the decals could be removed from the outside without damaging the paint but was going to look into it for me.  It had a Leer topper included that I liked a lot.  

In the end, I went with a 2020 Dodge Ram, Big Horn edition.  It had 39k miles.   I ended up getting 7k in trade for the Nissan and negotiated 5k off the asking price of the Dodge.  My new-to-me truck has more features and technology than I necessarily was looking for, but I have a feeling that is just the wave of the future.  

Closing the deal only required waking out of the dealership twice--once on the price of the Dodge and once on the price of the Nissan.  The thing about negotiating the best price is that you have to be willing to walk away from the deal.  The salesman and his manager tried to convince me that this was the truck of  my dreams.  I had to convince them that I was willing to drive the Nissan for 60k more miles if the transaction exceeded my budget.  As in all good negotiations, neither of us was totally happy with the final result.  But I could live with it.  

When I got home, the Toyota salesman emailed that they could get the decals off without damaging the paint.  The Tundra wasn't meant to be.

Return to the Regularly Scheduled Program

That's a long enough break from blogging.  

Being broken down in southern Illinois affected me in a number of ways that were unsettling.   I didn't like being stuck without transportation one bit.  After 80k miles of dependable service, the Nissan Frontier failed me.  Additionally, it was becoming clear that it was the first in a number of problems that were about to occur in a vehicle with 140k miles.  

Noises that probably had been going on for some time began driving me crazy with worry.  Transmission?  Engine?  Rear end?  Front end?  Suspension?  Anyway, the long and short of it is that I lost confidence in my vehicle.  But what to do next?  

The blue book value of the 2013 Nissan Frontier had dropped over the years.   Out of curiosity, I tried out the Carvana system to see what it was worth, and they offered $5100.  I could feel the Nissan's shocks and springs sag a little more.  

So when Julia was in Africa, I went and checked out the new and used truck market. I quickly ruled out new.  More on that in a future blog post.

Julia had a great time in southern Africa.  She spent most of her time in South Africa, but also visited Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Zambia.  I think the highlights of her trip were visiting Capetown, the southern-most point of South Africa, and the safaris.    She said I would have loved Capetown but would have hated the safaris.   

While in the back-country, there was no opportunity for exercise/hiking.  Because of the wild animals/predators, they  needed an armed escort anytime they were out and about after dark, even in camp.  While I like viewing animals, long, hot days in a jeep without exercise wouldn't have suited me.  Also, it was Africa-hot, she said, which means temperatures up to 102 Fahrenheit during the day and very warm nights.  Scheduled power outages were frequent during the day and night.

I'll post a selection of her photos below.

 

Dinner prep

Caterpillar--Protein Staple

Not Julia's favorite dish

Cheetah

Close enough

Julia and her companion had a great time, although traveling 24 hours to another continent did not go without a hitch.  Elizabeth missed her flight from California due to a mechanical issue and had to be re-routed through Germany, arriving a day late.  Julia's luggage was lost on the way home but eventually found its way to our house.  The airline claimed that she had failed to pick it up at her New Jersey connection, but Julia had placed an Air Tag inside the suitcase, so we knew exactly where it was (still in Africa).  It was interesting watching it make its way back to us with the airline still in denial.  

I didn't ask for a souvenir from Julia's trip, but she bought me one anyway.

Zambezi is Zimbabwe's national beer.  I drank it last night with some crackers, hummus and cheese spread.  A clean-tasting lager, it wasn't bad and would surely have been refreshing on an Africa-hot day.

Temperature Relief and Update

When I arrived home from the southern Illinois misadventure, the high temperatures continued in Wisconsin with our warmest days of the year.  With our well-shaded home, we rarely use the air-conditioning, but it received its first work-out of the season.  

Callie and I took early morning walks (5 a.m. before sunrise) to get our steps in.  Then we both retreated to the basement for most of the rest of the day.  

The weather finally turned this week.  Julia was up in Door County with some girlfriends, so I played pickleball every day.  One of the guys I recently got to know at pickleball turned out to be the fraternity roommate of my dormitory roommate.  Small world.  We both like pickleball and good small breweries, so we've gone out for beers a couple of times too.  I had pretty much lost touch with our mutual friend Joe, but Mick has stayed in contact, so it was fun catching up.  Maybe we will all get together someday for a beer.

I completed the repair of the Scamp bathroom door after consulting my friend Dean.  The door was previously held in place by small screws from the inside bathroom door trim to the outside bathroom door trim. After 22 years, the screws had backed out or stripped.  I drilled bigger holes and put in machine screws with fender washers and an acorn nut.  It seems  much better secured.  

In the last few days, the weather has been much cooler with lows at night in the 40's.  I celebrated with hikes at Gibraltar Rock and at Pheasant Branch.  I also restarted my sourdough starter and baked some bread to take the chill off.  I like fall.

I have no September plans to Scamp.  Allie will be home again this weekend  and staying for a week before she stands up in a friend's wedding the following weekend.  At the end of the month, Julia leaves for a long-planned trip to South Africa with a girlfriend from optometry school.  I may take a trip then but probably will travel within Wisconsin.

Why am I not going to Africa?  It's just not a place that I have any current desire to visit.  Ten years ago, I wanted to hike Mount Kilimanjaro, but that desire has faded away.  Julia is going to do a safari, and that doesn't sound like fun for me, especially given the expense.  I'm glad she has a girlfriend to go with, and so is the girlfriend's husband who also declined not to go.  

Next year will likely be a big travel year for us here in the U.S.  I'll save my pennies for those trips. 

Home again, Home again, Jiggety-jog.

At 8 a.m. on Monday, when K&J Chevrolet opened, I called the service department and asked if my part had come in (squeaky wheel gets the grease).  They found out that it had arrived at the Nissan dealer in Centralia.   The parts driver told me later that he was on the road to Centralia by 8:10.

At 2:25 p.m. the service department called and told me that my truck was ready.  By 3 p.m. the parts driver picked me up at the campground in my Nissan, and I drove him back and took care of my bill.  It was just over $1000, and almost $800 of that was for the part.  There was no charge for the two trips back and forth to the campground, which was a good 25 minutes each way from Carlisle.  

I was originally hoping that the service department could repair the shifter, but I think that was probably unrealistic.  After 139,000 miles, it was plumb worn out.  Vibration had caused screws to back out, and brackets to bend badly.  It was an expensive part, but I feel better knowing that I probably won't have to worry about the shifter assembly ever again.  

I would recommend K&J Chevrolet to anyone needing service in the Carlyle, Illinois area.  The part delay was out of their control.  Once it arrived, they took care of me, knowing that I was in a difficult position. 

I was so sick of Lake Carlisle and the campground after 8 days of not being mobile.   But last night, the temperature was dropping, and the lake looked beautiful (now that I had my truck back).

I cooked the last of my hamburger (an 8 ounce patty) with Swiss cheese and a stale bun that tasted fine toasted and enjoyed knowing that I could leave any time I wanted.

This morning, I was up at 5 a.m. before first light.  After a quick breakfast, I made a thermos of coffee and hitched up.  We dumped (Callie watches carefully) and were on the road by 6:30 a.m.  It was a 7 hour drive home, and I could have broken it up into two days, but I was anxious to finish the trip off.  Allie is home for a short visit on her way to Montreal with college friends, and she will be leaving tomorrow morning.  

Tonight, it's rib-eyes, portabella mushrooms, and a glass of good red wine. 

Step One

 I’ve been stuck in this campground for eight nights now, and we’re feeling a little claustrophobic. The good beer is all gone, and most of the cheap beer is too.

Callie: “Not Miller High-Life?”

I called the auto service desk this morning when it opened, and they were eventually able to confirm that my part arrived at the Nissan dealer twenty miles away. Their driver has to go get the part, and then the service department has to work it into the schedule for replacement of the broken shift assembly. With good luck, I won’t need to pursue contingency plans for an alternative way to move the trailer by Thursday when my campsite is reserved for someone else. I’ll update this post when I learn more.

Stuck in IL

I had the best of plans to blog about our lovely stay at Thomson’s Causeway while I was staying at my next stop in south-central Illinois. But I fell into a bit of a funk, and here’s the post that explains why.

My next reservation was not very well thought-out. I basically went there to take advantage of my senior pass discount. A few minutes after unhooking my Scamp, I went to pull the truck forward, and then couldn’t get it to shift from drive to park.  I worked until well after dark to diagnose and fix the problem. Nissan has had trouble with vibration causing problems with the Frontier shift assembly. Taking everything apart and tightening a screw can sometimes fix the problem.

Unfortunately, my screw was missing, and the insides were badly bent. I am a long ways from auto service. The Nissan dealer couldn’t have the Nissan mechanic even look at it for over a week. If I had the truck towed there, no loaner car or shuttle service back to the campground was available. I would have had to hitchhike little-used secondary roads with temps close to 100 and Callie to deal with.

I had the truck towed to a Chevy dealer in the opposite direction who promised me that I wouldn’t get stranded there, although no loaner cars were available there either. Rentals were not available in either town.

At the end of Monday, it was decided that the shifter assembly could not be repaired, and a new assembly was needed. No one had the part locally, including the Nissan dealer. It was ordered from Nissan on Monday night, shipped on Tuesday. Estimated delivery is 3 to 5 business days. It’s not here as of Friday mid-day, and it looks like I will be here into next week.

To make matters more unpleasant, there is very little to do here. A heat dome has settled over us the entire week with the heat index as high as 120. The biting horseflies are as big as hummingbirds.  There are lots of other insects:  mosquitoes and several smaller varieties of flies and gnats.

On the plus side, my neighbor Bill has been very helpful, taking me to Walmart for groceries and supplies, and providing companionship in an otherwise depressing, claustrophobic circumstance. He has moved on to his next destination, but I have enough food to get me well into next week. The AC in the Scamp has been a life-saver, although we had a several hours long power outage this morning. It’s cranking cold air again, and I pray that continues.

Internet is limited to one bar LTE so I will keep photos to a minimum.

Carlyle Lake

I have this spot reserved until next Thursday morning. Someone else has it reserved that afternoon. I can only hope I’ll be gone by then.

Thomson Causeway

I moved downstream on the Mississippi River to a different COE. 

The river here is very, very wide but so shallow that water plants threaten to overtake it in places. I’ve only stayed here in the early spring when the plant growth was just starting for the season. 

Open channel during spring

Every morning and evening, I am serenaded by sand-hill cranes. Lots of other quieter birds too. The egrets are much more patient fishermen than the humans.

Yesterday, I checked out a new brewery (and only brewery) in Clinton, Iowa, across the river. It was built inside a huge former church and is called Great Revivalist Brewing. 

I had a milk stout on a nitrogen line that was excellent. I’ll return when Julia arrives. I had to check it out first, of course.

Sunset on the Iowa side

Blackhawk COE (Desoto, Wisconsin)

This is a wrap-up of my time at Blackhawk and a note to myself for future consideration.  

I've been to Blackhawk about a handful of times now.  After each time, I like it better and better.  For amenities, there are flush toilets, free, clean showers with good water pressure, and a dump station.  Each campsite has a picnic table and fire ring.  Many of the campsites, including the one I stayed in, have a water view.  With the senior discount, campsites with electricity are $13/night.

Despite the fact that water is everywhere, the mosquitoes aren't bad except at dusk.  Even then, the blood suckers aren't any worse than they are at home.  Firewood is available in large bundles at the rv park up the road at a reasonable price but it was junk and  burned poorly.  Note:  don't buy it again.  You would think I would have learned by now. 

There are many roads, paths, and trails for Callie walks.  Leashes are required, and campers are generally respectful of the rules.  There are no grocery stores nearby, but there are a few bars with food in Desoto and Ferryville.  City services are about 30 minutes away in either Prairie Du Chien or La Crosse.  There's a Cabella's (camping supply store) in PDC.  

TV and radio stations come in clearly from La Crosse.  Sunsets and sunrises are both amazing.  Often, fog covers the water in the morning but burns off quickly.  There are a ton of tent sites available for boondocking, but the difference in price and privacy isn't worth it in my estimation.  These sites are also on the lowest ground, which is usually water-covered in the spring.  

During the weekend, there was a large group of African-American dads and sons camping in the group area.

I thought this was one of the coolest things ever.  Diversity is an uncommon thing in Wisconsin's camping world.  And it was clear that many of the dads didn't have much camping experience but were out there for the bonding with their sons and "little brothers."  Of course, it stormed hard Thursday and Friday night, so many of the campers and their belongings got totally soaked.  From all appearances, they still had a blast. 

Yesterday, I drove through the rain along Hwy 35 (the Great River Road) and then on a lot of county highways and tertiary roads along the river in Illinois.  Whoever said that Illinois was flat hasn't driven along the Mississippi River.  

It rained last night, and it's raining again today.  A good day for reading newspapers and books.  The rest of the week looks sunny and dry.  Julia will be joining me in a few days.

 

Storm and the Morning After

Yesterday was hot and humid.  The air was still--the calm before the storm approaching.  I went out to a nearby bar in the mid-afternoon to beat the crowd with a traditional Wisconsin fish fry, along with a PBR.  Total cost:  $12.

I don't watch much tv in the Scamp.  It's nice to have once in awhile.  Last night, as I watched the Packers first exhibition game, there were frequent weather alerts.  A tornado in southeastern Minnesota, along with tennis ball sized hail, lightning, etc.  Thankfully, very little of the storm hit here thirty minutes south of La Crosse.  After dark, the wind, lightning and black clouds moved across quickly.  No harm, no foul.

This morning, there was a heavy fog, which gave way to clear skies and calm weather.

We have one more day here at Blackhawk COE and then will follow the river south.