Dells of Eau Claire County Park

 

Julia took a trip back in time at this 28 site campground along the Eau Claire River near Aniwa, Wisconsin. On a Monday night, we were one of four rigs present. An Ice Age trail thru hiker came in late on Tuesday night and was breaking camp in the rain early Wednesday morning. 

Sites are $21/night plus the $7 required  Reserve America tithe. All sites were electric. No generators permitted. A water spigot is available at the firewood station. No dump station. 

Julia’s family tent camped here several times when she was a child. She remembers bullhead fishing, and her Grandpa doing a big fish fry.

We were here to start training for longer hikes in preparation for the Inca Trail trip later this year. The Ice Age trail has a segment in the park and another segment only a few miles away. That hike will be the topic of the next post.

The Dells of Eau Claire are a set of rocks and rock walls through which the river runs. The rock formations were beautiful. The water quality appeared  less than ideal with soapy scum piling up in places.

Gone camping

 

No internet service. Camped along the Eau Claire River and hiking the Plover River Segment of Ice Age Trail

Puerto Vallarta: A State of Mind

From November 2021

I'm an early riser, so I was up before dawn on our first morning and sat out on the dark balcony watching the city start to wake up.  Puerto Vallarta is smaller than Madison, Wisconsin, but has the feeling of a much bigger city.  

Tourism is the biggest industry, and Americans/Canadians outnumbered Mexicans on many of the streets close to the beach.  English is widely spoken.  I rarely needed to use my Duolingo Spanish, although it was helpful at times.  Our condo was in the Zona Romantica, a/k/a Viejovallarta (Old Town).  This neighborhood is known for tourism and open arms for the LGBT community. There's something here for everyone:  restaurants, art galleries, beach sports, and shopping.

 

Puerto Vallarta has a Malecon (paved walkway) along the beach that is about a mile long.  There's always something going on there: live music, street performers, paragliding, food/drink carts, etc.   

Beyond the Malecon to the south are beautiful rocky beaches with tidepools.  

View to the South

 

Sea Urchin

By the end of our first day, we felt completely comfortable and relaxed.  Did I mention that I really like Puerto Vallarta?

Neighbors

Every year, around mid-May, we get new neighbors.  The hardest working farmer, Davey, brings some of his calves out of the barn and moves them to the pasture next to our front yard.  Like human neighbors, they sometimes overstep their bounds.  As I walked back from town today, they ran along the fence hoping that I was going to feed them.  Steers aren't terribly smart, but they can figure out when the electric fence isn't working.  That's when we have cattle in our garden and fruit trees.

Davey is a small-time farmer with only 40 acres.  Part of his operation is to raise steers.  He supplements the grass with silage from the corn he grows.  It's quite a contrast to some of the big farms out west with limited water.  Davey's problem is too much water.  Sometimes, he can't plant the corn until June.  I saw him with a stuck tractor in the mud earlier this week. 

We have new human neighbors too.  A nice young couple with a toddler. They commute to Madison and are quiet (so far) when at home. The former occupants ran a business out of the house with lots of truck and van traffic.  

Some may remember we had another neighbor further up the hill who spent some time in jail related to multiple OWI's.  His underage kids threw parties when dad was in jail.  All of that went away when Covid foreclosure rules expired. The bank took back the house and started fixing it up. 

Puerto Vallarta: Flight and Arrival

From November 2021

We hadn't flown in nearly a year.   I have to admit that flying was a strange feeling.  Masks were required; Julia and I were double masked. Every time someone coughed, I cringed inside.

The flight itself was smooth.  Immigration and Customs were easy.  After that, there's a bit of a gauntlet to the sidewalk with timeshare and excursion salesman.  Once on the street, the cheapest option to get to Old Town ( Zona Romantica) is the bus, and it's less than a buck.  

Julia preferred a taxi with our big suitcases, so I guided her away from the official taxi line, up some stairs,  across a nearby pedestrian bridge, and down some stairs to cheaper taxis with no wait.  Twenty minutes later we arrived at our condo building on Lazaro Cardenas across from the park. 

The front desk staff was waiting for us and provided the key to our room.  It was pretty sweet and met all of my expectations.

Balcony

Living Room

The views on the roof were pretty good too.

But we didn't come to Puerto Vallarta to hang out in the room.

Pretty Good First Day

 

After Thanksgiving: Where to Go

 

 

From November 2021

Last fall was a stressful season trying to get Justin into a better care giver situation and/or living situation.  We tried but did not succeed.  I won't go into all of the details, but Justin didn't seem very invested in our efforts.  He was okay with the bare minimum and was totally unwilling to move to Madison, where there were more caregivers and services.  We worried constantly about hygiene issues, eating habits, his college status,  and missed doctor appointments, but there wasn't anything we could do.  And he didn't seem worried at all, except about our nagging and worrying. 

We had a long discussion during which he told us to stop worrying and go somewhere.

Thanksgiving 2021

 

We were double vaxed, freshly boosted, and ready for international travel.  We looked hard at the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico, but in the end decided to return to Puerto Vallarta, where I traveled in 2017.

Julia wanted to upgrade from my budget hotel last time, and I wanted to stay longer this time, so we compromised on a cheap flight and an Airbnb condo a few blocks away from the beach. Reservations for Callie were made at the bare-bones kennel, where their job is to keep Callie fed, safe and away from other dogs. 

On November 29th, we drove to Chicago, checked into our Stay and Park hotel, and got up early the next day.  It was time for another travel adventure.