On the western edge of Ashland, there is a very small city-owned campground that is almost always full. My morning walks with Callie take me through this park’s lovely trails.
Just off the trail are ponds fed by artesian springs.
It is so quiet and peaceful. Living in the present can be a challenge—but not here.
I’ve been exercising Callie on the rails to trails system in the small city of Ashland. Downtown, there’s an original opera house, being renovated into $400k condos.
I’m not a real estate expert, but I wonder who can afford these. This is not particularly an affluent town. If it was, I suspect that the opera house would not have been allowed to fall into such disrepair.
Just outside of town is a cabin.
Interesting.
I’m camped along the shores of Lake Superior at Wisconsin’s northern edge. I have a reason to be here in another week: the wedding celebration of a friend’s son and his bride. The bride’s family lives on an area farm.
My reason for being here early, ostensibly, is to make sure we have a campsite with air conditioning when we have to leave Callie here all day on the celebration day. It’s been hot in Wisconsin, even here in the far north, although the high will not hit 70 today.
My first view of the campground entrance was forboding. I decided to take a spin around and found one empty site. I quickly backed in. Before I unhitched, the friendly host was in my driveway and confirmed that it was my lucky day. Someone had just left, and this was the only site available.
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| Feeling Claustrophobic? |
However, the host continued with even better news. Your luck will be even better tomorrow. Hang around in the morning, and there will be a better spot if you don’t mind moving quickly. All sites here are first come, first serve.
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| Much better |
I’m here for a couple of weeks, enjoying breezes and cooler temperatures from Lake Superior.
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| Geese in early morning mist |
The river is very low, compared to times we’ve camped here in the past.
Julia took advantage of winds blowing upstream and spent some time in her inflatable kayak. She had to get out (and get wet) to get past the sandbars.
Callie is a fan of the river. I keep her leashed to avoid “exploring the other side” issues.
We ended the day at the Mississippi Brewing Company. The server started off with, “Don’t ask me about the beer because I don’t know anything about beer.”
Not a problem, I thought, ordering a milk stout from a Davenport brewery. Mississippi Brewing does not brew beer—just selling beers made elsewhere. My milk stout turned out to be a coffee-infused beer that barely had enough body to taste like a porter—nothing like a milk stout. I was tempted to pour it down the drain of the very cool keg fountain above. Of course, being frugal, I choked it down. Blech!
Next up. Heading north!
The sunrises are worth getting up for at Shady Creek.
Wildcat State Park is less than two miles from Shady Creek COE, and we always make sure to hike the trails here. When we arrived at about 9 a.m., there was a small wedding taking place. We backtracked to a different trail so we would not intrude.
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| Grist Mill |
Well, I didn't exactly win the Madtown Pickleball Open. We won some games but we also lost enough to get eliminated before advancing very far. My foot has been bothering me, so that gives me a good excuse to take a break from pickleball and get hitched up.
Last week, we drove to Shady Creek COE, one of our favorite Mississippi River campgrounds and just north of Muscatine, Iowa.
The new sign is a gift from Julia’s brother Scott.
We didn’t have any big plans. I spent some time reading. Callie kept an eye on things.
We made it to our favorite happy hour at Muscatine's Contrary Brewing, where Monday beers are $4.
Julia had a hazy IPA. I had a half pour of imperial stout, which I savored for just as long as Julia's larger beer. I'm not a huge imperial fan, but this was probably the best that I've ever had.
We made it back in plenty of time to enjoy an evening camped next the the big river.
This interesting rig was in our campground last night. The trailer appears to be a prototype from a California start-up company.
