Road Trip

Off I went. Morris scrambled and barked in his crate as I shut the door and got into the car.
The rain was spitting down and the temperatures had suddenly become very fall-like.

Here was my 'big' trip to go see Lily and the rest of the gang.  I promised myself that this time when I crossed the Wisconsin River on Highway 21, I would take the time to pull into the wayside and get a shot of the river and the bridge.
The leaves have gone but the pines still are brilliant green against the dull backdrop of dormant trees.  Most oaks still have their leaves and the wild clouds all made for a fairly good photograph.

Although as I knelt by the river a very cold wind blew into my face. And I decided not to spend too long of a time there.

My real intent had been to go back to the Subaru and get a ND filter so I could have a long exposure of the sky, bridge, and the water.  I decided to heck with it and packed up.

I went to use the restroom and decided against that also.  The smell of the toilets were ripe even with the winds.
Note to self, the place is worth stopping at, but get a whiff of the bathrooms!

I headed east towards Coloma and stopped at the Ship Rock Wayside.  There are a few tables there and the garbage cans have been removed for the season.
I got out and was surprised that I was not cold.  In this area I was somewhat protected from the winds by the surrounding forest.

 

I went around to the backside of the 'rock' and found some exotic looking fern growth on the side of mossy rocks.

Leaves had blown into a dip in the rocks and were the nearly the only fall colors left.

I stopped for coffee before getting on the interstate and headed to Wausau to meet with my son and see Elena and Sterling before he had to go to work.

After I checked in to my motel I got a text from Lily.  Her mom would drop her off with me after she finished her CCE classes!

When Lily showed up we headed to the motel pool.  I sat on the edge of the pool .... note to self... get a swim suit!
We talked and she swam and played.
By 9pm we thought we should retire.

We watched it snow outside for a bit and tried to thing of cool things to do while I was here.  Rib Mountain State Park or Dells of Eau Clair?