And we had a blast

The Big Bike Adventure.

It rained all morning and by noonish, we mounted up and headed out on the Sparta-Elroy State Trail. Sparta-Elroy State Trail. 

My cousin and his wife wanted to ride along the trail where we could go through the most old train tunnels. The trip one way would be 13 miles to the longest tunnel. The tunnels were for trains and some of the tunnels are over 140 years old.

Map below of the out and back route we took:

Photo in Infrared of my bike and at one of our first stops. 

The Kickapoo River near Wilton. Here the river looks more like just a little stream.

[photographed in Infrared with my little Canon ELPH]

Aaron brought his dog Ringo along. Ringo is his Spring Spaniel that he hunts pheasants with in the fall. Ringo is also considered as one of the family. 
Aaron said he hated to leave Ringo with others while he and his wife go on fun biking trips so he thought he'd train him to ride in the cart.

It went pretty darn well. I do have to say that Ringo was an extremely well behaved dog.

Speaking of carts. We saw a little tiny cart with 3 miniature Dachshunds in it! The dog's owners said the little dogs loved going on biking trips!

Hmmm. Wonder if Charlie would like to ride in one???

The first tunnel was made out of bricks. The work to make this tunnel was amazing. This tunnel is a quarter of a mile long . Bicyclist are to dismount and walk with headlamps or flashlights to get through the tunnel safely.

The second tunnel was short, more like an underpass than anything else. It was also full of water from the rains. We scooted through that and then pulled over and had sandwiches.

This last tunnel is 3/4 of a mile. This is where we stopped after peering into the tunnel. It was time to turn around and head back to camp. This tunnel had been blasted and chiseled out of rock.

All the tunnels had water in them and water dripping from above.  They were also quite cold!

On our way back, Monica decided that Aaron and I needed to have a photo together. Hint. I have the green helmet on. [Monica's photos]

Aaron, Monica, and me. Group selfie!

Me -- inside the first tunnel we went through. There were little alcoves all along the length of the tunnel. We have no idea what they would have been for.

The trip was so much fun.

On the trail and at camp, we talked about our childhood and all the adventures we had together as kids. The Tarzan Rope. Arnold the Grump, sledding the big hill, climbing trees, hunting frogs and snakes and all of the things we did while spending time in the summer together.

As kids and teens we were always the best of friends even if our mom's situations changed. We still don't understand all of it and don't dwell on it. 

The important part is we still enjoy each other's company and having adventures together.

I had such a great day. Good food, good conversations. AND a whole day off the farm! I have to thank my good neighbors for keeping an eye on hubby for me and making sure he was okay and had meals in my absence.

Conclusion regarding their E-bikes. They had pedal assist e bikes. Which means if you pedaled, it assisted the rider. I got to try it and I thought it was pretty neat. After all Aaron pulled his rather large dog in a carrier along the trail and I don't think he could have done that without the assist. 

One day I may even consider one. But I did fine with my regular bike. The trail did not have steep inclines in it.

---Oh... FYI: I am not sore today Eddie. 

Gone Shopping

Well, the whole idea of picking up some goofy stuff was to entertain ourselves by dressing up oddly and enjoying some time on the porch.
The last shot is my pal Daryl moving around in a 5 second exposure. I had hit the remote and told Amanda to hold still. Everyone else got blurred.
Not a perfect shot at all, but all of them still fun.

I got the leopard print shirt at the Thrift Store for .75 cents. The hat was a thrift store find from a year ago. The Teddy Bear? I think I paid .50 cents for it. One of the girls was wearing an old evening gown of mine from the 1990's.
Remember the Bumblebee Transformer Mask in the last post? Daryl is wearing that. We found it all hilarious and good fun.
Who the heck needs cable?

The rifle in the corner is a .BB gun.

I dug out some odd chairs that Rich had picked up years ago at an auction. We took those to the creek and set the beach chair at the edge of the creek. My Thrift Store teddy bears [and rabbit] looked great sitting on the 'beach'.

One of the kids put the kid's blue chair right in the middle of the creek and set a Baby Doll on it.

Saturday was another Thrift Store experience. I guess it could actually be called an Indoor Flea Market. I purchased a set of mini chickens. A Hen and Rooster.
The store is in Westby and it used to be an old Tobacco Warehouse.

On our way back through Viroqua, we stopped at Driftless Books and Music.

This was probably our best stop of the whole week. Books, books, and books. Oh yes, lots of music also.

I spent $11 dollars and bought two mysteries, a philosophical book and a book on backpacking.

I think finding odd stores and thrift stores are fun. I know I'll go back for some more books soon. 

Night Stalkers of Ice

Our fearless co-leader, Daryl walked ahead of our night hiking group.
My neighbor, Lauren met up with us at 8:30pm. Her kids were asleep and her hubby watching live stream video.
Daryl and Amanda's girls were watching a movie.

All was peaceful as we headed down into Awesome Creek. Well. Peaceful as can be with three women gabbing and hiking through the snow.

We got to the Ice Wall and I set up a tripod and the camera. Daryl used his flash light to light up the ice wall from behind the ice.

We used a red light for a bit of drama.

Then he lit up the wall for me.

And...how could we not resist us three gals lined up at the wall with funny faces?

Daryl set up my camera...

And took the shot...

The Night Walkers!
Okay, the three of us gals hamming it up in the dark next to an ice wall in the dark...in a creek.
Being goofy and letting our hair down was the whole point of leaving the kids behind.

We were all surprised with the speed that we could accomplish with just the four of us. I made a comment that sometimes having Morris along was like taking a 2 year old on a hike. I constantly had to keep an eye out for him and keep him under close watch. Morris always has his own ideas of where we should go.

In no time at all we'd reached the crossing.
I set up my camera and we took some amazing night shots.

The shots with the DC 2017 are from Daryl's cell phone. Some cell phones today are incredible and amazing aren't they?
The shot in red was ice lit up by a red light.

We spent a fairly long time experimenting and looking at the ice.

I decided to take them back to my 'office' chair in the woods and see if we couldn't get a group shot.
We had fun trying to get this shot to come out okay. This time, I remembered to bring the flash for the Olympus.
However, I'd left the spare batteries at home. So this is nearly the last shot I got before the battery warning light came on.

Daryl used a flashlight to light up his beard nicely, don't you think?

We went to the 'Curve' in the creek past the campfire ring, picnic table, and grill. Yes, there is about once or twice a year that someone actually comes to this spot and camps or cooks out.
It is pretty rare though.

I explained that we could go down further in the valley but it wasn't quite as interesting as this part of the valley.

We decided that it was time to lighten the load and have our adult beverage.

I mean, who can resist a Spotted Cow on a cold winter night while standing on a rock island in the middle of an icy creek?

Really?
We even had the smart brainy idea of trying to chill one of the beverages... a bit more...but it nearly washed away as it was partially empty.

We decided to try a group selfie and then head back up stream to explore the eastern part of the creek.
And have more fun adult time.

And...
we did.

Late that night after the goodbyes were said on the porch and we all went to bed...
I lay awake and thought to myself.

This was one of the most interesting and fun events I've had in a very long time.
I was happy.