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. 

Away away...

Google Maps and directions said that it would take two hours and thirty minutes to Eau Claire.

It felt strange to set out on an adventure to a place I'd never been and to meet a person who I didn't really know. Well, she is married to one of my cousins so we just call each other cousin.
It started in the fall when I received a package from Jeanette with a letter.

An unexepected surprise...

I called Jeanette and we talked for quite a while on the phone. We decided to meet up after the holidays and get together. Both of us are CareGivers and we thought it would be fun to schedule a break. 

Well suffice to say that Winter became a daunting barrier for any get together. But finally our planned weekend worked out and we were able to meet up.

Eau Claire is a stunning Wisconsin city with beautiful parks and trails everywhere. On one side of the river the buildings rose glistening and stunning. On the other side of the river we walked along small Victorian homes with no road in front of them to block the river's view. College kids were everywhere on skateboards, bicycles, and foot. We watched one young man with ear buds on dance as he walked. While we were on the bridge above the river a woman dressed in a business suit and walking shoes glided past us and met up with a man sitting on a bench. We watched a young lady try to execute a couple of fancy jumps with roller skates ... and fail. 

Wow. I'm getting ahead of myself. Our first day was spent exploring Eau Claire. We got lost but my Garmin saved the day. We spent some time walking through a mall and window shopping. We talked.
And we talked.
and..
we
talked.
So much time had passed in our lives that we had years and years to catch up on. A history of our own lives, that of our children, our grand children...our family members...well that list seemed endless. We ended up being quite surprised that suddenly it was 1am.

We decided to go to sleep and begin our day with a good breakfast across the street and a hike in Carson Park. 

So when we found Carson Park we decided to just take off and start walking. We talked about the how we ended up here. We talked about my parents and my father. I am so surprised at how all of my cousins I've spoken to have such wonderfully fond memories of my father. They loved Tom, he was such a kind man and so interesting.
Of course that subject came up as I pulled my camera out of my backpack and took some snaps of our walk.

 Below~ Paul Bunyan Logging Camp Museum

Thank goodness for Smart Phones. Neither one of us were familiar with good places to eat or places to walk.  We looked these items up on our phones and then followed Miss Garmin to the locations.

I got to speak to Jeanette's husband and was so surprised to hear that David had the same Midwestern twang I'd admired when he was a teen...and that belly laugh from deep down under was the same.

We checked out of the motel and headed to the restaurant across the street. We talked more over breakfast and eventually we both decided that we'd both have to go back to our homes.

However we made tentative plans for another visit in July. We are going to try and do an informal get together of the cousins. 

It seems we did well with our planning for our initial meet up. Winter storm warnings have been issued all across the state. We are both safely home and back to our CareGiving duties.

I'm watching the snow cover the green grass as I finish up typing this....