I want a bath

Kohler Wisconsin is a jewel of a town. It is a company built town and has received awards for community planning. And in the heart of the town is the Kohler showroom, a design piece de resistance. (I don't spell very well in French, but I can pronounce it.)

More art gallery than sales exhibit, it is a salute to the bathroom. Ode to the commode. Fete to the toilet.

Words cannot describe.
I direct you to the photos.

https://picasaweb.google.com/margaret.lincoln/20110712Kohler#

On leaving Wisconsin

 

Why would anyone want to leave Wisconsin before winter? I cannot think of a single good reason, except that my map is worn to shreds.Minnesota might have gained the same status in my traveling book of records, except that the legislature reached a budgeting impass and shut down the state.  This is unfortunate for travelers, because all the state parks and all the waysides closed down.  Chained, locked, shuttered.  What this means is that all the precious natural wonders that the state so carefully protected by making them into parks are completely inaccessible.  I have the distinction of being among the last people to see the headwaters of the Mississippi the day before the parks closed.  Nobody knows for sure if it is still running, but I guess if shipping dries up in New Orleans, they'll send someone over to check it out.

So, we left Minnesota to keep its natural wonders locked and returned to Wisconsin.  Door County was there for the taking, with its multiple county parks (free) and state parks ($5 pass gives you time to explore and then move on) and Washington Island, out on the tippy tip of the thumb of Wisconsin's mitten shaped land. The name Door County comes from the French traders version of the Indian description of the passage between Washington Island and the peninsula as Death's Door. So many ships were wrecked there that the enterprising Europeans began to use the Indian portage at what is now Sturgeon Bay to access lower Green Bay and its lucrative trading routes.  Eventually it occured to them to dig a canal, and so Northern Door county is technically now an island. 

When I arrived at Death's Door, readying for a ferry ride and biking Washington Island, I suddenly felt as though I was about to step off the end of the earth.  The passage does look a little intimidating when the sun is not shining.  I felt all alone, as though I might never see anyone I knew again.  The feeling went away on the island, a quiet laid back place with its fair share of bars, one of them serving fresh lawyers.  I didn't ask.

 Minnesota and Wisconsin have a lot in common.  Biking trails, for instance.  Miles and miles of paved trails.  Both have more lakes than they can name, especially in the north.  Both have so much foilage that it is difficult to see much of the Great Lakes.  People own the land and build houses on the Great Lakes, and they don't seem to be inclined to clear the thick woods that give them privacy and prevent drivers from peering through their windows to get a peek of blue water.  Contrast this to Hiway 1 along the Pacific and I begin to appreciate California and Oregon's insistence on keeping the ocean in the public domain. 

 

Today, however, I discovered the stretch between Two Rivers and Manitowoc on Lake Michigan.  There the two cities have put in a hiking biking path along the water with wide open views.  Another reason never to leave Wisconsin. 

 

 

 

SWIP (senior, with iphone)

 

When I was nineteen I could walk into any convenience store and buy a six-pack of beer.  It was cool back then, looking older than I was. 

This summer, Carl has been routinely buying two senior tickets, one for him, and one for me.  He’s operating under the principle that rules differ from place to place, and maybe I am a senior.  It’s $2 here and $1 there, savings that are supposed to make me feel better about being older.  

But just between you and me, I wish they would card me.  I’m not a senior, I am a with-it, iphone packing chick. And I don’t need those senior discounts, because I am paying my way with the Gas Buddy ap on my iphone.  If I can’t save us a nickel a gallon every fill-up, I’m just not looking hard enough.

Got to go now, time to check today’s Groupon on my iphone to see if there’s half-price bungee-jumping in the area. 

14 Waterfall County

Marinette County, WI, has a 14 waterfall tour. How much better could it get?

I read a little further. "Park in the power line easement." "Take a small dirt road to the east." "Turnoff to parking can be rough." Descriptions not written to warm an RV driver's heart. Well, there's still nine waterfalls to see.

Reading on, I find "Follow some treacherous terrain along a high cliff." "Rocky and hilly terrain make good walking shoes a must." Surely insurance would cover the ER trip, but why risk it? Well, there's still four waterwalls to see.  Let's see which ones.

"Carney Rapids is not a waterfall but an area of rushing water just to the west of the bridge." No need to drive cross country for that. Well, there's still three waterfalls to see, and they are all on the same road.

"Some improvements have been made, but the road remains generally winding with speed limits ranging from 25 to 45 mph." Well, we don't drive that fast anyway.  And it is the longest Rustic Road in the state.  That's an extra bonus.

Uh oh, the road is a washboard. Well, just the first 17 miles are.  Won't take long at 15 mph.  Those jiggling dishes in the cabinet are plastic and they'll be just fine.

Look, here's waterfall number one. Wow, should have put on bug spray.  Well,  I've heard about these northern mosquitoes, and finally, I get to see some.  Yep, they sure are big.  Guess they could not read the NO PEST sign.  I read it and left Daisy in the RV.

* * *

Sometimes it is the destination, sometimes it is the journey.

Terra Cotta Warriors, stand aside

I will go out of my way to see the creations of people with a passion that no one quite understands. Maybe looking at their worlds makes me feel more normal.

First is the House on the Rock, in the same valley as Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked and built his masterpiece Taliesen.

https://picasaweb.google.com/margaret.lincoln/20110622HouseOnTheRock#

Look then at the creations of a retired Lumberman at the Concrete Park in Wisconsin.

https://picasaweb.google.com/margaret.lincoln/20110706#

If you are as speechless as I was when I visited, then I feel even more normal. 

Superior in so many ways

beautiful lost in fog

 

and on a clear day

4th largest lake in the world

largest freshwater

touching three states and Canada

40 degree water
partially freezing in the winter
warming a bit in the summer

livelihood of many a shipper and dockworker
transporter of iron ore and coal
home to Great Lakes freighters reaching 1000 feet in length
grave to many like the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald
icy blast in the winter

unbelievably blue








long summer days

My baby loves me!

How do I know? Cause he dropped me off at the start of this fabulous 15 mile all downhill trail from Carlton MN to Duluth. Best bike ride in history.

Meanwhile, he parked at the terminus and biked UPHILL to meet me. That's love, yes it is.