Coop's Corner: Trip Recap Part Two - Point Beach State Forest

Friday, June 14, 2013

Trip Recap Part Two - Point Beach State Forest

With the predicted rain for Sunday evening, I was in the mood to spend the night in a nearby motel, so made the short trip to Plymouth, WI and checked in. As it happened, there was no rain over night; the evening stayed dry as well. I did some reading, tried to get caught up with my friends' blogs but there were too many Posts for me to cover them all.

Upon leaving the track Sunday afternoon, I was only partly surprised to see the coming weekend's SCCA event participants already arriving at the track. There were some folks at my motel that were obviously there for the week; the car racing their destination.

My campsite, the MotoFizz bag on the picnic table, ready to be unpacked and my tent erected.

Random Distribution??

Inside the Park's Lodge, another building built by the WPA.....still a beautiful building.

Only one of the places I watched the waves and gulls interact....

Tuesday afternoon I headed south into Manitowoc to visit the Maritime Museum and this submarine is one of the institution's gems.

On the sub's deck, the Badger in the distance, the ferry that runs from Manitowoc to Ludington, MI

According to our Tour Guide, NO one in the service eats, or ate, like the submariners.

This large engine, from a former railroad ferry on the lake, was actually revolving slowly.

The prop on the other side of the wall.

I struggled figuring out what these large components were until I decided that they must be thrust bearings.

A model of the rail ferry....

Foodstuffs from the sea (lake).......

After visiting the museum, I stopped at the almost new and very nice Two Rivers Library. I had my Kindle along but the battery was low so I didn't get much time to get caught up. Cell service was limited back at the campground.

My firewood hauler, two bundles.....as easy as pie thanks to a pair of ROK straps.

Friend Chris asked me to check out some scupture work that he and family had done earlier this season....I wonder if this was what was left of it?

The outside of the WPA Lodge, as lovely as the insides were

Monday evening around the fire......

Tuesday morning I rode back into Two Rivers for coffee at The Brake, a combined coffee house/bicycle shop. It was fun meeting the shop owners and one of their favorite customers.

I've crossed the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin (1000 miles long) more times than I can count; it runs from the east side of the state to the MN/WI border on the west. One of our ADVrider friends is in charge of parts of it and a former employer volunteers to patrol a section of it in Burnett County. I've never walked more than 100 feet on the actual trail itself, something that should change.

More wood......

After dropping off another bundle of wood, I headed NW to Cherney Maribel Caves County Park. Once a Spa and Popular Resort at the beginning of that other century, it is now a natural area.

The still-standing old resort buildings, now on private property.

After some hiking and exploration of the caves, I headed back to the campground for a quiet afternoon and evening. I did some serious beach sitting, some less serious beach walking and generally watched the waves roll in.

Some very large deer tracks in the wet sand.....even though we're surrounded by deer at home, I'd have loved to see the big creatures on the lakefront.

One of the largest lighthouses on the Great Lakes, this one has protected Point Beach for many years.

Evening sun at the campsite....

Smoky sunlight.......

Always a good sign.....

Just after my last daylight session on the bench....I returned at dusk to watch (and listen) to it get dark.

There were a few rain sprinkles overnight, but only clouds at 6AM. By 6:30 I was packed and headed west, before 8:30 I rode into Green Bay and right next to Lambeau Field, something I've seen from a distance before but never up close. I think I felt a bit of holiness......I'm not sure, maybe it was just a rough road.

Halfway across the state is the low, marshy region of Wisconsin, an area known for its cranberries. The flooded ponds beside the road contain water that felt almost level with my shoulders as I rode past.

I was home before 4 in the afternoon, only rode through just a few rain drops around Wisconsin Rapids (must be the biggest small city in the world, took me forever to get through). A bit over 800 miles for the week, roughly 300 over, another 100 in and around the track plus a few sidetrips and then home. The Yamaha never missed a beat, even with dealing with some headwind.

7 comments:

UnknownJune 15, 2013 at 12:04 AM
Coop:

I would have loved to tour on that submarine. I have only been on one before during Expo here in Vancouver.

It looked to be a few days of relaxating and contemplation. something that I would like to do except during a bit warmer weather

bob
Riding the Wet Coast
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Martha June 15, 2013 at 8:27 AM
What a great trip you had. I always enjoy seeing submarines and it's good to know I don't have to go back to Hawaii if I ever want to see one again! The Broken Spoke is a nice space. And the Park Lodge is a beauty. Thanks for sharing all of this. You had a WONDERFUL time.

Oh, and glad you got to feel the aura at Lambeau...
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David DrouinJune 15, 2013 at 9:46 AM
I'm glad the rain held off for you. It is always nice when you have a series of days with nice weather.

Interesting info on the plaque about cranberries. It seems whoever wrote it is a little nostalgic for the old days. Also, that old resort would be cool to explore.
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)