Summer vacation to the Northwoods

We returned on Sunday from a week and a half of vacation in northern Wisconsin--and the beautiful weather there--to 99 degrees and humid back in Arkansas...just in time for our kids to go back to school!  As I type this, Hope and Stephen are going through his required school supplies, while Kenny and Beth prepare for their first day...Kenny of his senior year in high school, and Beth of her freshman year.

We had a really good time visiting my parents in Rhinelander.  We helped around their house some, and spent plenty of time lounging around as well.

This included a trip to Buck Lake for an afternoon of swimming--the water was very calm and quite comfortable (once you got used to it).  We also went for ice cream, and walked in the woods many times.  Oh, and we dined out in classic Northwoods sense--including a trip to one of our favorite supper clubs, the Al-Gen, for a Friday fish fry!

The first weekend of our visit also coincided with Michigan Tech's alumni reunion, and we went to the get-together that the forestry program hosted on Saturday morning.  It was good to see some fellow classmates from 25+ years ago (hard to believe it has been that long!) and some faculty we knew from even longer ago!  On our way back from Houghton, we stopped at the Bishop of Baraga shrine for a quick visit:

We also dodged the rain showers to hike a trail we knew from our forestry fall camp days near Alberta, Michigan--the Sturgeon River falls trail:

In the picture above, Stephen poses by some of the large northern whitecedar growing out of rocks along the trail (note their cool roots!).  This trail was really crowded when we visited, but it was still possible to get at least a bit of solitude amongst the rocks:

Well, at least until your younger siblings show up, eh Kenny!?! 

We had multiple campfires at mom and dad's, including this one following a sudden storm that blew up and knocked out power at their house!  Most of the weather was great, but there were a couple days with severe storms that kept us on our toes!!

I took advantage of the opportunity to head out in the woods not far from Rhinelander to measure some big trees (it's a hobby of mine).  On this day, I was able to get Hope to join me...the picture above shows her measuring diameter of a large eastern white pine.  The bugs weren't horrible--at least not to me--and the weather was gorgeous, so this was a great way to spend some hours in the Northwoods!

I also had a chance to go out on another spectacular day with my buddy Kevin and fish the lake he lives on...the weather was near-perfect and at least some small fish were biting, so it was a great way to spend an afternoon and evening...

(I hardly even noticed the sunburn I got on my bare legs!). 

The second stormy day we had hit while Hope and I were on a dinner date...the picture above is looking out the window of the restaurant we were dining at in Lake Tomahawk...the rain came so fast and furious that the streets did not drain quickly enough, leading to some pretty wet cars!  (not ours, though!).

Alas, all too soon we had to head back to Arkansas so the kids could get back to school, and Hope and I get back to work.  We did have the chance to meet some of my siblings (Laurie, Bob, and Bill) for a birthday lunch (Bob, Bill, and Stephen have August birthdays):

Afterwards, my brother Bob treated us to a few hours at a local water park, which we greatly enjoyed (especially Stephen, who couldn't get enough of the waterslides!).  In the late afternoon, we said our farewells to Bob and Bill, and drove across the Madison area to enjoy another fabulous dinner at our brother-in-law Mark's restaurant Bistro 101:

The server should look familiar--it is my sister Laurie, who helps out on the weekends when she can.  After another long drive back, we arrived safely in Monticello late Sunday afternoon, and have been catching up ever since.  Until our next trip!!