Bragg Family South goes North, part 2
Let's see, where did I leave off...Oh yes, now I remember! After a first week of staying mostly around my hometown of Rhinelander visiting various family and friends, we ventured even further northward for a day. Lunch consisted of pasties and was eaten along a remote shore of Lake Superior:
This beach wasn't as isolated as it usually is, given that a Boy Scout event was happening at a nearby park, but we had this stretch mostly to ourselves. After a tasty lunch, we strolled down along the shore and collected some pretty wave-washed cobbles:
Our destination for the day was our former home in the former mining center (and now college town) of Houghton, Michigan, home of our alma mater Michigan Technological University. We visited a number of our favorite stops, including a local market to buy smoked salmon, a quick drive through campus, a stop at the really cool Seamen Mineral Museum (http://www.museum.mtu.edu/, a must stop the next time you visit the Michigan Tech campus), a visit to the Michigan Tech store for some new merchandise, and a stop along the Houghton waterfront:
We had a dual purpose for this Houghton visit...in addition to recalling the "old days", we were attending a MTU alumni get-together, and a retirement party for a forestry professor we got to know pretty good, Dr. Marty Jurgensen:
After 40+ years on the faculty, Marty is "retiring"...I put that in quotes, because he and everyone else there knows that he's still going to remain active in his research efforts. Below, a soils-themed retirement cake (he taught soils for years):
Our visit to the Upper Peninsula was just an all too short day trip...we returned to Rhinelander that evening. The very next day (Sunday) we drove to western Wisconsin to visit my sister Lisa and her family. Before we got there, the dry weather they've had in that part of the world has led to a few fire issues, including this grass fire we passed that was sparked by a boat trailer (a locked-up tire on said trailer, I believe, caught fire and then caught the grass on fire):
My sister Lisa and her family have a house in the country near the small town of Colfax, Wisconsin, not too far from Eau Claire. They have a small parcel of wooded land, and have a horse that they're boarding on a neighbor's property just up the hill. Below, my brother-in-law Jon Hurlburt (Lisa's husband) leads their horse with Beth riding bareback:
Their neighborhood, a woman named Johnne, raises a variety of livestock (including some goats, pictured below):
Johnne is also extremely handy and inventive, and here is giving us a tour of a large year-round greenhouse she has built from scratch by herself:
Johnne raises a variety of plants (flowers and vegetables) that she sells at local farmers' markets and stores to help raise money to support her farm. Below, Jon Hurlburt (with his grandson Jack on his shoulders) tours the plants with Stephen in tow:
She has plenty of room to spare, so Lisa and Jon also grow some vegetables there. Below, Aunt Lisa shows Beth and Stephen how to tend her vegetables:
Below, my sister Lisa and her grandson Jack, who is eating an apple picked from one of Johnne's apple trees:
We also ate our fill of the wild blackberry that grew in profusion along Johnne's property:
Below, Stephen and Beth enjoyed a 3-wheeler ride from their Uncle Jon:
In addition to visiting family, Hope and I also took advantage of my sister's willingness to watch our kids while we attended a professional meeting of mine for a day in the nearby big city of Minneapolis:
Here's a picture from earlier in the visit of my sister Lisa, brother John, and sister Laurie, aka "Lulu":
I cut some dead balsam fir trees from around my parents' house and built a small wooden stockade that our kids used as a Civil War-era "fort":
We also took advantage of one of the nicer days to go to Rhinelander's downtown and show the kids the historic courthouse, with its Tiffany glass dome:
This courthouse was built during Rhinelander's early heyday as a lumbering center, so the elaborately decorated interior reflects this wealth:
Here is an inside view of the Tiffany glass dome, with the local symbol of Rhinelander, the mythical "Hodag" decorating the dome in mural form:
Below is a picture of Kenny with a small largemouth bass he was very proud to catch out of a local stream:
We also helped my dad move an antique potato-picking machine he was recently given to use as a decorative feature near their garden:
Below, Hope helps the kids bait and take small panfish off of the hooks:
Did I mention that we did some fishing when we were up north? I even got out a couple of times with my buddy Kevin, who always out-fishes me, as he likes to show with the bass he caught below:
Regardless of how many fish I catch, I always appreciate the effort Kevin gives in helping me get out on the beautiful lakes of northern Wisconsin. Our two weeks in the area went by all too quickly, and we drove from my parents' house to Monticello in one LONG day's drive. We were back in town by the next Monday, which happened to be Stephen's birthday. We had had a quick birthday party with him in Rhinelander before we left, but what he really looked forward to was getting to wear a sombrero and fried ice cream birthday "cake" at our favorite local Mexican restaurant (song included):
One of the reasons we had to get back as soon as we did was that our kids had to start school by mid-August. So, the first day of school, all three of them eagerly lined up for one last picture before they caught their bus:
Beth and Kenny are grizzled veterans of school by now, but Stephen has just started kindergarten, and is so excited about it! Here's to hoping for a good year at school from all of the kids!
This beach wasn't as isolated as it usually is, given that a Boy Scout event was happening at a nearby park, but we had this stretch mostly to ourselves. After a tasty lunch, we strolled down along the shore and collected some pretty wave-washed cobbles:
Our destination for the day was our former home in the former mining center (and now college town) of Houghton, Michigan, home of our alma mater Michigan Technological University. We visited a number of our favorite stops, including a local market to buy smoked salmon, a quick drive through campus, a stop at the really cool Seamen Mineral Museum (http://www.museum.mtu.edu/, a must stop the next time you visit the Michigan Tech campus), a visit to the Michigan Tech store for some new merchandise, and a stop along the Houghton waterfront:
We had a dual purpose for this Houghton visit...in addition to recalling the "old days", we were attending a MTU alumni get-together, and a retirement party for a forestry professor we got to know pretty good, Dr. Marty Jurgensen:
After 40+ years on the faculty, Marty is "retiring"...I put that in quotes, because he and everyone else there knows that he's still going to remain active in his research efforts. Below, a soils-themed retirement cake (he taught soils for years):
Our visit to the Upper Peninsula was just an all too short day trip...we returned to Rhinelander that evening. The very next day (Sunday) we drove to western Wisconsin to visit my sister Lisa and her family. Before we got there, the dry weather they've had in that part of the world has led to a few fire issues, including this grass fire we passed that was sparked by a boat trailer (a locked-up tire on said trailer, I believe, caught fire and then caught the grass on fire):
My sister Lisa and her family have a house in the country near the small town of Colfax, Wisconsin, not too far from Eau Claire. They have a small parcel of wooded land, and have a horse that they're boarding on a neighbor's property just up the hill. Below, my brother-in-law Jon Hurlburt (Lisa's husband) leads their horse with Beth riding bareback:
Their neighborhood, a woman named Johnne, raises a variety of livestock (including some goats, pictured below):
Johnne is also extremely handy and inventive, and here is giving us a tour of a large year-round greenhouse she has built from scratch by herself:
Johnne raises a variety of plants (flowers and vegetables) that she sells at local farmers' markets and stores to help raise money to support her farm. Below, Jon Hurlburt (with his grandson Jack on his shoulders) tours the plants with Stephen in tow:
She has plenty of room to spare, so Lisa and Jon also grow some vegetables there. Below, Aunt Lisa shows Beth and Stephen how to tend her vegetables:
Johnne also raises cattle to sell:
Below, my sister Lisa and her grandson Jack, who is eating an apple picked from one of Johnne's apple trees:
We also ate our fill of the wild blackberry that grew in profusion along Johnne's property:
Below, Stephen and Beth enjoyed a 3-wheeler ride from their Uncle Jon:
In addition to visiting family, Hope and I also took advantage of my sister's willingness to watch our kids while we attended a professional meeting of mine for a day in the nearby big city of Minneapolis:
This was a quick trip, but we got to meet up with a number of friends from our earlier college years at Utah State University (including my PhD advisor, Dr. David Roberts). After our quick trip, we returned to Rhinelander for some additional local fun, including a gorgeous evening of fishing:
Here's a picture from earlier in the visit of my sister Lisa, brother John, and sister Laurie, aka "Lulu":
I cut some dead balsam fir trees from around my parents' house and built a small wooden stockade that our kids used as a Civil War-era "fort":
We also took advantage of one of the nicer days to go to Rhinelander's downtown and show the kids the historic courthouse, with its Tiffany glass dome:
This courthouse was built during Rhinelander's early heyday as a lumbering center, so the elaborately decorated interior reflects this wealth:
Here is an inside view of the Tiffany glass dome, with the local symbol of Rhinelander, the mythical "Hodag" decorating the dome in mural form:
Below is a picture of Kenny with a small largemouth bass he was very proud to catch out of a local stream:
We also helped my dad move an antique potato-picking machine he was recently given to use as a decorative feature near their garden:
Below, Hope helps the kids bait and take small panfish off of the hooks:
Did I mention that we did some fishing when we were up north? I even got out a couple of times with my buddy Kevin, who always out-fishes me, as he likes to show with the bass he caught below:
Regardless of how many fish I catch, I always appreciate the effort Kevin gives in helping me get out on the beautiful lakes of northern Wisconsin. Our two weeks in the area went by all too quickly, and we drove from my parents' house to Monticello in one LONG day's drive. We were back in town by the next Monday, which happened to be Stephen's birthday. We had had a quick birthday party with him in Rhinelander before we left, but what he really looked forward to was getting to wear a sombrero and fried ice cream birthday "cake" at our favorite local Mexican restaurant (song included):
One of the reasons we had to get back as soon as we did was that our kids had to start school by mid-August. So, the first day of school, all three of them eagerly lined up for one last picture before they caught their bus:
Beth and Kenny are grizzled veterans of school by now, but Stephen has just started kindergarten, and is so excited about it! Here's to hoping for a good year at school from all of the kids!
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