Unraveling while traveling; life between the windshield and the rear-view mirror

Aug 04 2010

Cape Cod vs. Cape Odd

Bayfield, WI * is the drop point for the ferry to romantic Madeline Island, queen of the Apostle Islands in Chequamegon Bay, south shore of Lake Superior.Bayfield has that Cape Cod feel; gifts, galleries, groceries, and gulls. Minus the arrogant east coast snobbery, i.e., noses lifted to the smug level, arrogant accents, and the compulsory upscale casual dress to emulate the impression of New England “old money”.

I did, however, see one Izod polo shirt being worn by a mid-30s woman with a very attractive figure, although I was only staring at the little crocodile, not the statuesque bosom on which it was conveniently mounted.

Honest.

Everything but sand dunes and salty air

Popular hotel; typical architecture

Tiring of the tourist trade, we head south to Cable, WI,

Can Direct TV,WI, or Dish Network, WI, be far away ?

so Lynn can enjoy a quilt show as I watch the midway point of a 50.5 mile bicycle race in progress. These boys were serious; shrink wrapped in Del Monte fruit cocktail colors, pointy helmets, aerodynamic drafting. Happened so quickly one could feel the breeze. And smell the maraschino cherries.

The Peleton passes, Le Tour de Cable

Hayward, WI, is home to the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, a two acre landscaped testimony to beer drinking, tieing flies, and telling lies. The featured artwork, a seventy foot muskie that invites you to climb through its intestines to intimately examine fish dentistry, is too much to resist.

Enjoying fish saliva, up close and personal

Like many attractions, photo-ops abound, as Lynn lands a 300 lb. water-extended polystyrene bluegill.

We’re going to conclude this day having dinner at the original location of Famous Dave’s @ Round Lake, WI. for ribs. With nearly 150 locations nationwide, we haven’t been so honored since we dined at the original KFC in Corbin, KY, in 1998.

* from the Ashland, WI Daily Press, 30Jul2010,

the Bayfield County Sheriff report:

8:08 AM, report of fire under vehicle
8:11 AM, report of vehicle in ditch
8:19 AM, report of large trees down on side of road
9:01 AM, report of three y/o female at her dad’s house involved in a 3-wheeler accident and not taken to the hospital until picked up by her mother more than 12 hours later
9:07 AM, report of a cat bite
9:36 AM, vacuum cleaner found on side of the road
9:53 AM, report of signs saying ” NO ATV’s ” at gravel pit being shot by shotguns

How would you liked working the first shift that morning ?

Absolutely certain that it was a crocodile on that magnificent, perfectly shaped breast, I’m now having a second thought….maybe, just maybe, it was a polo pony.

I’m going back to check.

Aug 02 2010

A smile south of Washburn, WI; just call me ‘Bill’

It happens infrequently while you travel slowly, the intersection between luck and serendipity, that yields the endearing moment you least expect. On remote highway WI-13,

meet Bill

Once a gravedigger, he stopped shaving and began woodcarving when Nixon waved goodbye from that stairway on the helicopter. Not content to dance to our drummer, his path of least resistance leads to a modest workshop/studio/shed and bed, breathing sawdust and sculpting life.

Path to the inner sanctum

No stranger to camping, he fashioned his own classB motorhome on the rusted chassis of a Chevy truck. “Don’t use it much once I passed 75…I’m too old and that’s too fast”

Where’s the circus ?

We tried to buy a beautiful fish, shaped and polished from burled walnut, but it was NFS, one of his favorites he could not part with. “Most of what I have in the studio (it was crammed with wooden art, every piece he had done himself) is only for display.

“However, if we express interest in a raven topped totem pole seen below in its infancy, he might be able to talk.

A stranger to personal hygiene, he is in remarkably good health and spirit, and recommended we stop down the road to look at his favorite truck, a 1927 Ford.

We don’t want your arms, we don’t want your legs, just give us your tows

Bill doesn’t have a cell phone, a TV, or a computer, only a Motorola portable radio that ‘needs new batteries’ and he’s never heard of a social networking site. I asked him if he remembered Elian Gonzalez and Janet Reno and the tug-o-war with Cuba in 2000.

“Vaguely”.

How about the oil spill ?

“Oh, yes, but I didn’t know where it was in Mexico or when it started. Is it fixed?”

There aren’t enough Bills in the world.

Jul 31 2010

Ultra-Van sighting, Lake Superior

At 75 cents, Marquette’s local paper, The Mining Journal, is a sixteen page bargain although 13 of them are devoted to advertising. Here’s what I learned; two very nice men, Heikkila and Rossway, both with impeccable credentials, are running for the County Board. Here is what they propose:

lower taxes
abolish crime
decrease spending
increase jobs
better highways
promote tourism
legalize lynch mobs
educate our brats
balance the budget

Regardless who wins, we are assured logical, informed, independent thinking will prevail.

The most interesting column, however, The Police Log, tells us that Tues. at 9:06 AM, on the corner of Crescent and Lakeshore, a driving complaint was reported from the previous day, presumed to be road rage.

Sigh.

Wakefield, WI, a 22′ high chief in need of botox requesting a urine sample from Jack

Our next stop. Bessemer, MI, to inspect a “restored” 1965 M-Benz 4dr sedan that had failed to sell on eBay. It was a total piece of cr@p, bondo in and out the w@zoo, & poorly finished in a gawdawful metallic diamond blue by a biker on meth. It would be worth his $3000 asking price if he left $2500 in cash, stuffed in the trunk, with his lab supplies.

4 cyl., 45 HP, bubbled chrome, and a tow bar

How it should look

“Hey, it runs”, sure, but I’ve wasted 15 minutes assaying a heap of iron oxide….next stop,

Ashland, WI, on the south shore of Lake Superior, ‘Gateway to the Apostle Islands’. The municipal park and campground, strategically located on a stunning stretch of beach, marina, and waterfront splendor of swans, is in the shadow of the famed Ashland Oardock.

40 foot high monument to the Industrial Revolution

Built from 1914-1916, it extends 1800 feet into Lake Superior, and was capable of loading large freighter ships faster than a Geico commercial.

The Kreher Park also had a celebrity trailer visitor, the famed Ultra-Van (Hutchinson, KS), featured on the Travel Channel’s hour long special of vintage RVs. Custom-crafted on a chevy corvair chassis, it stood out like a rock star amid karaoke wannabees. If you want to be noticed, this unit was the pheromone of the motorhome world…a steady stream of gawkers looking under your skirt. Sweet, it resembles the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile without the mustard and bun.

The irresistible smiley faceVoyeurs taking a pee and a peek“Now that’s a cute butt”

Back to that political race, I wouldn’t vote for either of those guys even if they did all the things they promised. However, if they could eliminate road rage……..

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