Lake Wissota State Park
Chippewa Falls
Learned
another lesson today. I know you can’t believe everything you read on the
internet, but I also learned that my Garmen GPS is not always right. It told me
it was 204 miles and would take three hours. We only stopped for gas and a rest
stop and it took closer to 4 ½. Yes I did the speed limit almost the whole way.
Only got stuck behind one old person, older than me, in a Buick with Iowa
plates that either wanted to only do 40 in a 55 or could only do 40 in a 55. No
schedule when on the road so we never hurry.
Nice large
sites with enough trees and bushes that we can’t even see the camper next to
us. With just electricity and no sewer or water we have to be more conservative
of how much we use. Lucky for us one of the two bathrooms is within a quarter
block of our site, but it is a pit toilet, can you say outhouse? The nice regular bathroom with shower is on
the other side of the campground and there is no privacy for taking a shower.
They only have these two facilities for 116 sites which doesn’t seem like
enough.
Tuesday, our
first full day here, we decided to visit the Leinie Lodge, the home of
Leinenkuge’ls Brewery established in 1867. We took a one hour guided tour that
explained both the history of the brewery and took us through the process of making
it. I now have a greater appreciation of the Leinie’s Honey Weiss that is my
favorite beer. At the end of the tour we sampled four 4oz glasses of our choice
of their beers. I started out with creamy dark and now have another one of
their beers that I would have no problem drinking. They also mix their beers
together to create exciting flavors like the “Bumble Bee”, 50% Creamy Dark and
50% Honey Weiss, two of my favorites. The other one that I like was 50% Honey
Weiss and 50% Berry Weiss.
After shopping
in the gift store, that was as big as your local Walgreens drug store, we each
had a couple of shirts, a cap for me and two pint glasses that were on sale two
for one. I even got a free tote bag for being a lodge member on line. If that
wasn’t enough they had coupons for about a dozen places that would give us a
free Leinies if we bought something to eat. It was now 12:30 pm and time for
lunch anyway so we decided on “The View Restaurant” that overlooks the bridge
that separates Lake Wissota from the Chippewa River. Enjoyed a perfect four
topping medium pizza for only $13. and got two free pint glasses of Honey Weis.
The view from their outside deck could
have been on a post card. Just
enough breeze to keep the bugs away too. A perfect end to our tour and our day.
Make sure you get to The Leinie Lodge if you ever get to this area.
Woke up this
morning, Wednesday, to very cloudy skies and temps in the low 50’s. Believe it
or not the weather prediction is for a high of 80 with a chance of showers in
the late afternoon. We’ll see how that works out. It was a good excuse to cook
and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. One of my VFW brothers, Maynard, suggested
that we could not visit Chippewa Falls without going to Irvine Park, so that
was our plan for today. What a treat, a 318 acre park in the city of Chippewa
Falls including a zoo, hiking trails, many picnic areas, many with shelters for
groups and even individual tables with canopies over them. They also had a
baseball diamond, tennis courts, sand volley ball courts, horseshoe courts and
a splash pad. We got there at 10:30 am, walked around for two hours, enjoying
the zoo and a very beautiful view of one of the falls on the river. We found a
picnic table in a quiet spot where we enjoyed the lunch we had packed along. It
reminded me of a song by Peter and Lou Berryman. If you haven’t heard their
music bring them up on line and listen to the words very carefully, especially
one song “Pack Up A Picnic”. This is a picture of Chippewa Falls.
After lunch
we drove a short distance to the cities rose garden which was a disappointment,
but it was right next to their community vegetable gardens where I checked out
the square foot garden plots. Thinking now that square foot gardening may be
the way to go next year at home. Tired of walking around so we made a stop at a
local restaurant and had cones with homemade ice cream. It was as good as
advertised. All of a sudden it was 3pm already so we decided to call it a day
for sightseeing. I dropped Lor off at the trailer and then fished from one of
their fishing piers for an hour and a half, but the only thing biting were the
flies and they were biting me. Just as I
was about to start the grill to cook some hamburgers I heard thunder. Turned on
the TV and there was rain headed our way so the weather person was right, nice
weather all day, got up to 78 and now the rain was upon us. At least the 50
mile per hour winds stayed north of us so we only had rain. Actually had to
make our hamburgers inside. Well at least we have an inside to make them in.
Lor’s disappointed because she will not get a camp fire in tonight. Tomorrow’s
supposed to be a really nice day so we will decide while having breakfast where
the road will lead us next.
Thursday
already and it looks like it will be another beautiful day followed by rain
again around 5 pm. We decided to visit three nearby towns, Stanley, Boyd and Cadott.
We went to
Stanley first because it was the farthest away and we would work our way back
to the campground. It turned out to be just another small town but they did
have a nice veteran’s memorial so we stopped and took pictures. They also have
the Stanley Correctional Facility with 1500 inmates that employs over 40
people. We have stopped during our
travels at Veteran’s Memorials to take pictures with the thought of making a
scrap book or perhaps an online post of some sort. No
interesting or unique stores in Stanley to shop at.
Fifteen
minutes later we arrived in Boyd which was even smaller than Stanley with a
population of 600. It’s listed as “The
Friendly Town”. I was amazed at what 600 people could donate to put up a very
respectful and impressive memorial for their service men and women. Once again
no stores that enticed us to shop. Good news, we’re saving money. Flagpoles are at least $200. a piece.
Another 15
minutes down the highway and we were in Cadott which was the largest of the
three towns. It is noted for being half way between the equator and the North
Pole. The Veterans memorial in Cadott was amazing. I’m always impressed by the
way these small towns honor those that died, those that served and those that
continue to serve. We spotted one of those small town bakeries and stopped to
get lunch. At 67 we can get away with desert for lunch and not feel guilty.
Enjoyed our coffee and bakery at a small park at the end of town overlooking
another pretty waterfalls. It was still
early in the day so we decided to visit Chippewa Falls one more time and get a
couple of more small glasses even though it meant sampling some more Linies. The
things we do to supply our new trailer with juice glasses. We had planned on
grilling out, but once again Mother Nature had different plans for us. The
weather pattern this week has been beautiful days followed by rain beginning
about 5 pm. We did manage to get steaks grilled on our gas grill but settled
for microwave baked potatoes. Weather
person says more of the same tomorrow.
We had heavy
rain at about 12:30 pm that woke us up and I asked Lor if she closed the
overhead vents. She couldn’t remember so I got up to check. Got to the first
one, looked up and told her through the water dripping on my face that they
were not closed. Got a towel and dried the floor and went back to sleep until
we were awakened again by heavy rain at 4:30 am. Some nights are like that.
Slept in
after all the rain last night and decided over breakfast to go to Jim Falls
just because of the name. Got on the road about 10:30 am, but made a wrong turn
and ended up in Cornell where they have the only remaining pulp wood stacker.
I’ll include a picture because you really can’t appreciate how big it is until
you see it. Small Native American museum, but not worth the stop. We decided to
head to Bloomer, about a half hour away, because they were having their local
fair. Only enough to keep us there for a half hour, but the Knights of Columbus
stand had strawberry cream cheese cake that we couldn’t pass up. I know. I
know. I have to start eating healthier at lunch. Hey, it had fruit and cheese
in it. How bad can that be?
Finally we
were on our way to Jim Falls our original destination. Only 2:30 pm and rain
clouds were already rolling in. We were planning on going on the dam tour, no
it’s really a tour of the dam there, not a dam tour, or maybe it is. We decided
with the weather closing in on us we would go back to our campsite, only 15
minutes away to get our screen tent packed away before it got wet again. Rain
drops started hitting the windshield just as we pulled into our camping spot.
Sun is out and it is pouring rain. Only rained for 15 minutes so we hoped that
it would hold off until the tent dried out and we could pack it away. Just as
we were questioning if it was dry enough to pack up, you know what happened. It
rained again. It finally dried out enough to pack it up about 7:30 pm, but we
will have to put it up again when we get home. There are those that question
our sanity, but everything that seems like more work out here really isn’t. The
joy of seeing new places and meeting new people makes up for any extra work.
Last night
we talked to our neighbor who was from Canada. This young 70 year old has a
trailer similar to ours and has traveled 16,000 miles already this year. He’s
been on the road since April and plans to keep up this life style until he
can’t. We have to be out of here by noon tomorrow so we plan to leave even
earlier and travel by way of Niellsville, and stop at “The High Ground Veteran’s
Memorial” on the way home.
Saturday was
another beautiful day, but once again they were predicting rain storms by late
in the afternoon. We were packed up and on the road by 10:30 am planning to be
in Niellsville by noon. Just a warning if you go there with a travel trailer or
motor home the closest parking is about a half mile walk. We made it without
any problems at all. Nice straight flat country road. We first heard about this
memorial when we attended LZ Lambeau, the welcome home for Vietnam Vets held in
Green Bay in 2001. It was everything they said it would be and more. We’re
walking around taking pictures and reading about the individual war memorials
when a Wisconsin National Guard Unit Convoy drives past on Highway 10 all
blowing their truck horns. How fitting is that? Once again thought about my dad
and uncles, all Navy during WWII, my father-in-law, Army Air Corps WW II and a
friend, a Marine, killed in Nam. If you are in that area make sure you stop.
Spending
four days at home, but it will go quickly. Wash clothes, pay bills, one of us
getting her hair done, Church on Sunday, Mallards baseball game on Monday
night, last one of the year for us, weed garden on Tuesday, if I can find it in
all the weeds , National Night Out in town with the and VFW Meeting on Wednesday
night. Then it’s “On The Road Again” to Hudson Wisconsin. Main road trip will be to Still Water, MN. I
was hoping to visit with a Navy Lt. that I served with in Taiwan, but
unfortunately he is out of the country.
Hope
everyone that is following us on my blog is enjoying my rambling about our
camping adventures. Also hope that all of you are having as much fun this
summer as we are.