Skip to main content

A 39th Birthday Cottage Visit and Ice Skating "The Glide" in Boulder Junction

By
Back at the cottage for my (early) birthday weekend. Where else would I go for my birthday? I'm a simple man.


Grandpa cleared a rink and a little loop for us.

Theo just wanted dig in the snow.

Meanwhile Meadow and I went cross country skiing on the Anvil Ski Trail. Meadow said she would only go with me if we did a trail with hills. We hiked this a few years ago and it was quite hilly. 

She was an old pro on the hills while I wiped out. 

We didn't make it too far as Meadow complained her boots were too tight. I made her check the fit a few weeks ago and she claimed they were fine...

Was a beautiful trail in the Nicolet National Forest.


After grocery shopping Brooke joined me out on the makeshift rink.

Not quite the same as having the whole lake but it would do. 


We've been talking about going to Twin Pines Bar & Grill east of Rhinelander for years. Why not go for a Friday Fish Fry on my almost birthday?

It's always busy whenever we drive by so we've been curious. 

Could this be the perfect Northwoods tavern?


The kids got burgers.

We stuck with fish.

I got some cheesecake and G.G. kept on requesting a piece. I'd give it to her and she would claim it didn't count. If you want a slice, order one!


They even had mom's favorite quarter game. 

This place was super cheap. The food was grade A. And the vibes were elite. We will be back.

The kids tried to beat their grandpa at Kings Corner.

Keeping myself busy and my brain off of a certain president by reading "The Greatest Story in Sports."

The next day we traveled up to Boulder Junction to skate The Glide, the first forest ice trail in the USA.

We had been so excited to go since we heard about it. Of course it started snowing hard on our drive over. They went through with a plow right when we started. 

It was magical.

It's about a mile loop. I thought mom would make it around once but she gave up quickly. At least she tries. 



The trail was built on a little used cross country skiing loop. This year it's .8 miles, but plans are to expand in coming years.


Meadow was lapping us all even after getting Gail back to the rink.




I thought we were done, but Theo wanted to go around one more time.

On the way back we stopped at Marty's Place North for a drink and apps.

Another place I have been wanting to try. 

I asked for a grasshopper and the young bartender looked at me like I was crazy. He wasn't sure if they made that. Of course they did.





We're going to try and reserve this table for New Year's Eve next year.


We ordered some apps as we were promised meatloaf when we got home.

Mmmm...

We made another stop at the ice castle in Eagle River on the way back despite the kiddos protesting.

I had never seen it so busy. We decided to skip the line to sit on the throne.


I made some new luminaries with buckets. I love this idea. 

Before breakfast I got a quick ski in around the lake. 


They sure love the big swing.

I thought we'd be back in a few weeks for Theo's birthday, but it might be a while with lots of plans in March and April.

Meadow loves Pepe.

Every time we pass this old building it seems to be sagging a little bit more. I said we should take a photo whenever we pass it to see it's slow decline. 

DQ stop on the way home? Why not.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Willow River, Ben Comes to Visit and a Quick Work Trip to the Wasatch Valley

By
Saturday The kids and I stopped at the Uptown Farmers Market the other day. And much to our surprise was a bakery selling Japanese Milk Bread. Of course I had to make our favorite breakfast.  For this weeks farmers market run, the kids and I tried out the St Paul Farmers Market. After hearing about it for years we finally made the trek. Getting here and finding parking was an adventure in itself.  Well, that's because it's not located in a car sewer. Love all the pretty colors.  Popcorn for these kiddos. I'm not sure how you all aren't sick of popcorn. We also got okra, cucumbers, cauliflower, spread cheese, green beans and potatoes.  Then we stopped at a Hyvee to get food for a picnic lunch, camp meals for our upcoming trip to Ontario, and school snacks.  Then to take advantage of our new Wisconsin State Park pass, we went to the uber popular Willow River State Park . All the picnic tables were in use so the ground it is.  The only other time we have been ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Many Cottage Visits This Summer? Well, This Time We Went to the Vilas County Fair

By
  You probably thought: "You guys can't be going to to the cottage again? And you already went to a fair!" Well, you'd be wrong. After a delayed return from Utah, we headed back to Three Lakes. After missing the turn to get on 35W north we found ourselves on 94 East and decided to keep going that way. Since we'd be on 29, you know we had to stop at Marieke Gouda again. This time we could browse around.  We got some cheese for up north and the kids and I got ice cream cones, again. The water levels had really dropped.  Much of the Upper Midwest was in deep drought to end the summer. Even the pond was dry. Well, at least the lake was mostly full. Straight to the water with these kids. Theo and I were at the farmers market earlier this week and Theo said he wanted corn on the cob. I told my dad to pick some up at the farm stand on the way up to have for dinner. What a goof. This view never gets old. With swimming lessons now completed, Theo has been become quite the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Japan Family Trip - Part II: Exploring the Shrines and Wilds of Nikko

By
We had originally planned on taking the bullet train down from Tokyo to Kyoto for a day or two. While being epically fast, it was a bit spendy for the four of us.  After talking to Brooke's coworker we settled on a two day trip to Nikko and its World Heritage Sites to break up our week in Tokyo. This turned out to be an amazing decision. The town is teaming with beauty from ancient shrines to epic waterfalls and some of the best meals we had on our trip. Kyoto didn't seem all that appealing to me when I started researching which location to go to. I too am glad we chose to head north to Nikko.  When we booked our Tobu Nikko Spacia X tickets I upgraded to the premium seats thinking that we'd be sitting facing one another. Instead we ended up with 4 individual seats, two in the first two rows and two in the last two rows. It turned out just fine with the kids sitting in front of us in two groups. Meadow and I were seated at the front of the car. Once in awhile we'd pas...
Post a Comment
Read more