BATB, Ice Roads and Other Weekend Madness!

I'm sitting here today somewhat exhausted, quite hungry, a little miffed at myself and also TOTALLY exhilarated!

Oh goodness that is a tired looking Mad-Art Teacher

Saturday was an adventure of icy proportions.  On that day Adam: the Mad-English teacher, fellow health-conscious person, and one of my partners in all things Northern Wisconsin adventure
(my other compadre, the Mad Chemistry teacher had been sickish and bowed out of this day, and I don't blame her!!)and I headed north for what turned out to be an ice event squared.

Let the adventure begin

Our primary destination was to participate in the Book Across the Bay in Ashland that headed across the (frozen) Chequamegon Bay to Washburn, WI.  We ended up on a small detour, which turned out to be a short but amazing little excursion across the frozen lake in ADAMS CAR to Madeline Island.  But I digress- since this is my blog, I will be regaling you with a blow by blow description of this day. Because I apparently like to hear myself yak!  :D.  Actually, I had such a good time, I want to record it since we all know how short the memory can be.

Tshirts!

Registration central, early in the day

I hopped into Adam's car with a mere 2 bags, a purse and snowshoes shortly after 11 and we headed up north towards Ashland. Plans were made to stop in Ashland first to pick up our race bag with Tshirt and race bib, then go to the Chequamegon Co-op and the bakery across the street!  We had to park the car up in Washburn, then take a shuttle bus down to Ashland then we'd snow shoe  back to the car.  So, detailed plans were worked out- HA.  Who are we kidding, we wanted to get the Ashland stuff out of the way so we could go eat at Coco's ASAP!!!  The race Tshirt is pretty cool, and was designed by one of the students up north (in Washburn??  I don't remember, but if there is a competition, I might see if any of my kids would like to enter it next year), and we got right in and out with our business there.  there was a little food for sale and music and it looked like a cool place to hang out, but we had other things on the agenda.  We saw the place the race started, the bon fire pile, the little trees that were planted into the snow on the ice, etc.  Really cool!

Ahhh Coco's

And I want you to know that the BATB was really a good excuse to get up to Coco's, because people it IS all about the food and ambience of Washburn and Bayfield.  Seriously.  You have no idea what a food desert we live in in Price County- there are a couple nice little places to eat, but the lack of creative and delicious vegetarian food is sad and pathetic.  I do not kid.  If I win that 400 million in the Powerball on Wednesday, there will be a new restaurant opening soon.....

YUMMMMMMY

Anyway, I digress, after our fun little errands were finished (the parmesan pepper bread from the bakery is just DIVINE!) we headed up - ravenous!!- to Coco's.  We had such good food- I had a Seitan gyro and sweet potato and pecan salad and of course Big Water Coffee.  YYYYUUUUUMMMMM  I made sure not to have too much what with the whole trying to find a bathroom with 8 million layers of clothes, snow shoes etc. Always a consideration at this kind of event and portapotties and I are not on speaking terms, so there is that.

We had another errand up in Bayfield after a leisurely lunch was had, and that was to visit Big Water Coffee Roasters for some bags of coffee and a new coffee mug for Debi!  woo HOO!!  I mean if you are that close, Bayfield NEEDS to be visited.  It was interesting looking down at the docks and seeing where the ferry and tour boats usually are, and  to see the top of the Bayfield Inn where we had Margaritas on the upper deck overlooking the bay and knowing that in a few months we WILL be there again enjoying said drinks and who knows what adventure!  There HAS been talk (yeah that would be me and Adam) about going on a boat to an island and hiking for the day!!  I am so IN.  Whilst leisurely (we had planned lots of goofing off time) sipping our respective mochas and  hot chocolates, Adam broached a subject that I had on my mind but was trying to block out.  The ice road to Madeline Island.

Adam: so do you want to go on the Ice Road?
Debi:  (eyes big- terror filled heart) uhhhhhhh

Adam: we won't go if you don't want to
Debi: UHHHHHHHHHH, well I won't jump out of the car if you happen to accidentally drive on it I guess

Adam: Do you think Laurie will be mad if we go without her?
Debi: I think she'll be fine, she'd still go if one of us were not with!  Lol

Adam: Maybe we better not
Debi:  Ok (whew)

20 minutes later:
Adam: We're driving on that road
Debi: **gulp**  yeah, I know **mommy!**

OH. MY. GOODNESS!

Ice Road!

So with Debi shrieking as we began driving across, while fumbling for her phone and camera, taking mad pictures and shrieking some more, over we went.  I think it is about 4 or 5 miles out there, and you literally drive right out on the ice from a beach.  It was a bit snowy, so you couldn't see the actual ice (whew) and it was quite a rush!

BACK STORY:
I did not grow up in northern Wisconsin, I was a southern WI girl.  My family was not a sportsman type family really.  My dad loved to fish, but only up in Minnesota at my Grandma and Grandpa's.  He did not ice fish.  I never even stood on a frozen lake until I was in college when I was cross country skiing with the MA and some other accountant types and their wives and someone at one point informed me we were skiing on a lake (EEEEEEEEEK).  SO therefore, I have never been comfortable on frozen bodies of water, though my children have been ice fishing with their dad and others since they were toddlers, or during tax season visiting others who ice fish, you get the idea... So walking on frozen water is not my cup of tea, as a rule and DAMN I am not driving on that shit.  Are you people all crazy up here????  Yes they are and now I am apparently one of the crazed.  Like I wasn't before.... never mind, shut up!

So as referenced here, I was terrified TERRIFIED!!!! of walking on lakes.  The Book Across the Bay registration filled me with a horrified excitement and I just flatly refused to consider the Ice Road when we were up there a few weeks ago.  BUT what really helped was the fantastic trip we made to the Ice Caves- we began the journey on the beach path, and then eased into walking on the water near the shore and I was distracted by all the ice (ooooooo- shiny things.......) and so that was GOOD.  So suddenly the snowshoe thing was not so horrifying and I allowed that of course one of those crazy friends of mine were going to drive me across that ice road even if I was hiding under a blanket in the back seat.  So fortunately, I didn't even have to be sedated and I was fully in the front seat, shrieking and laughing as we drove over to Madeline Island.  It was so cool and we got to go all over the place.  We didn't explore as much as we wanted, as we had to get to the parking area and the shuttle bus for the race.  We have BIG plans to rent a scooter over there in the summer  and scooter around and drink at Tom's Burned Down cafe...  well, I plan to drink, I don't know about those other two!  :)

Looking at Bayfield

Sort of roughly the same area

Basically I have conquered two facets of one fear.  I am so proud of myself.  Overcoming fears that are true and deep (I joke about this, but it is (was) a major terror of mine) are exhilarating.  I seriously have had to stop myself from running as fast as I can to get off of 2 feet of ice down at the boat landing at the end of our road, because it just seems somehow wrong to be doing that.  I am such a chicken, seriously.

Hehehe, no kidding

Hard to believe this is the same spot as the next pic

Ah summer- this is what we remember so fondly...

So after taking a few pictures at a beach that we had visited last summer, we hopped back in the car and headed back to Washburn. We found the parking area easily and were fortunate to not have to walk very far at ALL to catch the school bus shuttle to Ashland.  Now that makes the whole thing sounds so simple, but we spent at least 20 minutes changing into our appropriate winter clothing, gathering our race bib and all that, stuffing some snacks into our pockets (we did not eat again after lunch, except for a granola bar  on the ice and then a vegan muffin in the car- no wonder I was hungry this morning) and making sure we had everything needed.

This is the approximate route taken, it varies depending on the ice conditions apparently.  I think we were a lot closer to shore  south of Vandevinter Bay

View of the start area in the early afternoon

We headed into the tent for a few minutes and immediately saw people we knew!  We chit chatted for a few minutes and headed over to Walgreens to get a couple little things and I needed a place to adjust my sock/boot/toe warmer issues, attache the race bib to the coat,  use the not-a-portapotty and generally prepare to snowshoe. Toe warmers are something that I am going to stock up on, because they rock my world.  I can put up with anything if my toes are warm.

The start line area in the early afternoon- there is the bonfire and you can see the little trees and all that mark the trail

It was a hoot to be in that warming tent at the beginning, with all the THOUSANDS of people heading into the tent, I see people!  I saw in passing Judy and Wendy from Park Falls, like first thing when we were picking up our bibs, and then we saw Scott and Sherri- Scott works at school!  It was fun talking with them- then I spot Cecelia Hutte who graduated with the Mad-oldest son, who lives over in Rice Lake. We had such a good visit! And then while talking with her, behind her I see a familiar face that took me a minute to place and it was a man and his wife who used to live in Park Falls!  Bill and Caroline Yanke moved to Marshfield many years ago, Caroline and I did lots of things together when they lived here and her oldest was close in age to Greg!  I haven't seen her in at least 10 years.  Such a hoot! Fred sees Bill every year (tax season of course), but I don't see them myself.  FUN!

RIGHT before the start- the fast people are WAAAY up at the top.

It was then time to head down to the lake and get ready- isn't this crowd astounding?? It was all very exciting- so many people SO MANY SKIS!! So many different sorts of snowshoes, it was really something.  There were luminaries all along the course, and there were "stops" at every K except for the the first K.  The stops were assistance tents plus water- and later there were some snacks, and eventually there was liquor!  hahaha, and there was a fire breathing dragon, and the last stop they were giving out chapstick, granola bars and bottles of water-- it was just fun.

skis and more skis

So the bad part?  I lost my little camera.  The pix here are either from my phone (which by the way died  about 3:30 and my car charger didn't work in Adam's car) or Adam's camera.  His camera gave him a lot of blurry night pix, which is understandable, but I have some nifty ones on mine.  Boo.  I really do believe I will get it back, actually.  I was never too much in a panic about it, and even if it is toast, I still want the SD card!  If I don't get it though, most of the pix on it are on my computer. So, yeah, what happened?  Idk, either I stuck it into my inside pocket and it slid through, or I put it in my outer pocket at one point and it fell out.  THAT is the only issue I have with this running jacket is the lack of zippers on the pockets and I will never let that happen again.  This one the zipper is going, and I will replace it this year.  AND my camera was having some issues as well, irritatingly enough, so it was probably about to be replaced too.  This may have accelerated that process.

Ice dragon in full roar

We did really well during the race for the most part, we passed people like nobodies business.  It was crowded at the beginning, but people stretched out and the trek was pretty good.  The water was greatly appreciated as was the snack of a cookie and the granola bar.  But it is tough snowshoeing that far- there was loose snow and it was good footing, but wow did my feet and lower legs get tired.  About 8k we were both ready for someone to offer us a ride!  Lol.  But we kept going, there were things all along to capture your interest and there were fireworks in Washburn, and the bon fires at every K stop..... just a fun, happy, party atmosphere!  There was a massive warming tent at the end and we got through the course in 2 hours and 27 minutes.  10k, which I believe is 6.3 miles??  something like that.  We were going to get some food, but it was all just too much effort and so we went to the car, which was a bit of a hike, but no more than a mile.  It was SO NICE to sit down.  And of course once you got back down south farther, it was snowing again and indeed we got 4 inches of snow in Park Falls, so the roads were a bit dicey.  We attempted talk to keep Adam awake, but the radio needed to help out.

The glow of Ashland from the trail- this fire was not on the ice, but up higher- like a trough- for hand warming

It was a good, tiring, cold, exciting thing to do.  Will I do it again?  Yes, but not if it is below zero- the temps were about 10 - 15 degrees and that was fine, but the wind made it nippy.  If it was much colder I would NOT have wanted to be out there.  Next year I will put in more treadmill time if the weather is as cold and nasty as this year, which prevented me from putting on miles outside.  I did plenty of snowshoeing, but the terrain is way different on the lake.

The people involved in this event were stellar and it was REALLY well done.  To orchestrate such a huge event is difficult to say the least and I give them Mad Props for their organization and entertainment skills.  Job well done!!!

**And this just in- a video clip of me walking like a penguin so I don't step on the skis in front of me!
If you end up having to search it put in either Deb Oswald or 1135 But it should work- there are some skiiers first and then I have on a maroon/red hat and of course grey/black coat and pants.  My feet were so tired!!**

So last night I came home, plugged in my phone to tell my sister and a friend or two I was home, put a couple things away, hung up some soggy outerwear and flung myself into bed, told the MA all about it and he fell right asleep and I did not.  LOL, that figures. I am not sore but am fatigued today- just plain old wiped out.  I am so happy I have no sore knees or anything like that.  YAY.  The gym however, will not be happening today!  I'll save myself for tomorrow.

So fast forward to today, I emailed the BATB people about my camera, I made coffee, pancakes and threw a load in the washer and have blogged.  I think it has been a productive day and now time for a nap!  It is already 11 am after all!

Seriously, that won't happen.  What a great day I had, just goes to show if you need to or want to bad enough, you can overcome all sorts of oddball and random fears.  I have a lot to go, though!  Adam is such a fabulous traveling companion and partner in crime- we were missing our 3rd buddy, but next time!

Looking forward to a lower-key kind of joy today!  Hope you find some quiet joy today yourself!

**THANK you Adam for allowing me to steal your pictures!

Valentines delights

These are my lil Valentines this year!  OH what a joy!!

This

This exactly 

I miss

I miss-

Ella- I have to hold her soon or I will go bonkers

Jon and Sarah and Greg and Sarah- :(  I will see them soon I think.  Greg and Sarah will be heading up in a few weeks, and if Jon and Sarah can't get up here, I will be going south at some point in March/April.

Mike-  How can the elusive Mike live 2 miles away from me and I haven't seen his face in weeks either??

MY SISTER!!!!  ARGH  We must plan a sister weekend- I'm thinking that whole downtown Minneapolis scene might be VERY cool.  But I'd be happy with a cheap motel in a small town at this point.

Any sort of warmth in the out of doors........  and my flipflops which are sulking in a corner.......

Teaching only in one school building.  I have so many kiddos every day.  I remember when I used to teach just grade school art, and then for a while, just HS art.  I could commit so much time to prepping for different things and creating new projects and having that enthusiasm every single day.  I am on auto pilot most of the time, and barely keeping ahead of the game.  February is the toughest month in Education, guys.  Trust me on this one.

My optimism.  I want to stay in bed.  I want to run away.  I want to eat chocolate and cupcakes until I can eat no more.  I understand that there are people in this world that have it bad- and I am pretty lucky and undoubtedly spoiled in some way or another.....  however this does not make me feel all that much better.  Because it is February and it is a LONG way before we get our spring break- like not until April.  And every one is getting sick and/or testy and/or tired.

So, I will take myself off of this couch and get myself going today and do the best I can, but I am hoping to solve some of these missing issues.  soon.  please.

and THAT will give me some joy

Quick hits

QUICK hits, because I miss writing this and life has been busy and yeah....  you get it.

1.  I'm over this cold. -27 this morning, that's enough.  (EEEEEEK- I just heard on the weather that it was the 45th day this winter of below zero weather- could be more up here)

2.  I've been doing some daily Instagram pix of Lola!  It is fun, find her story on Facebook or Instagram!

3. I have such dry hands and broken nails from- the dry weather, the clay we have been working with,  winter in general....  and this is obnoxious.  I think a nice trip to a tropical island is called for, but....

4. Things at work are busy and trying and noisy, but still I love my job, but there are parts that could  be eliminated and I would not complain.

5.  I sort of smashed my finger and consequently have an interesting pinch/cut on my middle finger. This put a screeching halt on my lift today- not happy.  Someone goaded me into at least doing cardio, and I did that, plus a few other things.  I sucked it up, but there was a good deal of whining and not a little cursing.

6. We have a half day tomorrow, and of course we have an inservice..... (see number 4)

7.  I am going with my buddy Adam, the Mad- English teacher, to Ashland this Saturday night and will do the Book Across the Bay!!  WOO HOO- 6 miles across Lake Superior from Ashland to Washburn. Oh I am looking forward to that!

8. Within a month or so I will see the far flung children of mine!  One way or another!!

9.  Tax season is winding up to a fever pitch.  The MA is working Saturdays and Sunday morning, won't be long and Sunday afternoon might be on the chopping block as well.  I have been the go to carrier pigeon girl lately.  

10. I have been able to find my joy every day, but wow, somedays it is hard to find something to be joyful about.  I need some color in my life.  Is it too early for daffodil watch?  Too soon??  sigh.

Anyway, along with some cleaning, and cooking and grocery shopping, my life consists of school, gym, eat, sleep - rinse and repeat.  But guess what- Scenery painting begins next week.

And on it goes.  

ALWAYS be a joy giver, y'all!

Dogs and caves and snow and ice

Wow that was a great way to spend a Saturday!  My friends Adam and Laurie: the Mad-English teacher and the Mad-Chemistry teacher, and I journeyed up to Washburn/Bayfield/Cornicopia area of far northern WI.  Which is a somewhat crazy thing to do, seeing it is usually COLDER up there than it is here.  But cool things (and some serious good eats) were needing to be experienced.

Ices, snow, caves and people

Laurie is a HUGE fan of all things dog and heard about the Apostle Islands Dog Sled race that was this weekend.  She wanted someone to come with her, and when the Ice Caves opened up plans were formulated!

I had been to dog sled races many years ago when we had them here in Park Falls.  It is an interesting thing to witness, those dogs are amazing.  Many people think of sled dogs as big puffy Huskies or what have you, but in reality they are smaller and lighter and more "mutt" looking. Of course not all of them are, and I do NOT mean to insult anyone or their dogs, but they do not look like stereotypical sled dogs of the cartoons or legend or what you might imagine they look like.

 What was fun is to see the personality of each of the teams.  Some were very mellow while waiting to be harnessed, and some were just twitching and howling with anticipation.  And when they were all attached, the majority of them were just LEAPING and twisting and barking with joy and energy, and some were more calm. But what you saw were dogs who were LOVING what they were about to do.  Those dogs are bred to run and run they do!  It was so much fun to see.

In the chute ready to go

Take off!

Shy guy

Same boy ready to go!

Before the dogs are harnessed

Waiting their turn to go

The Ice Caves are part of the Apostle Islands National Park system and they are along the shore of Lake Superior on the northern most edge of Wisconsin.  During the summer some hearty souls will sea kayak through those caves, but of course winter time, is a different thing.  The ice is not always of proper conditions to have thousands of people walking over to the cave area, in fact the last time was in 2009 that the caves were available.  It is something that is hard to describe, as the vastness of the lake and the height of the cliffs and even the ice formations are quite awe inspiring.  Worth the trip if you are up for a walk! Be aware that you may end up parking up to 2 miles away from the entrance to the park, and then there is a mile hike to the caves..... and it is VERY easy to wander on and on and on and on.  From what I estimate, we walked a total of almost 8 miles.  The caves may be open up to another 3 or 4 weeks, of course always depending on ice conditions- which can change quickly I hear.

This is near the beginning of the cave area- lots of people walking around

Some of the amazing ice formations

An island way in the distance- I don't remember what one it is

Decorations of ice

Looking up

Adam and Laurie trying for a great shot!

Icicle variation

This reminds of the Boundary Waters landscape 

Crawled into a low cave

Amazing the different sorts of ice, colors, formations

The people at the base of the rocks are a great scale comparison

The amazing changing weather

The weather changed no fewer than four times.  We started with it snowing, then the sun came out, then the wind picked up and the clouds moved in and got distinctly colder, then it got much windier and the sun came out again.  The gloves were off and on, as was the neck warmer and hat.  I was EVER so grateful that I had toe warmers in my boots, though.  If your feet are warm, the rest of you seems to have a fighting chance!!  I also had on a pair of yak traks, which are a gripping system for your boots that works quite well on the ice and snow.  I saw several people fall on the ice, but thankfully were not injured that I know of.  We were all quite exhausted by the end of the day and it was really good to be able to land at the Black Cat for a light dinner and relaxation.

HEY, did I mention that we ate breakfast at Coco's North??  Holy smokes was that good- I had stuffed French Toast, which was so yummy it should be illegal almost.  It was a good grainy bread - 2 pieces- egg coated and had some cream cheese filling in between the pieces and a side of rosemary roasted potatoes. Had to be one of the most delicious breakfasts I have ever had.  And of course they SERVE the best coffee ever- North Winds Coffee Roasters Coffee from Bayfield.  YUM

Anyway, it was such a fabulous day, we were outside all day long once we got to the dog sled races.  Just a 10 min drive to the parking road (Lol) of the caves and we were on our feet until 3:30 or 4.  Oh it was glorious to warm up and sit down.

Makes you remember what a good thing it is to find joy in whatever you do- and however winter is treating you.  Until next time, be a joy giver everyone!  Winter can't last forever!!  Lola says so!