Wisconsin Wrap Up

I wrote a couple of short posts about certain days during our two-week stay in Iron River, WI but I feel impelled to reflect on that time. It was exquisitely vacation-like and it will make me happy in the future to remember the things that created this. Let's do this Letterman style:

#10: Hayward, WI
Sometimes you need something to do. The kids are getting rammy. The house is feeling small. The weather isn't what you hoped. So we hopped in the car and drove about an hour to Hayward to see the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and a small-town amusement center. We skipped the latter and instead spent quite a bit of time on main street shopping, eating ice cream, eating dinner and also enjoying a small little city park along the river.

Elise, Ali, Cate and Henry in the mouth of the worlds largest Muskie.

This gave us the chance to see the banner advertising the lumberjack world championships later that week. This was an unexpected highlight of the trip so far. Hayward is a terrific little town, reminiscent of so many places that we experienced as we biked across the country nearly 20 years ago.

At the lumberjack championships, with the saw/chop dock in the foreground and the 60' and 90' climbing poles in the background.

#9: Slumber Parties
There was a lot of novelty about staying in this cabin on Spider Lake in Iron River, especially when it came to sleeping. Inevitably, the living room was transformed into forts and into these forts went all manner of blankets, pillows, sheets and more. I really love that the kids love sleeping near and with each other and I'm happy that Lily still gets excited about it too. Our terrific rental house provided great spaces for the kids to feel close to each other and I'm glad they took advantage of them.

All four kids, spread across the cabin's living space.

#8: Family History
I hadn't given this a lot of thought before we arrived but once we were there I felt a pull toward the history of my family in the area. My maternal grandfather grew up in the Twin Cities and his family had a farm near Washburn in northern Wisconsin. On a lark, I pursued a lead from a website that took us to a cemetery where we found a headstone for a handful of my ancestors. I have an interest in genealogy and family archives so this simple visit made a big difference to me.

Frank and Eta Rarig are my great-grandparents on my mother's father's side.

#7: Iron River Library
Near the end of our stay in Iron River, I sent Lily and Henry into town on their bikes to explore the library. A while later, I drove into town with Ali and Cate because they also love library spaces. This had exactly the effect I had hoped: Lily and Henry experienced the exhilaration of going out on their own. Not that they couldn't do this at home in Portland but it's really different in a small town where any one person stands in much greater proportion to the whole than in a much bigger city. I also want to give props to the library, which is a terrific community space, and to the staff, who encouraged the kids to enjoy it in their own manner (i.e., not silently). We felt extremely welcome and well-served.

Ali (in pink) and Henry (center) got involved with other kids at the Iron River library, producing a puppet show of some kind.

#6 Brule River
I already wrote an entire post about this one and for good reason: it was a really special experience for our family during a year when we are going to have a lot of new adventures. The purpose of repeating it here is to say that if you find yourself visiting this part of Wisconsin, I strongly encourage you to visit the folks at Brule River Canoe Rental so that you can do it yourself. We did trip A1 (9 miles, 4 hours).

Henry and Cate paddling down the Brule.

#5: Bayfield/Lake Superior
We had two visits to Bayfield. During the first we took the Seacaves and Lighthouses Tour with Apostle Island Cruises. We enjoyed the waterfront park/playground and then dinner at the zany, flamingo-themed Maggie's. During the second, we stopped at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, whose highlight was a giant snapping turtle in the on-site pond/wetland, before taking the ferry from Bayfield to Madeleine Island. Lunch at the Beach Club and then a short, easy drive to Big Bay State Park. This visit will be memorable because everybody got wet and we had absolutely nothing for the occasion, including a change of clothes and towels. So there was Henry in his jeans and the twins in their birthday suits. We'll never forget it!

#4: Delta Diner
Everybody (local) who heard we were going to Iron River immediately said, "you'll have to go to the Delta Diner!" Searching for it online quickly revealed that it landed itself on a TV show (Diners, Dives and Drive-ins). Not surprisingly, lots of other people had received similar advice and so we had to wait about 45 minutes for a table. This gave us the opportunity to meet a local artist working her booth, Karen Bejin. She amused the kids with craft projects and hugs and helped us pass the time until our extraordinary breakfast. Absolutely worth the wait.

In front of the Delta Diner, Cate with her art projects while Henry and Ali exhibited the fashions they acquired at the lumberjack show.

#3: The Quiet
Water has a significant effect on both me and Elise, as I hope I've noted elsewhere. We both find it calming, settling and grounding. Whole days at the cabin passed without the overhead drone (or roar) of a jetplane and very few cars driving by. The sounds of nature were abundant but the quiet surrounded us both day and night. Even the cacophony of kids at play melted into the water and the trees. No picture captured this better than one of Elise practicing her yoga early in the morning on the day we departed.

Shhhhh.

#2: The Fishing
This wasn't a highlight for me, personally, because fishing makes me crazy in seven different ways, not least the worry that one of our kids is going to get snagged by a poorly-cast hook. But it was absolutely a highlight for Henry and Lily and it absolutely belongs on this list. Most mornings, one or both of them wanted to be down on the dock as early as possible. The futility did not phase them at all. One sunfish was enough to justify hours of waiting. I imagine that fishing will be one of the things they remember about this most summery experience.

Lily and Henry fishing from the pontoon boat at dusk in some quiet water.

#1: Spider Lake
It all comes back to the water. There are many terrific things about a cabin on a lake because there are so many wonderful things about a lake. This lake is terrific because it is too small to attract big motors, which means everything is pretty slow and calm. Also, there isn't a public access so the only users are the neighbors and, especially midweek, there are very few of those. Endless swimming, boating, fishing, sunbathing, laughing with friends, testing your limits (Lily swam across the lake, mostly in a life jacket; Ali swam from the dock to the "lily pad" without a life jacket; each kid took numerous turns steering the pontoon boat). This one calls for multiple pictures because it was such a big deal to these two weeks. There were great times with additional family members and/or friends but, most of all, it was the six of us simply having fun in the water.