E&T hit the road for a winter break. We had to burn two tix from Allegiant Air or lose them. They fly straight from Rockford to Mesa Airport.  It figures that the first snow storm of the year hammered us on the way down.  Grim driving, grim flying.  Flight delayed by several hours, but with some serious de-icing it took off just fine.  We made it to the Holiday Inn Suites Mesa by 1:30 the next morning.  (Nice room, giant bed, huge pool, no one in it. Too cool for the natives.)

Up bright and early, great breakfast within walking distance of our Hotel. Then we motored over to Tempe to walk around.  Man, is it dry in Phoenix!  Total desert (8.5″ of rain per year.)  Quite a shock coming from Wisconsin. Temps in the high 60′s, air quality amazingly clear. I’m quite sure that’s not a given.  Downtown Tempe is compact and typical for a large college. The campus is vast, with a student population we heard is in excess of 50,000.

We were entranced by the light rail that cut through town.  Very modern.  We unfortunately had no occasion to ride one.

(Click all pictures for associated slide show.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon we hiked a nearby city park named Papago.  Two miles and no irrigation away, the dryness is dramatic compared to being “in town”. We baked in the sun and stoked up on Vitamin D.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the hike, we motored around.  Walked downtown Scottsdale, drank wine on an outdoor patio.  Still great temps, fancy surroundings.  We need another million in our portfolio to fit in there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished the evening with Mexican dinner at Mangos, in downtown Mesa.  There is a real downtown, it was full of people (regular folks), street musicians, not too upscale.  Mangos was a popular locals hangout, very basic, above average food.

The next day, we took our tennis rackets back to campus, hit on the ASU courts.  Took a picture of our rental car, a Hyundai Elantra.  Nice machine, fast, 40mpg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon we found The Bicycle Cellar, a bike rental place near ASU campus in Tempe.  Good rental bikes, rode a local bike path and met Jim & Monica, snowbirds from Minneapolis.  We rode about 5 miles with them chatting away about their RV life in Mesa, which they love.  They’ve been coming here for seven years.  They have a 5^th wheel and spend 5 months down here in Monte Vista RV park.  Monte Vista has 10 championship level tennis courts, leagues, workout facilities, pool, etc.  We did check out a couple of RV parks in Tempe and Scottsdale and got some rental info.

Ate at Jalisco’s, a very authentic (ie, no one there spoke English) Mex joint with good tacos and rellenos.

On Sunday we met up with old friend Barb McNichol, from Colorado – now residing in Tucson.  In two hours we could barely catch up, so we drove over to the fancy resort hotel The Phoenician to walk the grounds.  They managed there to have both the best cactus garden around, and to also abuse the usage of water, all at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday morning we drove the 130 miles north to Sedona.  For those who aren’t familiar, Sedona is located in a huge, high desert plain dotted with some of the most spectacular rock formations imaginable. And not just a few.  They seem to go on forever.

We checked in at the ranger station south of town for hiking maps and suggestions, and the camera started clicking.

Our Motel was the Bell Rock Resort in Oak Creek Village, about 6 miles south of central Sedona.  Nice place with pool and hot tub, good bed.  We hiked the Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte loop that same afternoon, just a mile from our motel, gorgeous hike on a cloudy day. A storm had blown through and fast moving clouds were still in evidence. As opposed to crystal blue skies, these clouds made for some interesting photography.

 

 

 

Then on to Uptown Sedona, a six mile drive.  Spectacular rock formations flew at us on the way.  In desperation I started taking photos out the car window. We had a drink overlooking the canyon, best view in the city.  Walked nearby to a restaurant for a really good Kobe burger.

Sedona is parts pure tourist destination, but it also has some “real” neighborhoods, and real shopping areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday we hit the road, drove SW 17 miles to Cottonwood, a real town, not a tourist destination. As we dropped in altitude from Sedona, the topology quickly changed from semi-verdent high desert to real, bone dry stuff. We checked out an RV site and saw the same Airstream from the day before, in the ranger station. Then five miles onward to Jerome, a former mining town and tourist crossroads that sits perched thousands of feet above Cottonwood on a ledge.

Jerome was way up there.  You could see for a hundred miles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to Sedona and an afternoon hike, this one north and west of town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last day.  We drove Cottonwood Canyon to Flagstaff.  Very scenic.  Dramatic gain in altitude.  Stopped at the highest point to look down into a steep canyon.  Parking lot sale of traditional Indian jewelry.

UA-Flagstaff reeked of hipster chic.  It was too bad we didn’t have time to stick around, and besides, it was *cold* there.

We skedaddled back to Sedona for one last hike in warm weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mancation hit the road for it’s fourth installment.  This year featured a never before seen 7th member, Tim’s nephew and bad-assed rock rider Jeremy. Another change for this year was the addition of a 4th day.  Everyone could get away on Thursday.

The regular crew:  Tim, Mike, Wes, Doug, Scott, Guy.

We hit the road later in the year than usual, an Oct 13 Thursday getaway.  The weather was terrible, it rained hard all the way up north. And yet, when we floated a five mile section of the Flambeau, just north of Park Falls, the rain relented and while it was a tad gloomy, everything went fine. There are no photos of this event.  From there we rolled to our cabin via Hwy 77.

We once again stayed at our small cabin on Lost Land Lake. It’s hard to pass up the Hayward area, with its proximity to CAMBA (Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association) and it’s 300 miles of trails.  Being so late in the year, the scene was much different than the warm glow of autumn, resplendent with trees in full color.  Every leaf was down on the ground this year.  The temps were colder.  The wind howled.

First night’s repast was Mexican by Chef Hankard, who also mixed up some high quality, natural ingredient, completely deadly margs for the group.   The margs were concentrated enough for one senior member of the group to take the next day off, nurse his sore ribs, and go shopping.

Friday breakfast featured Jeremy’s Outstanding omelettes.  Rave reviews by all.

Friday’s ride was reportedly tough, with the wet, downed leaves causing visibility problems and slippage.

Friday dinner was out. We kayaked over to the Lost Land Lake Lodge, had a boatload of fish, watched St. Louis take it to the Brewers in what was becoming a familiar beatdown. Paddled home in the dark, heavy winds, threat of rain, no incidents.

Saturday’s weather improved.  Sunny, very cool, very windy. Saturday breakfast was by Tim, who dished up his version of huevos.  Spicing options were “mildly hot”, “smoking hot”, or as one person put it, “Asian hot”.  A few weenies went with “mild”.  Tim was very, very disappointed in them.  No one went Asian.  Otherwise it went down well with the crowd.

Saturday’s ride was not as hard as Friday’s, and the weather was much better.  Sunny, cool, windy but no problem with that in the trees. The best part was that the leaves had dried out. The crowd breathed a sigh of relief when a “certain delicate person” finished without crashing, bleeding, or requiring a stretcher. Kudos to Jeremy for flashing Wallstreet without a second thought.

Here’s pictures of the cabin and some from the ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday dinner was some awesome wheat free pasta and killer sauce.  Who did that?  Wes?  Great salad.  Our own organic farmer Scott made every meal better with the addition of fresh and varied produce.  Saturday night was the only calm night, perfect for late lake kayaking and sitting around the fire.  Or sleeping around the fire in an ice encrusted sleeping bag, as Scott would have it.

We all noticed that Scott doesn’t seem to need a coat.  What’s with that?

Sunday breakfast by Scott, an explosion of vegetables in a potato dish, eggs, bacon.  Delicious.

We broke camp and headed home, stopping for a five mile float on the Namekagon.  Clear weather, again very windy.  This section of the Nam is very scenic, and there was plenty of water.  Pictures from the float:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post trip assessment:

1) We need to get our butts up there a week or two earlier

2) It is hard to ride on wet leaves

3) We need a bigger cabin

 

Mary Pocrnic, wife of Edwin Chevalier, mother of Tony, Martin, and Eileen,  sister of surviving sibling Ed Pocrnic, and Grandmother to Madeline Chevalier Goode, passed away at home in Laguna Nigel on Tuesday September 6, 2011, at the age of 88.

Services were held on Friday, September 9, followed by a lunch reception at Mimi’s restaurant, in Lake Forest.

Following are pictures of family and friends, from the viewpoint of the Goode family, Eileen, Madeline, and Tim, of Madison, WI.

Service at the Cemetery. (click picture to launch Picasa Web slide show).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reception at Mimi’s:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eileen, Ed Pocrnic, Tim and Madeline, and Denise Y walk the beach at the Strand.

The Goode Family hooked up for this Very Special Occasion of Dave and Nancy’s 65th Anniversary in Minocqua, WI.  Specifically, a very nice house on Squirrel Lake, five miles west of town. In attendance – Dave, Nancy, Paula, Roger, Jeremy, Eileen, Madeline, and Tim.  Here’s a look at our digs.

(Click pictures below to see slide shows.  Note – slide shows use Picasa Web.  Mouse down to the bottom to see controls that can change the speed of the slide show.  Hit “pause” to manually control the speed. Hit <esc> to see a thumbnail view.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

We paddled Squirrel Lake on the first morning.  It’s a big lake.  Conditions were close to glassy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few of us hiked around the neighborhood.  An old, not functioning resort named Squirrel Lake Resort was at the end of the road.  A few cabins were being used by the family of the original owners, the rest were more or less “returning to nature”.  Beyond this resort, the last thing on the road was woods, and the dam at the end of Squirrel Lake.  Squirrel Lake became Squirrel Stream at that point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As is the Goode habit, we ate ourselves sick morning, noon, and night. It was a dark day in family history when somebody signed up for Costco.  A special cake was just the ticket on the night we celebrated the “65th”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A typical fishing day at the Dam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hankard family was up at their yearly YMCA Camp Nawawka camp out this same week, and as it turned out, they were not very far away. We rolled over for a look.  It is sweet.  Nice cabins (esp the Island cabin), interesting lake with super clean water, and an undeveloped shoreline.

The back yard project went over three different days – prep, stairs, brick. (This is not counting the multiple days of effort it took to move many tons of bricks from the front to the back, using my best friend Mr. Bobcat.)  Different folks at different times.  The stairs phase was particularly difficult because the major building blocks, the Versa-lok, weigh 83 pounds apiece and are tough to move around.

(Click picture below to see slide shows.  Note – slide shows use Picasa Web.  Mouse down to the bottom to see controls that can change the speed of the slide show.  Hit “pause” to manually control the speed. Hit <esc> to see a thumbnail view.)

 

A week after Demolition Day, a two man crew (Mike and Travis, from Poynette) returned to help me lay the brick walkway in front.  I was the “third man”.  The area was all cleared out,  dug out, gravel spread and compacted, ready to go. I hustled bricks from the driveway to the work area all day long.  It took us three about nine hours.

Click the picture to see the slide show:

The front walk and rear patio at Southwick have been falling apart for years.   We met some great construction guys in the roofing crew that just left our house, and they steered us to some landscaping buddies who do work on the side.  Before we knew it we’d ordered thousands of dollars worth of gravel and brick pavers.   “D-day” ( for demoliton ) came, here’s how it went.  The bobcat did all the heavy lifting.  It tore out the front walk, front bushes, and rear patio.  It then dug down 6″ wherever the new patio was to be laid, and piled up an impressive amount of dirt on the driveway. Finally, it spread over 30 tons of gravel out on the various areas.

Click the picture to see a slide show.

A buncha folks pedaled to the Union Terrace to help Handy Ann celebrate a *big* birthday.  It was quite a parade getting down there.  Perfect weather, lotsa pitchers and laughs and “crack” popcorn.  Then everyone pedaled home, in the dark.  It was officially reported that no one was lost or abandoned.

Check it out – click the picture.

Eileen, Madeline, & Tim float the Mecan, one of the twistiest rivers in WI.  Boats:  one 14′ kayak, and one 18′ canoe.  Big, big mistake.  The canoe was a floating blunderbus.  The radius of the turns was often about 12′.  The canoe couldn’t even begin to make turns like this. It had to be “rotated”, like tug boats turning the Queen Mary.  Eileen and Madeline started the trip in this boat.  10 turns, and 10 river-banks-dug-into later, Tim took the stern.  Three hours and a hundred turns later, Tim and Madeline were shot.  Eileen, in the beautiful red Current Designs Kestrel, was the picture of relaxed contentment.

But the Mecan is a sweet stream: spring fed, small, tight, scenic, twisty.  The water is pure, the stream bed is sandy.  In a kayak it’s a total delight.

(Click picture below to see slide show.  Note – slide shows use Picasa Web.  Mouse down to the bottom to see controls that can change the speed of the slide show.  Hit “pause” to manually control the speed. Hit <esc> to see a thumbnail view.)

 

After the new windows were installed, many of the walls in and around the interior frames needed “touch up”.  This room was worse – it needed a complete reworking, and had for years.  I took this opportunity, bit the bullet, got’r done.