Elroy-Sparta bike camp-out with Mattias

     Mattias has been biking around 20 miles each morning, since he came home from his summer research job at Cornell University.    I have been wanting to go camp with the kids at a fun campground along the Elroy-Sparta bike trail.     So, we organized an camping trip that had something for everyone.

     On the way north (the campground and  trail are 2 hours away), we stopped at a historic photo studio museum (the H.H. Bennett Studio) in the Wi Dells.   The old fashioned camera, one you could move and adjust to focus the upside image on the glass plate beneath the curtain, was the favorite exhibit.

      Ephraim wanted his picture taken in the fancy chairs as soon as he walked into this portrait room, lit with huge skylights.

     They used head-holders in the 1800's, to keep children's head in one position for the long amount of time it took to create a photo. It looks like a medieval torture instrument!

I tried for a nice group shot, but with Ephraim around, it is always going to be a bit loopy.

     We continued on to camp.  Mattias set up the bikes, Sylvia and I put up the tent, and Ephraim played in the river that runs by the site.

Bike-Master Mattias in action.

We had the entire tent side of the campground to ourselves!

The Kick-a-Poo River, behind our camp.

Ephraim plus water = hours of entertainment.

                                                     

After the camp was set up, Sylvia went over to the river to take photos. She got some beautiful ones!

I love this close up shot of Ephraim she took...

                                         


    You never know what she may come back with on the memory card after she takes the camera.  We got a funny "selfie" this time:

It was time for dinner and s'mores, with a great campfire built by Mattias.

                                         

                                        

          The next morning, Mattias got up at 6AM to leave for a 90 mile ride.  He took the Elroy-Sparta trail west, then hooked up with the LaCrosse River State Trail.   After 45 miles out, he reached a Culvers not far from the Mississippi, where he ate lunch, and then turned around to bike back to camp.
       
    He took a couple pictures along the way...

                                         
 
       The Elroy-Sprata bike trail is an old train track route that has been ripped up and converted to a gravel bike path. It's famous for the long stone tunnels you bike through.

    In the first tunnel Mattias biked through, because of the early morning fog and dim daylight,  he said you could barely see 5 feet ahead of you, even with the headlamp on. 

     Seven miles later, in the next tunnel he had to go through, it was pouring water down in drenching waterfalls from the roof.  He was soaked by the time he had gone the entire 3/4 mile through it.

                                        
 
     A couple hours later, I woke up with the kids, read leisurely in our tent,  had breakfast, and then biked over to the trail.   Our goal was much less ambitious, but still a challenge for Ephraim's first trail ride:  5 miles that only went through one tunnel.

                                          

     To keep Ephraim engaged, I'd have him look for beautiful things along the trail.  When he saw something he really liked, we'd stop and take a picture.  It was a great way to appreciate the beauty along the journey.  (Sylvia on the other hand, blasted at top speed ahead of us to the tunnel, then came back to us. She likes to go fast.  Next year, I'll have her bike part way with Mattias.)

                                          

     It was pitch black inside the tunnels, and you can't see anything that's not directly in front of your headlamp beam. You can only see  the inside of the tunnel  is these photos, because of the intense flash on the camera.

    Ephraim is standing inside a nook/fake door that was used by railroad workers to duck into for safety if they were doing repairs inside the tunnel when a train came through.   It was cool to press up against the cool stone, in the pitch black, and imagine a thundering train coming from one side, unseen.

    It was also fun going through the tunnel with Ephraim chanting "chuga-chuga-chuga -CHOOO CHOOOoooooo"  in different pitches, and hearing it bounce off the walls.
      As we left the tunnel, another family was just entering it, and they decided to howl like wolves.  The echo is amazing. I wonder what a real singer, or violin would sound like in there.

    We stopped for water and snacks on the other side of the tunnel.

                                        

      Ephraim took off his shoes and enjoyed playing in a small creek along the side of the trail.  He caught water-skippers and beetles, and made them sandcastles. I don't think the beetles really appreciated the upgrading of their real estate.

    Sylvia and I visited with other bikers coming through the tunnel.  It was fun to meet people of all ages, grandparents and toddlers, on all sorts of bikes that were just happy to be out enjoying the beautiful day. We'd take group photos for them, and hear about different sections of the trail they'd been on. We even saw a really neat motorized biking contraption a man had built for his mom who only had one leg.  It honestly looked like a bike-train with the headlight coming through the tunnel!

   It really was a perfect day for biking; around 70 with a  light breeze, and much less humid than the previous days. 

 
     We biked back to camp, ate lunch, packed up, and went swimming at the community pool by the campground. The cold water felt good on our muscles.  We did silly jumps off the diving board, and waited for Mattias to bike back into town. He showed up after we'd been swimming for an hour, and were getting chilly and ready to go.  It was perfect timing!

     It took Mattias almost 8 hours, with a long Culver's lunch break in the middle, to do the 90 mile ride. Since neither of us had cell reception in this hilly area, I was so grateful he didn't run into any problems.  He handled the ride well, and felt he could've biked farther.   Maybe next year we can work out a 100+ mile route for him.

A quick stop for ice cream, and we were on the road home. 

    This outing is the highlight of my summer so far.   I've been wanting to do it since last year, when I accidentally discovered the campground with the younger kids last August.   I knew it would be fun for Mattias.  I am thrilled Ephraim learned to bike on his own, and didn't need to be pulled in a trailer.  It bodes well for future outings!

Mid Summer-life

Sean's birthday is always a landmark of summer.  July 31 means summer is almost over, and you'd better get the rest of your summer party plans done!

 For Sean's birthday, we went on an exciting date.  We spent several hours in the DMV to get his license renewed (reading side by side, while waiting for you number to be called can be very romantic!)  then fun stop to a game shop to try out a new board game, and back to the DMV to finish the license process due to a computer glitch.

DMV Birthday Fun!

We celebrated with the kids at home, with a carrot cake, topped by sprinkles ala Ephraim.  The candles are arranged for 5 on one side, and 1 on the other (51).

I started up our homeschool in August, and dug out "Paddle to the Sea" by Holling C. Holling  to read with both kids.   We are reading two pages a day, and doing activities or watching youtube videos about the topics covered.  It is a fun adventure story of a little carved wooden canoe, that gets launched in Canada, and makes it's way through the Great Lakes to the sea.  (Geography adventure lessons.)

Here we are, launching our own popcicle stick canoes, down a creek, under a a bridge and through a culvert to see who wins on the other side.

Sylvia also took some cool water photos on that outing.

The end of July also gave us flat tires and a retaining wall that toppled over onto the sidewalk.   (In case you thought our life was entirely a bed of roses.)   Sean was amazing in sorting out the retaining wall problem.  If you arm him with tools and youtube videos, he can do anything!

The tumbled down wall...

Sean, chipping the old mortar off each block.

The heat and humidity were brutal.  Sean had to dig the dirt back several inches, and haul it to a pile in our backyard before he could start prepping the lower level of stones.  Each stone weighed around 300 pounds!  It took several days, a lot of backs aches, and couple of dollies to get them moved.

Sean gearing up to attack the wall.. again.

Once the site and the stones were prepped, Sean mixed up cement, and started re-stacking the blocks.

It has been a multi-week project.  The mortar can't get wet for a couple of days after it is put on, so keeping an eye on the weather was key for scheduling the different steps.  The finished wall is amazing.  No cracks, even and straight blocks.. it looks amazing! 

Mattias also came home from his summer internship at Cornell, so he was able to help with parts of the process.   Mostly, Mattias studies and bikes. Ephraim was so excited to show him he could bike without training wheels!

  We have gone on lots of bike rides because of this.

Which is good.. because whenever Mattias comes home, my butter supply vanishes, and things like full cream are requested from the store. Here is delicious an off-the-cuff-Mattias-dessert creation with creme pat, homemade jam, and candied almonds.

 It is fun to see what he creates in the kitchen, and good that we are biking at least some of it off!

Sylvia's Summer of Camps!

   Sylvia came home this weekend, after being gone 3 of the last four weeks.   Most recently she was as scout camp, held 4 hours north of us, by Rice Lake Wisconsin.   The week before that she was 2 hours west of us a church girls camp along the Mississippi River.

Here are some picture from her summer adventures. I'll let her type a bit explaining what she thought of the different camps. (Sylvia's voice is in italics.)

 Scout Bike camp from June:

     In the morning, it was very cold, but in the afternoons, it was really hot! 
     When we weren't biking, we worked on rank advancements (like chopping logs and starting fires). The bike ride itself was 25 miles up to Lake Michigan, and you could choose if you wanted to do another 25 miles back, or just ride in a car back. I chose to ride in a car because I didn't feel too good after 25 miles in about 85 degree weather. 
     It was very fun, though and Julia and I were in the front of the group for most of the first 25 miles.

Chopping wood for rank advancements.

More rank advancement stuff! Yay...

This is what
the campsite looked like.

Lining up for the big bike ride.

At the 25 mile finish line! FINALLY!

The nap on the grass after the long ride.

The view at the end of the ride. It was worth it. Not only for the view,
but also for the lunch of sandwiches, chips, and cookies.

Then Swamp Base in Louisiana at the start of July:

This was my first high adventure, when I'm only thirteen and only have been in the troop less than half a year! We canoed about 75 miles across the Atchafalaya swamp in Louisiana. 
     Our troop saw 71 alligators in total! This was my favorite trip out of all the scout camp outs I've been on. 
     I really got to know a few of the boys in the troop since I had mostly just socialized with the girls. It was really fun and rewarding when I got to the end.

Selfie with me and Mrs. Bailey before we got all sunburn and blistered.
Oh, the good 'ol days...

When we finished the five days of endless paddling.
We were all very exited to get on the bus with the AC!

This was taken at the island outpost. Gage, our tour guide, is
on the far left. After Swamp Base, I don't think I can stand to see another Cyprus tree
in my life! (that's a bald Cyprus behind us)

Then LDS girls camp, at Wyalusing State Park:

     This was WAY different than the scout camps. We got cabins, the food was cooked for us, the attitudes were also way different. In swamp base, we knew we were going to be miserable from the beginning, but for girl's camp, I guess that people thought it would be perfect weather and have AC in the cabins, but it was 80 plus degrees, and people were like "I'm dying! it's sooo hot!" and "No! I got a grass stain on my pants! The universe is gonna end! I've gotta go change!" I'm not even joking. 
     But I did make a lot of new friends (that weren't super complainy all the time), and had lots of fun. Plus, most of the time I was freezing because I had just come back from Swamp Base which was 110 degrees, so I really wasn't too hot. so many people thought I was weird for wearing a sweater. Now I know how Asher felt when he came back from Florida.

Then week long Scout Camp at Camp Phillips near Rice Lake WI:

     I had a lot of fun at summer camp. I took various merit badge classes. They were pretty fun. 
     Every morning we did a 'polar bear plunge' in the lake, which was supposed to be really cold, but really wasn't too bad. It sort of freaked me out that I couldn't see the bottom of the lake or anywhere near the bottom. I'm glad I didn't take the swimming or snorkeling merit badge class! I went to mostly classes that were required for becoming an eagle scout (Environmental Science, First Aid, Emergency Preparedness, Camping, and Cooking.)
     I rolled my ankle, though, but on the plus side, on the night that we had to do a bunch of sports (Gaga ball, kick ball, etc), I had an excuse to sit out with a friend who unfortunately "rolled her ankle, too". I had to have a bandage on it all week though, so that was one of the negative parts of summer camp, but the rest was really fun.

The Summer camp crew getting ready to go.

Around the campfire (which we really didn't do that much, cause we
were so busy all the time)

Along with these camping adventures,she has been busy attending her weekly scout meetings, and doing community service, like helping with the flag ceremony for Relay for Life.

The boys think that the girls in the troop are so weird for doing trust circles like this!

Learning to do thatching! How exiting!

Mr. Miller trying our ladder out after we were done with it.
It held up pretty well. I'm proud.

Relay for Life, we basically walked around a room with flags.
I can't believe I'm taller than most people in this picture!

I'm glad she has had a summer filled with amazing new experiences. I'm also glad to have her company again at home. She is fun buddy to have around.