Vacation Report:Wisconsin rocks!

[laurence]

So, I bugged out for 1.5 weeks and forgot to tell y'all, ooops!

DW, daughter and I made our first family trip to Wisconsin, where DW's extended family resides. DD got to meet two sets of great-grandparents, her great-great grandmother (who is still in her condo at 95 and kicking butt!) and countless aunts and uncles. I must share photos:

We went up to Lake Superior, and while that was awesome, it's really beyond comprehension, and doesn't translate well to photographs, here is nearby Lake of the Clouds - we're actually in the Upper Peninsula at this point - if you live there you're a "UPer!" (pronounced yooper):



This is DW and DD at grandpa's property, he has 12 acres of deep woods, where he hunts deer with a 60 lb. pull compound bow - at 76, I'm still sure he could kick my butt.



Then we went to our Uncle's property, his family owns almost 2 thousand acres! This shot cannot begin to take in their land, but in the distance is the lake they made over the years, almost 7 acres now:



Here is, from left to right, uncle, me, aunt, and grandpa at the lake house grilling brauts and drinking a local brew (Lacross light? Lienekugel (sp) is also very good). Uncle is a lumberjack, he could kick my butt, too. :



We did bow shooting, fishing, kayaking, etc. etc. Here is a pic of one of the many fish DW hooked (large mouth bass-) she hooked, but didn't land, a monster northern pike, too:



Here's a nice finishing picture, since kayak's hold a special place on this board, here's me on the pond/lake with one:



In addition, they have many smaller ponds on the property, some fed by springs, which they've stocked with fish. In one they had brook trout so tame you could stick your hand in the water with fish food and have them swarm your arm!

Overall the big WI took my breath away. Awesome place. We finished up the trip with a trip to Mr. Ed's for Friday fish fry- I hurt myself eating wall eye and potato pancakes. :P A perfect trip, congrats to those of you who get to enjoy that every day.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence So, I bugged out for 1.5 weeks and forgot to tell y'all, ooops!

Laurence, no wonder you kept us in the dark about your whereabouts until you got back. Didn't want to run the risk we would find out and crash the party!

Pardon me, but my envy is showing...

Far out. Great pictures. Good spot for an Early Retirement Forum weekend party, yes?

I guess in the fourth picture everyone's taking a break from kicking your butt.

[laurence]

Not a bad idea, guys! We partied all day at that lake and I was sad when everybody said it was time to go. Judging from the recent threads, I'll have to check people for weapons at the door before the ER party really gets going.

[kz]

Please don't post anymore about Wisconsin. We're trying real hard to keep our great state a secret.

Oh...and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[laurence]

I have to say something about the accents, they were amazing! I tried hard not to laugh sometimes, because I was afraid of getting my butt kicked.

One thing though, t.v. get's it wrong, I never heard anybody say, "oh, you betcha!" but I heard a lot of 'ya, ya betcha!". I didn't hear, "don't cha know" but heard a lot of "ya know". Uncle was almost indecipherable, he also threw in a ton of "whatevers" and his accent was so thick I had to buffer and process anything he said before I could respond.

[maddythebeagle]

Between you and cutthroat, you could start a travel brochure. For those that want to move here, wait until January.*

Yes, you have a nice family.

[retire@40]

I posted an article yesterday about Ballmer's stressful rant about his mission of killing Google or something to that effect.* I think he's one of the top 10 richest people in the world.

Then I read all the fun you had on your vacation with your family.

Really, who's the richer person?

[MRGALT2U]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddythebeagle Between you and cutthroat, you could start a travel brochure. For those that want to move here, wait until January.* Yes, you have a nice family.

I lived on the Wisc.-Michigan UP border for 10 years.
Just wanted to confirm that January is brutal, and some of the other months are no picnic

JG

[MRGALT2U]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence I have to say something about the accents, they were amazing!* I tried hard not to laugh sometimes, because I was afraid of getting my butt kicked.* One thing though, t.v. get's it wrong, I never heard anybody say, "oh, you betcha!" but I heard a lot of 'ya, ya betcha!".* I didn't hear, "don't cha know" but heard a lot of "ya know".* Uncle was almost indecipherable, he also threw in a ton of "whatevers" and his accent was so thick I had to buffer and process anything he said before I could respond.* *

How about "Eh?" or "Holy Waaah!". I once spent most of a week riding solo through the Porcupine Mountains on a motorcycle. One of my best trips ever.

JG

[Martha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence Here is, from left to right, uncle, me, aunt, and grandpa at the lake house grilling brauts and drinking a local brew (Lacross light? Lienekugel (sp) is also very good).

We call it Leinies here.

[Eagle43]

Great photos, looks like fun. What was the temp like? Since it's 95/75 here, just thought I'd ask?

[wildcat]

A SoCal guy in Wisconsin

[laurence]

Leinies, yeah! I had several dozen of their amber, dark and classic. Very nice

Temps really couldn't have been better, I'll say high seventies with the lows getting to about 40 at grandpa's house. Just right for cuddling. Still, for it to get that cold that early in the year, I could just imagine how cold it would be three months from now!

Side notes, all you small business/work for yourself types, you got it right. Uncle Rob (pictured) has worked for himself all his life. As he put it, "oh ya, I worked two summers in high school for some one else, he kept wanting to tell me what to do and when to do it, that wasn't for me.". He's not super wealthy, but man, is he happy. Total freedom, he seems almost ER'd as it is. Comes and goes, as he wants, when he needs money, he works for a while, when he doesn't, he plays. All of his family live on the extended proptery in nice homes that are close, but not too close, and everybody who wants to works in the business. As retire@40 put it so well, that man was the richest I've met so far. I really need to get my real estate research going.

Anybody had any luck with rental properties in Wisconsin?

[moghopper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence Leinies, yeah!* I had several dozen of their amber, dark and classic. Very nice

What? No Red or Honey Weiss?!?

[laurence]

What, I only had a week!

[KB]

Love the lake house.
Great pictures Laurence. Nice to get away isn't it.

[MRGALT2U]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cut-Throat And it's costing me $25 an hour to talk to you guys on the internet.*

Best $25 you ever spent.

JG

[laurence]

Hmmm, as far as where, all I know is it's very close to Tomahawk, about 50 miles north of Wasau (sp?). I just remembered, I haven't even posted our Hawaii pics, we've been all over the past three weeks!

Since we had been before, and had done the touristy things already, it was all about the beach this time, Tori loved it, she is a great traveler! That scene with the beers is at a place called Pinky's on the North east side of Oahu. The food is great and the beers are large!

[img width=750 height=530]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/laurencewill/TorisHawaiiTrip002edit.jpg[/img]

[MRGALT2U]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moghopper What?* No Red or Honey Weiss?!?

Honey Weiss! I couldn't think of the name. One of the participants
in my annual fishing tournament always brings that beer along
(he lives in northern Wisc.). Great stuff!

JG