Two Rivers and Manitowoc

While at Point Beach I took some time to explore Two Rivers and Manitowoc a little bit. I drove into Manitowoc looking for their Trek bicycle shop and picked up a basket and a rearview mirror for my bike. Across the street was a store called Natural Market, so I stopped in to see if there was any food I could pick up for lunch but the only food on hand was candy bars. Couldn't resist that! I asked for suggestions for lunch, but the ladies behind the counter didn't seem to understand my request for a "healthy" lunch and suggested the local buffet. A customer came to my rescue and told me how to get to a place called "Wrap it Up".
I followed the one way streets of downtown Manitowoc to the location but the business was closed. Foiled again! While downtown I took a moment to stretch my legs and walked into their county courthouse building, whose dome I had seen from the lakefront.


I also stopped into the Lincoln Park Zoo while driving around Manitowoc. I've been in some small zoos in my travels, but this one was definitely the smallest. There was only a handful of exhibits and the only animal out and visible was the timber wolf. He was very curious and followed me around behind the fence. It was a bit unnerving to see a canine who should've been wild act like a common housedog waiting for you to pet it. The zoo did have a lot of local wildlife, however. There were feed pans of grain left out under the bushes and birds, rabbits and squirrels were having a party and didn't seem bothered by my presence at all.  One squirrel was especially acrobatic climbing up the timber wolf enclosure and jumping from tree to tree with her prize in her mouth. She seemed to be interested in me as well.

As you can see in this photo, Manitowoc's Lake Michigan lakefront in the background is pretty grim. When I drove along their lakefront I couldn't even figure out how to get to their small lighthouse in the maze of industrial ugliness that included a wastewater treatment plant and what looked like a coal plant. Nothing like Kenosha, which isn't much to look at it in general but has a nice lakefront area that also winds through beautiful historical neighborhoods. The bike trail pictured with the flowers is the Mariner's Trail which starts where the Rawley Point Recreational Trail ends in Two Rivers and goes into Manitowoc. Mostly it is just pavement with a four land highway on one side and the lake on the other, but they have these nice little gardens spaced out in between. There are also a couple of sculptures on the trail like the ones pictured below.

As I mentioned in my last post, trying to find something to eat was difficult. I stopped into a store called the Honey Pot which was across from the Mariner's Trail in Two Rivers and had such a nice cup of coffee there on Monday morning that I went back again on Tuesday as well. The very small selection of muffins and scones did not look bakery made so I got a chocolatey treat instead and had my snack outside. The owner was very nice and if we camp out here again I will definitely be back.

I ended up getting a tuna sub from Cousins after stopping at 5 restaurants in Two Rivers trying to find something to eat on Monday. I ate half and tried to save the other half for later but it got warm and I was afraid to end up with food poisoning so it was another night of pretzels and candy for dinner. Thank goodness I had brought some of  Laurie's breakfast cookies with me that I took out of my freezer before I left and had for breakfast every morning. If not for those I just might have starved to death on this trip!



Total miles hiked on Monday were 8 and I rode 12 miles on my bike also. In my next post I'll tell you about my hiking experience at Woodland Dunes Nature Center in Two Rivers which turned out to be a wonderful place to stop on my trip.

Laughed my Dam ass off!

While reading the latest post on Letters of Note's blog, I laughed my dam ass off. Thought my fellow nature lovers would like a reason to laugh too... enjoy!

I got a picture of a beaver on a trip to a COE campground in Illinois along the Mississippi River a few years ago. It was a thrilling experience to be suddenly so close to nature's most industrious rodent! When we saw each other as I passed close by him on the deserted trail we both froze and every time one of us moved the other stopped moving again. Who was more afraid, I wonder? I didn't know, and still don't, if beavers can get aggressive if they feel threatened by a human's presence. There really wasn't much of anywhere for him to go to escape me at that moment, so eventually I moved on and left him in peace.

Point Beach State Forest

The weather finally cooled down a bit here in Wisconsin...for a few days, anyway. So, I packed up the car and drove up to Point Beach State Forest in Two Rivers for my next new state park adventure.

Dune beach at Point Beach State Forest

Point Beach State Forest is a beautiful little spot just north of Manitowoc. It took me almost 3 hours to get there, but it was well worth the drive. There is a U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse on site that was just beautiful with a little early morning light on my Monday morning walk on the beach. It arrived at Point Beach in 1893 and had been part of the French exhibition at the Chicago World's Fair. A light was needed because 26 ships were stranded on the point before it was erected, including the steamship Vernon that took down 36 crewmen and passengers with it in 1887. There was only one survivor and he never fully recovered so the cause of the sinking is a mystery. Point Beach consists of 5.5 miles of undeveloped shoreline and sand dunes which result from the wind and wave action that constantly changes the landform.

 

The park itself has more than 2,900 acres of forest and beach, 127 family campsites, two indoor group cabins and an outdoor group campsite.  There are numerous picnic areas with tables, grills, water, concession stand, playgrounds and restrooms. I camped in the tent loop which had a narrow winding road that campers would not be able to fit on, but there were plenty of areas with nice electric sites suitable for our fifth wheel that I noted for a future visit with Wayne.

Reading "Water for Elephants" on my Kindle after a busy afternoon hiking and biking.

Specialized plants with long roots help stabilize the dunes

Point Beach also has 11 miles of hiking/skiing trails and a self guided half mile nature trail. The trails were mosquito infested due to the marshy "swales" that exist between the ridges that the trails follow. Bring your insect repellant! Whenever I forgot to put mine on I got bit every time I stood still! It was mosquito-free down near the beach due to the sandiness and the breeze off the lake though.

Ice Age trail

Point Beach also contains a segment of the Ice Age trail, which I couldn't resist exploring. I did about 2 miles which ran right alongside the dunes area by the beach.

The best trail through the forest was the crushed limestone 5 mile section of the Rawley Point Recreational Trail which started at the lodge area at the beach and connects the forest with the city of Two Rivers. I turned around once it left the forest since I had seen the scenery on the rest of it because it runs alongside the road into the park. The trail mostly follows the ridges through the pine and hemlock forest but also crossed through this slightly dune-like area in the middle that was wide open and full of milkweed and other interesting plants.

Rawley Point Recreational Trail

And, boy, was there plenty of milkweed to be had around here! Healthy looking, too, unlike the plants south of Sheboygan right now. The butterflies were loving the milkweed and all the other blooming plants that were planted outside the nature center at the lodge on the beach

I ate breakfast before I left Sunday morning and packed myself a sandwich for lunch, but needed something for dinner after hiking for 2 miles and biking for 15 miles all afternoon. I dropped into Pick N Save, and the best I could do was a roll and a fruit cup to go with my leftover pretzels, tomatoes and cucumbers. Being a vegetarian can be challenging without a fridge or stove, let me tell ya! Topped it off with a diet Snapple and a couple of dark chocolate Doves and called it a day!

Our Farming Experience

In 2000 we moved into a 4 bedroom farmhouse on 4.5 acres in southeastern Wisconsin. We wanted to get out of Kenosha and into a more rural setting, and I was dying to try my hand at raising sheep.  When I used to go visit my family in Newfoundland one of my favorite things to do was to go out to my grandad's barn with him. He had the occasional cow, some chickens, and a handful of sheep. Our little farm came complete with barn cats, but that was the only thing living in the 2 barns we had.  It didn't take us long to fill them up with sheep, then chickens, an occasional cow and once even some turkeys. The calves had a nasty habit of dying before they'd even reach a year old, so we gave up on those after the third time that happened. The turkeys turned out to be aggressive and after they were butchered we didn't repeat that experience. But the sheep and the chickens were a joy to have around.

 We started out with just a couple of Targhee sheep, and we were so excited when our first lamb was born! We never did figure out where to get rid of our wool after shearing and after a few years we ended up composting the wool pile for lack of any better ideas. We tried to wash the wool once, and that was quite the messy disaster! The mama ewe in the picture above was named Nellie and whenever I came out of the house she'd run right up to the fence and start baa-ing to me so I'd come give her some of the greener grass from the other side of the fence. Those sheep were so spoiled! We did the lamb tails and hooves ourselves, but paid someone to come in to shear the sheep. Those girls are a lot heavier and harder to handle than they look! As a matter of fact, lifting one of our year-old lambs into the truck was how Wayne first ruptured the disc in his back that eventually needed surgery.

It didn't take long for the chickens to join our family, and I loved sitting down with the catalog in the spring and ordering up an assortment. No boring white chickens for me! Well...except for a few like the one in the picture below. They were adopted from a neighboring farm, and she never hung out with the rest of the chickens. Very antisocial, but a good little layer who decided she liked cat food better than chicken feed. Since she didn't stay in the barn I had to roam the property searching for her nest, and whenever I discovered it she's up and move to a new place again.

Those chickens just wandered all over the property eating up our bugs and grass during the day, and we sold the excess eggs to the guys Wayne worked with. Who's going to say no to fresh eggs from free-range chickens for the same price as regular eggs in the store?

After 6 years on the farm we decided that as much as we loved the country life it was a very expensive hobby that we just couldn't afford anymore. So, we found homes for all the animals and put the farm on the market. We sold it quickly and moved into a small ranch home in the neighboring town right on the edge of the city limits. We still had a 1/2 acre lot, but our mortgage and the work load were much less. I still think about our days on the farm and miss carrying jugs of water out to the barn at night for the animals. There was no noise or light pollution out there, and it was very peaceful making my evening rounds and making sure everyone was safely in the barn for the night. But, I am glad not to be tied down to the responsibility of all those critters and all that property.

Two years after we moved into the house on 1/2 acre we flipped that one and moved into an even smaller lot in a little subdivision on the outskirts of Twin Lakes. We keep getting smaller and smaller, and I can't wait until we're selling this house and moving into an RV.  Wayne told me the other day that instead of retiring at 50 we're going to have to wait until he's 55 after all. Eight years sounds a lot longer than 3 years, let me tell ya! To stay positive about the change in plans I decided a few of those places I was saving until we retired would become vacations in the next few years instead. I don't think it'll happen in 2013 due to the fact that we'll probably have to make a trip to Newfoundland, but in 2014 I'm hoping we'll be heading out to Glacier National Park with a stop at Yellowstone on our way back. Who needs sheep and chickens when you've got the whole world waiting for you, right?

Midwestern Heat Wave Sought for Questioning in the Death of Pam's Adventurous Spirit

That's right. I've tried to be positive. I've tried to fight it. But I've had it! Average amount of rainfall for the month of June here is 3.80 inches...we've had .73 inches! Average high for June is 77 degrees...half the month was over 90 degrees! Now it's July 1st and I set out to go camping at New Glarus Woods State Park this morning because Wayne was at the races with his buddies and by the time I got there at 11:00 a.m. it was over 90 again!  I drove around the campground and discovered that I really need to take more time reading the details on the DNR website because they have no showers. No electric? Fine! Small sites? Fine! No running water except a spigot by the side of the road...not fine! I was still trying to be positive though, so I reserved a site for one night and drove into New Glarus to check out the sights.

My first stop on the recommendation of my daughter was the New Glarus Brewing Company. I don't drink beer, I've never liked the taste of it, but Katrina swore this was better than regular beer and maybe I just hadn't met the right beer.  The brewery tour was self-guided, which essentially meant you could walk in and wander around, but there was no signage telling you what you were looking at. I thought whatever these were that they were pretty though.

Eventually I found the tasting room (accessed from the outside but half hidden because I walked right past it three times and would have never found it if someone hadn't come out of the door!) and I paid my $3.50 to have 3 - 3 ounce samples. I told the pourer right up front that I don't drink beer, don't like beer, and asked him what he had that didn't taste like beer.  He gave me a sample of Totally Naked, which tasted like beer, then something that tasted so horrible I kept making faces until I got the next one. The last one was Belgian Red and it tasted like a cross between beer and cider, I guess would be the best way to describe it. I drank about half of it and ended my tour.  I'm sure those who like beer would enjoy stopping here, everyone else there seemed to be having a good time. Note to self...you don't like beer, don't visit a brewery again!

Notice the look of uncertainty before I take my first sip of Totally Naked

New Glarus is Wisconsin's Little Switzerland and is the start of the trailhead for the Sugar River State Trail which intersects with the Badger State Trail just a few miles further down the line. I parked at the grocery store and rode my bike into the downtown area.  Plenty of sidewalk and wide roads for riding, but I soon discovered there were no places to park your bike except along the one block on their main street. There were 2 museums in town that I would've loved to go to, but there was no place to lock up a bike. Before I discovered this annoying little detail they left out of the online brochure I did find this little bird nesting in some of the architecture of a closed-up looking downtown building.

When I discovered the only place you could lock up your bike was on the main block I parked it and walked up and down the block. A few European gift shops and a couple of restaurants is all there is to Little Switzerland, but I came for the cows...and bought a rhubarb bar, a cranberry orange scone, a lemon pocket and a raspberry linzer bar at the New Glarus Bakery. I took a bite of each one and they were all delicious, though really sweet, especially the linzer bar.

I'd be a little alarmed if I found one of these grazing in my flowerbed, especially if he was wearing a suit!

Since I couldn't get into the museums while I had my bike I went back to the car and just drove back to the state park to try to cool down in the shade for awhile. I took out my chair and tried to read my Kindle, but even in the shade the heat was oppressive and I gave up within an hour and decided just to give up and go home.

I drove through Monticello and Monroe on the way home, where they seem to have a strange obsession with turrets...and pirates.

Never seen a pizza place with a castle turret before, but the name "The Kooler" was tempting on this hot day!

If you click on the picture of the Green County courthouse in Monroe you'll see a pirate ship in the lower left corner. The 42 foot long wooden ship was built to kick off their 2012 Pirates on the Square summer promotion. There were pirate flags hanging from the storefronts and also some wooden pirate and mermaid sculptures. Don't know what it was really all about, but it was certainly different. While walking around the square I kept thinking of the town square in the movie Back to the Future since Monroe's comes complete with a courthouse and an old movie theater. My last stop was at Baumgartner's cheese shop where they claim to serve the best cheese sandwich. I'll have to take them at their word, but I did buy a wedge of smoked gouda that I'm looking forward to trying.  They also sell shirts that say "I cut the cheese at Baumgartner's" which I was tempted to buy for Wayne, but since he wasn't technically there to cut the cheese I resisted the temptation.

So that was the end to my little camping trip that never was. Here's a couple of pictures I took along the way that highlight just how dry it is out here right now. The poor cows' pasture is pathetic, all that's green around here are the trees and the corn, and the corn is starting to look really stressed which might effect the feed corn turnout this year so the cows will have poor feed in the summer and the winter! I'm going to crank up the A/C and watch Back to the Future, stay cool, Everyone!

Saving money by not having to pay to have our lawn mowed this year, but I have to water my plants deeply every night and some that I transplanted in May may not come back next year.

The Hopefully Not-So-Hostile Dietary Takeover

I spent 9 hours yesterday at my parents house educating them about food and diabetes, constructing a week's worth of meal plans and snacks for each of them, inspecting their current food supply and then going to the grocery store with our list.

We filled the cart with fruit, vegetables, nuts, ground turkey and light dairy products.  When we got to the register the total bill for a week's food for the two of them came to about $130, but next week should be less because there were quite a few items that will carry on into the next few weeks. We didn't know what cereal we would be buying for Dad to have every other morning, so we had to read some labels in the aisles. One of the books I read said it was important for the cereal to be oat, barley or bran based and to have a minimum of 4 grams dietary fiber. I was so busy looking for those parameters that I forgot to also check calories and carbohydrates. He discovered that the Oatmeal Squares cereal we bought turned out to be very high in those areas. Luckily we bought Kashi's Heart to Heart honey oatmeal cereal also, so he'll be switching to that instead.

We also stopped at the Calphalon Outlet Store to buy some vegetable keeper containers. When we got back to their place I washed them and filled them up with the fruits and vegetables so that they would stay fresh all week long.

The key to a diet that will stabilize blood sugar is smaller, high fiber, low carbohydrate meals and snacks eaten frequently throughout the day. We're also aiming for increased water intake and lower calories to encourage weight loss. I used the internet to find websites that give calorie and carbohydrate information for food to determine portions and get all our statistics for the form I printed out. I'm going to call them at the end of every day to see how it went and they are going to make notes about any difficulties they had and why. At the end of the week we'll meet again to discuss what worked and what didn't and make a plan for next week. It should take much less time because all the homework is done and they will shop on their own after the next plan is made. Today my father is planned to eat about 180 g carbs and 1500 calories, which was at the top end of our goal due to the mix-up with the cereal. My mother is planned to eat about 156 g carbs and 1100 calories, which is a little under goal so she may add something throughout her day if she's feeling hungry.

I'm excited about their goals and they are too! Hopefully it will all come together and they will stick with it and change their health for the better. I will make weekly updates on how this plan works out. If anyone has any questions as I go along, feel free to contact me for additional information!

Learning to Take Care of Yourself

A few of the blogs I've been reading have prompted me to write a post about healthier lifestyle changes. The Good Luck Duck wrote a post about cheap healthcare and the importance of preventing disease, or rather referenced another blog's post about it. Sharon over at Gains and Losses has a tab at the top of her page referencing her weight loss story and I certainly can relate to her story of struggling most of her life with weight loss.

1990- Katrina born, 1st anniversary                               1992 - Cory's christening

                                                                

Easter 1996

2003

 When I said I wanted to "grow" with Wayne over the years, this wasn't what I meant! But, I was totally inactive and completely uneducated about food. The one bright spot was that I had quit smoking in 1997 and Wayne quit after my father had a stroke in 2002. The year 2003 was a turning point for both of us in relation to our weight and health. Wayne was suffering with a disc injury that eventually had to be operated on, putting him on disability leave from work for 6 months. I went back to work part-time to make up for some lost income, and by the time he went back to work I was struggling with plantar fascitis from cheap shoes and standing on a concrete floor. I put on an additional 20 pounds during this time due to the increase in time spent "resting my feet", bringing me to my high of 205 pounds, while Wayne had also put on 20 pounds eating ice cream and peanut butter cups in an attempt to "feel better" while recovering from his surgery.

In 2005 a co-worker was having a little success going to a weight loss doctor, and I knew the extra weight was not helping my situation with my feet. I was also starting to be worried about my future, which I didn't want to include diabetes or other weight and diet related diseases. I made an appointment, got my information packet and medication, and lost 4 pounds the first week by following directions. I took Meridia for 2 months, losing 25 pounds, then stopped taking the medication and began the struggle on my own. I didn't exercise much that first year due to my continuing battle with my feet, and had trouble keeping my weight stable. Eventually my feet healed and when I added exercise things improved and more weight came off. I started off by walking, then walking faster and farther, and a year after I started walking I began running because the walking wasn't enough to keep the weight off anymore. I hit my lowest weight of 140 in the fall of 2010 and have rebounded back up about 10 pounds, but have held steady there. I don't run as much anymore due to problems with arthritis in my knees, so hiking has become my key exercise and I walk 6 days a week to maintain a healthy weight.

2006 - lean and mean!

But, as I kept gradually getting smaller, Wayne kept gradually getting bigger. This past year he started taking high blood pressure medication and at his last visit to the doctor she told him that high cholesterol medication was next if he didn't do something to improve his diet. I've been trying to nudge him, sometimes nicely, sometimes not so nicely, but with his work schedule I have no control over his eating habits. He works rotating shifts and overtime, and from day to day I don't know what time he'll be home so planning meals is impossible. Since Katrina left home I can't even cook a meal knowing someone else might eat it since Cory is gone for days at a time as well.  He has been trying to add more physical activity outside of work, but it's been sporadic and I'm very worried about his health.  Since I lost my excess weight and made a commitment to myself to be fit I am so much more energetic and happy and wish my husband would get to the place in his heart and mind where he puts this as a priority for himself as well.

Tomorrow morning I am going to start my parents on a new path. My dad has been diagnosed with diabetes and my mother with fatty liver disease. Perhaps watching them succeed will motivate Wayne to jump on board, too. They aren't too thrilled with my planned hostile takeover...it should be an interesting experiment, but more on that next time!

South Dakota 2011