Random Thoughts

Michelle and I went up to Bayfield Wisconsin this past weekend. It was another "working vacation" for me. The main reason for the trip was to help with the second annual Apostle Islands Sled Dog Symposium. This is the workshop that Eric works very hard to put together with the help of the Northern Wisconsin Dog Musher’s Association. This event is to raise money for trail improvement and upkeep.

On the way into the area we decided to stop and find a few Geocaches on the way to Eric’s house. We successfully found three before stopping in at Eric’s. His place is along the Iron River and is totally out in the middle of nowhere. We really enjoy it for the total solitude it provides. After a brief visit we headed on to Bayfield.

Bayfield is a very nice little port town on Lake Superior. During the summer months it thrives on tourism, offering easy access to the Apostle Islands. During this time of year it’s pretty quiet, but it still has a lot of charm.

The symposium made for a long, but fun, Saturday. The speakers Eric lined up were great, ranging from super-informative to very entertaining. I learned a lot and got to meet or catch up with many great people. The evening speaker was Paul Schurke, who shared with us his experiences with expeditions to the North Pole and Northern Greenland.

Sunday was time to relax and enjoy the outdoors. We decided to head out early to do some cache hunting and hiking with Alex. The highlight was a nice hike back into the Chequamegon National Forest to Lost Falls. We got a little confused by which trail to take but eventually found the spot. What a beautiful little waterfall! We just had enough time to take a few pictures and find the cache in the area before it started to drizzle. We double-timed it back and by the time we reached the car it was raining.

We again stopped by Eric’s place and had a nice talk. I talk to Eric on the phone just about every day for business, but we rarely get the time to just talk about life. I also spent a little time doing some maintenance on his computer. Around dusk Michelle, Alex, and I headed by to Bayfield for a nice dinner out and then back to the hotel to collapse in exhaustion.

After hitting a few more caches in Superior we started off on the long drive home. We always have mixed feelings leaving this area. We really miss the comforts of home (especially our own bed) but hate to leave the tranquil beauty and slower pace of the south shore.

Randy