Wyalusing - Part II Effigy Mounds

On Sunday, Josh and I packed up camp, realized we had ripped the tent while setting up in the dark on Friday night (ooops...), and headed into Iowa. That's right, we abandoned our Wisconsin loyalty to check out Effigy Mounds, located in Harpers Ferry, only about a half hour(?) from Wyalusing.

Effigy Mounds is...what you probably think it is...a bunch of mounds. The area is covered with American Indian burial mounds in different shapes (bears, birds, circles, etc.). There are over 200 well-preserved mounds at this national monument. Not only are the mounds incredibly interesting, but the area is packed with nicely groomed, woodchipped trails perfect for hiking.

There are many branches of trail that shuffle hikers past all the different mounds and lookout points along the Mississippi River. Naturally, Josh and I decided to do the entire trail, including most of the extra lookout points. The lookout points were impressive (a fantastic view of the Mississippi), but pretty much all the same. The final lookout point (clearly the end goal for most hikers) was well over a mile beyond most of the other mounds and lookout points - and not an ordinary mile - a mile with very hilly terrain and not many mounds along the way. I have to admit, I was a little weary by this point, but Josh took it in stride (he only tried pushing me off the cliff twice). Our lesson to pass on: either go straight to the far lookout point or check out all the shorter trail segments and lookout points. Doing both=tiring!!!

Overall, the hills of Effigy Mounds were pretty killer on both of our bodies (mostly because we had hiked and canoed ourselves into exhaustion the day before). So to re-fuel, we headed to McGregor, Iowa (a town recommended for its cute and cozy downtown area) for dinner. We ate at Old Man River Brewery. My burger and Josh's portabella sandwich hit the spot, along with some freshly brewed beer. I don't know how impressed Josh REALLY was with the restaurant, but I sure thought the beer and my burger were delicious. The town of McGregor was not the knockout experience we anticipated, but still worth stopping to check it out if you find yourself in the area.

Check out the pics of our great view of the Mississippi.

Wyalusing

So, allow me set the scene for you: we check in at Wyalusing State Park, the staff is incredibly friendly and about a dozen hummingbirds are buzzing about the feeders outside of the visitor center. Paradise, right? Now fast forward five minutes and imagine this: there's a tent already set up on our campsite, the fire pit has six inches of standing water, and the rest of our site looks like it would be better suited for mud wrestling than camping. Ah, here's to perseverance! Here's to positive thinking! And, most of all, here's to Team Big Yum!

Friday was a challenge, yes, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. Child's play, really. Once the gentleman who took the liberty of erecting his tent on our campsite moved on, we set up our tent - in the dark. A couple tears and a couple Rocky Arbor Champagnes later and that sucker was standing tall! Now, are we ready to assemble and disassemble M-16s while blindfolded? Ummm...No. Unfortunately, it was far too wet for a fire, so we just made some sammies in the tent and crashed early. This proved to be a wise choice because the physical demands we placed on our bodies over the course of the next two days could not have been anticipated.

After a solid night of sleep - fresh, cool air is so great for sleeping - we got up and had some fun with our new toys. First we percolated some coffee, a first for both of us. Using my parent's Coleman stove from the Jurassic Era, we made what turned out to be perhaps the weakest coffee either of us had ever had. The coffee cups we used were not much help either. Also from prehistoric times, these cups were created before the concept of thermal insulation proliferated the more frigid regions of the planet. Nevertheless, percolating coffee was fun, and we got some pointers on how to do it right next time. After coffee it was time for some scramblers - scrambled eggs with ham, cheese, green peppers and salsa - big yum! Absolutely delicious. My parents maintain that there is nothing like eating eggs out in the woods and I can't argue with that.

After breakfast, we ventured out to explore Wyalusing and all it had to offer. The park, which is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers, features numerous hiking trails, Indian mounds, and caves - all ripe for exploring. We started at Point Lookout where you can not only enjoy a beautiful view of the confluence of the two rivers, but also see for miles and miles. Next we hiked the Sentinel Ridge Trail from the lookout down to the boat landing. It was 1.6 miles of pretty grueling terrain that was only made more challenging by the 500 foot change in elevation from start to finish. A trip to the campsite and a couple of sandwiches later we rented a canoe (editor's note: if a campground offers one-hour rentals, get the equipment two hours before they close-up shop for the day - you will probably get two hours for the price of one). We weren't in the water five minutes and we spotted a bald eagle perched on a rock eating a fish! How amazing is that? It was a gorgeous day, so we just stopped in the water and gazed at what we considered to be a once-in-a-lifetime siting. Once Amanda reached back with her paddle and wiped the drool from my chin, we moved on. While out canoeing, we saw some raccoons running around and we got a cool picture of them peeking out of the hole in a tree.

Our favorite thing to do while camping is having a campfire. In addition to keeping us warm during this icy summer, we usually cook some hotdogs and make smores. Sitting around the fire and talking about what boys we like has become something we both look forward to, perhaps more so than any other aspect of camping. At Wyalusing we had a little trouble getting a fire started, however, due to the damp firewood. Amanda did her darnedest to the get the fire going, but 15 firestarters and two newspapers later (I had to physically prevent her from burning dollar bills), we decided to go buy some of lighter fluid. That did the trick. Amanda bathed the firewood in fire juice and - poof! - we had a blazer. Not concerned that our fire was visible from the international space station, we cooked some food, put some Rocky Arbor Champagnes out of their misery, and went to bed.

Sunday we got up, made some more - big yum! - scramblers, packed up and headed to Iowa.

Best "That's What She Said" of the weekend: That's a long train (Amanda).

To view all of the photos from the weekend, go here. To view our ever-evolving handy-dandy camping checklist, go here.

This post was conceived at Ground Zero Coffee.

Governor Dodge Part 2 - The Grumpy Troll

After leaving Governor Dodge, we stopped in Mt. Horeb for what turned out to be truly delightful dining experience at The Grumpy Troll. You know when you look at a menu and you kind of get a sense that everything on it is good? Yeah, that's the feeling we had when perusing what the Troll had to offer.

We went for the burgers. I got The Grumpy Troll and Amanda chose the Black Bean Burger. Both delivered. The Grumpy Troll was stacked with thick bacon and cheddar cheese and also included some barbecue sauce (big yum!) for dipping. It was nearly perfect. Amanda's burger was actually not a burger at all, but an open face bun covered with black beans, tomatoes and cheese, with salsa and sour cream on the side. It was great, too, and best of all, gave us a terrific idea for future do-it-yourself meals. The sides were almost as impressive as the burgers. Waffle cut fries (when are those ever bad?) and some very respectable coleslaw. They were out of Grump Chips, so we'll have to get those next time. And, yes, there will be a 'next time'. I know so because Amanda told me.

Usually there isn't room for dessert after a meal like that, but when Deep Fried Snickers are on the menu...you do the math. Big yum!

The Grumpy Troll also brews their own beer - some of which is award winning - and they provided samples for us to taste. While exploring their beer menu, we learned that (1) I.B.U.s are International Bitterness Units, and (2) that beer with 11% alcohol-by-volume is just too much alcohol. Their Imperial Stout seriously made me shiver and shake! We purchased bottles of their Trailside Wheat and Erik the Red to take home.

The icing on the cake was the after dinner chocolate - M&M-like mints. We paid our bill and departed, extremely satisfied and glad we stopped there for dinner. Upon our arrival at the restaurant, there were a bunch of motorcycles in the parking lot and, although we didn't communicate it verbally, we both had second thoughts about going in. Well, here's to bravery!!! Or to not being wusses. Whatever - you decide.

Governor Dodge - Part 1

On Sunday, Josh and I planned a day trip to Governor Dodge State Park. The park is awesome! It has tons of hiking trails, including one with a waterfall, and (located in Dodgeville) it takes only a little over an hour to get there from Madison. Even the drive there was fun due to the pretty scenery on the way, some entertaining podcasts, and my mad crocheting skills put to work. Oh, did I mention that we had to abandon the "camping car" - Josh's car - for the day because he was a dummy and let his car battery go dead? The tow truck has been following him for weeks, he should have known better :)

At the park, we started out with an hour and a half hike on the Pine Cliff Nature trail, then took some time to snack (on the cheddar crackers, some veggies, and a delicious m&m cookie) before moving on to the Stephens Falls Trail, or...the waterfall trail.

The Pine Cliff Trail was beautiful. The pretty scenery changes dramatically throughout the 2 miles, so there was always something new to look at. My favorite part of this trail = the gigantic steps (shown in the picture). These steps lead up to a higher part of the trail (obviously) where we were eventually able to peak at the lake and beach area from a secluded cliff covered with massive trees.

Now, the Stephens Falls Trail... Clearly, the waterfall is the featured sight of this hike. The main part of the trail is pretty much just some steps leading down to the base of the waterfall. The waterfall was very cool(!!!), but this part of the trail was totally invaded by everyone "hiking" at Governor Dodge with dogs and kiddos. The trail itself is pretty short, only 0.5 miles, if you follow the loop to the right. But this trail also branches off into another trail to the left. Naturally, Josh and I ended up being adventurous, and - more in an attempt to get away from all the goofs - we followed the trail to the left and hiked quite a long way on what we think was the Lost Canyon Trail. The entire area is so pretty, lots of green and lots of different things to look at. Quite fantastic.

This state park is also really cool because it has horse trails. And apparently it is possible to rent horses for the day and take them out on these trails. How cool is that?!? Anyway, we finished out the day by sitting at the beach area for a little bit before heading on to eat at the Grumpy Troll.

Click here to check out some pretty sweet pics from the day.

Lake Ripley

Today we went to fabulous Lake Ripley! Well, to be more accurate, we went to Ripley Park (only our feet went in the lake). We lounged around on the beach and wished it was a little warmer so we would have an excuse to jump in the water. Maybe next time...The park is mad cool, though. Only $2 to enter. And flush toilets, so Amanda didn't have to exorcise any demons in the pristine waters of the lake.

Opera in the Park

So think back…way back…to last weekend. An event that managed to slip through the blog cracks (mainly because Josh is way more on top of this whole blog thing than I am)…the great summer event: Opera in the Park.

Madison Opera presented this free, outdoor event and welcomed four talented vocalists to perform, joined by the Madison Opera Chorus and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. I have to say, this event was FANTASTIC, and free! Definitely geared toward music lovers, I was thoroughly entertained. Yet, the event was still structured to reach those who haven’t devoted countless hours…or should I say years…to music :) Programmed in two parts, the first half was all hardcore classical selections, ranging from Puccini to Verdi to Bizet. The second half began with some selections from Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” and then awkwardly transitioned to popular Broadway pieces, which brought on the waving of hundreds of glowsticks in the dark.

Throughout the evening, Josh developed a little crush on one of the performers, Ms. Holloway. Sadly, she was my favorite of the four vocalists, so I had to approve. Little does Josh know that when we go to baseball games together, I find myself thinking, “Wait, did I come here with someone… I think his name starts with a J… Hmmm, baseball pants…” Anyway, Opera in the Park was a huge thumbs up: the music was great, the sound was well done, and the glowsticks, oh the glowsticks... I had a fantastic time and I think Joe…I mean Josh did too. This event is definitely on my calendar for next summer! Check out this page for more info.