Book Across the Bay 2020

Book Across the Bay

2020

We did it again. 

 

Book Across the Bay is the upper Midwest’s most unique point to point winter event, open to skiers and snowshoers of all ages and ability levels. The 10-kilometer course, which is groomed for both classic-style and skate skiing, starts in Ashland and ends in Washburn, and follows a route not on land, but over the frozen surface of Lake Superior, the world’s largest lake. The event is held at night, and the course is lit by the stars above and up to 1,000 candles in ice luminaries that line the entire route.

We went to an amazing concert on the Bay.

The below video and link shares all about the band.

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 

I am amazed by the harmonica. This band has one top harmonica player.

Saturday morning we went on an explore to Superior Falls.

Saturday night we crossed the bay by candle light.

 Along the way we spotted a fire breathing dragon.

 Sunday morning we did a little more exploring.

  

We hiked to Lost Creek Falls.

 Loved these tracks in the snow. Just looking at them makes me think there is a story here. Are these tracks of a little mouse? Did he travel to town going the one way and to his friends the other?

Maybe I will make a story up about these cute tracks.

That is me in the pink.

It was a special Valentine's Weekend. 

 

Our 4th of July Adventures in Pictures

Hello Friends

We enjoyed a fun getaway to Ashland, Washburn and Bayfield, Wisconsin.

I am sharing just a few of the sights and tastes we enjoyed.

Wishing you all a great new week!

The Bib

The Bib

What a strange title for a blog post.

It all began at The Book Across The Bay the ski event our family takes part in that I shared here. 

It all starts with the bus ride. We park our cars in Washburn, we ride a school bus to Ashland. The race starts at 6pm. The wait is the hardest part. If the evening is warm it is not all that bad. We had a wind from the Northwest making the wait cold.

We had a perfect evening for a ski, 20 degrees.

We are able to warm up by the big fire. People donate their Christmas trees to make a huge fire.

It was nice and warm. 

We stayed by the fire warming our fronts and turning our backsides to stay cozy until the race would start.

 

The start for Wave 3. 

We will be off skiing and warming up soon.

 

 We decorate our ski poles with glow sticks.

The fire breathing dragon along the trail.

Now you maybe asking, I thought you said this blog post was titled The Bib.

This is my husbands bib from the race. We all wore our bibs on our backs.

This is my bib from the race. We did not notice this until we got done with the race and we started to take off our jackets. 

I thought I heard something make a crackle noise when I had my back turned to the fire. 

It certainly was a crackling noise. It was my bib. It melted! 

It shrunk by two sizes. We could not believe the time chip still worked in it to record my time.

That my friends is the story of The Bib. I do not think I will stand so close to this..

 next year!!

 

It is a Let's Go Ski Hodgepodge

Our Cabin in the UP .. the start of our Cross Country Ski adventure.

Hey, it is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join in the fun! 

 1. Where do you go when you need some inspiration?

It depends on what kind of inspiration I need. I will share a few ideas for certain times.

If I am looking for gardening inspiration, I enjoy looking at garden magazines, pinterest, garden books and Sarah Raven. Sarah Raven

If I am in need of inside my soul inspiration, Chuck Swindoll Chuck Swindoll 

and Zig Ziglar Ziglar

are my favorites.

If I need to have some creative inspiration, I will head outside.

  2. What's under your bed?

Nothing but wood floor.. maybe a dust bunny or two.

3. Thursday, February 22nd is National Chili Day, National Margarita Day, and National Cook a Sweet Potato Day. Of the three which would you most like to celebrate? Is that likely?
  Chili is on the menu for this week. 

4. What are you 'snowed under' with right now?

Scholarships.. helping our oldest find and apply. Helping with proofreading, encouragement and all the other that goes along with having a Senior in High School.

 5. Tell us three to five things that make you feel balanced?

Looking up at the skylight in our auto. Let us go for a ski!

Going for my daily walk with my dog Molly.

Reading my daily devotions.

Having reviewed the  weekly schedule each Sunday evening, everyone knows where and what is going on. Having meals planned for the week to somewhat go along with schedules.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

 Our family took a Winter Vacation!

We went to the UP for a Cross Country Ski vacation. We rented a cabin. 

It was decorated with so many fun details. Below is a German weather station that sat in the kitchen window.

 We skied across Lake Superior. From Ashland to Washburn, Wisconsin. If you missed my post Book Across the Bay it will explain the amazing ski, at night on Lake Superior.

 The fire breathing dragon along the ski trail.

Our decked out ski poles. We put glow sticks on our ski poles. The event is a 10K across the bay from Ashland to Washburn. We started doing this event when our youngest was 7 years old. It has become a family tradition. Our oldest will be heading off to college in August. After the race, he said, "count me in for next year mom! We will always do The Book together".

 

On the Road Friday ~ Book Across the Bay ~ Ashland, Wisconsin

Saturday February 17th will be the night. The night we ski across the frozen waters of Lake Superior. We start in Ashland and we ski across to the community of Washburn. We do this at night, with luminaries lighting our way. 

Our family has enjoyed this event in many kinds of weather. The years of perfect winter weather, highs in the 20's, no wind and lovely ski snow.

The year of the polar vortex, - 15 wind chill and -2 degrees when we crossed the finish line.

And last year, a high of 55 degrees! The luminaries melted, we had water in our boots and our truck got stuck in mud after the race.

We LOVE it! Each year we look forward to the "what will happen this year?" we have so many stories from years past. 

This year the word on the street is a snow sculpture of a Fire Breathing Dragon will meet us on the trial. I hope to have photos to share!

♥

Carla

 

 

 

Book Across the Bay 2017

 Book Across the Bay

2017

Ashland to Washburn

Across Chequamegon Bay

Yes, that is water that the skis are sloshing around in the above photo.

Wisconsin is experiencing a Heat Wave like I have never had in my life time. 

In fact, another huge ski race may be cancelled this week, the
American Birkebeiner.

 The sad part of this story, is that our Northland thrives on tourism. Skiing, snow and winter fun is all a part of that. Yes, I like the warm temperatures, but I will be honest, it is strange to have 60 degree days in February in Northern Wisconsin.

Enough about the weather and on to the Book Across the Bay, a memorable ski for our family.

The Thank You below is from the Book Across the Bay staff.

 THANK YOU to all of you who came out to support 2017 Book Across the Bay — as participants, spectators, volunteers, and sponsors. This event would not happen without all of you! This year’s trip across the bay was certainly memorable — our snow held out until late morning on race day, but ultimately could not stand up to the extremely warm weather. However, with our hearts full of Book Across the Bay spirit, and our boots full of water, we all made the best of it and had an enjoyable evening.

 The ice we are skiing on is 15 to 25 inches thick.

 We were in wave 3.

Usually about 4,000 people participate, just over 1,000 participated for this years unseasonably warm Book Across the Bay.

 We ski at night, with beautiful luminaries lighting our way.

We had one pressure crack in the ice that we had to ski over. The Book Across the Bay staff made a bridge to ski over the pressure crack.

We decorate our poles with glow sticks.

Having our family ski along all together with the poles a glow looks so fun.

We received many compliments on our poles.

We finished the race, our boots full of water. Wearing wool socks helped.

We walked back to our vehicle.

We changed our clothes and put on nice warm socks.

As we got ready to pull out of the make shift parking lot, we noticed the frost and melted out and our vehicle and sunk down. The adventure was not over, no way, we got stuck.

No worries, my boys to the rescue. We pushed our way out.

Now we were full of mud!

A Book Across the Bay for the Books!

Memories made with my boys!!

 

 

Hello February ~ It is the Hodgepodge

Valentine Paper Craft

 

It is Wednesday and it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1. Can you believe it's the end of January? What was the best day of January 2017 for you, and why?

No, I can not believe we have a month already in the books for 2017!

My best day of January 2017 was the 1st, we celebrated Christmas with our family.

 2. What sounds make up the background noise in your life?

Teenage boy sounds.

 3. I read on the Power of Positivity website a list of ten things to drop from your life right now. They are-

anger outbursts, people who put you down, regret, negative self talk, being a people pleaser, the notion you need to be perfect, the past (but keep the lessons learned!), gossip and judgment, comparing yourself to others, and the word hate (focus on what you love instead)

Which thing on the list do you most need to drop? Are you trying or will you try?

I will be honest, I struggle with the notion I need to be perfect. I have been doing better about not beating myself up when I make a mistake. I continue to work on it.

 4. What is sacred to you?

My family.

 5. January is National Oatmeal month. Are you a fan, and if so how do you like it?

With worms of course! 

I did this to the boys for April Fools. 

Yes, our family of four enjoys oatmeal. I like to add maple syrup, raisins and walnuts.

 

 

6. What feelings does twilight stir up in you?
 

  Go chase and catch lighting bugs. 

7. Something you're looking forward to next month?

GET READY for another frozen trek across Lake Superior from Ashland to Washburn at the 21st annual Book Across the Bay, to be held on Saturday, February 18, 2017!

We will ski across Lake Superior at night, by the light of candles leading the way. We start in Ashland and ski to Washburn. It is beautiful. 

One year someone made a huge snow sculpture of a dragon. They released Chinese lanterns from the dragons mouth. It is always an adventure and we are excited to see what 2017 brings.

 8. Insert your own random thought here. 

A few more fun paper Valentine crafts to make with your sweet Valentine.

 

On the Road Friday ~ Ashland, Wisconsin

Do you see the Dock in the background?

The above photo was taken in 2012 at our Book Across The Bay ski race.

 

That is/was the Ashland Oredock in the background.

On my sisters weekend, the Oredock was gone.

My last visit to Ashland was in 2013, and some of the Oredock was still in place.

It was a big change for me to not see the dock out in the bay  as I was driving into Ashland.

 

The former Wisconsin Central (Soo Line) Ore Dock was the iconic feature of Ashland in regards to its representation of the economic impact on one of the City’s founding industries, its visual impact to the cityscape, and its geographic impact to the community’s waterfront.

Despite the community’s efforts, the deteriorating, unmaintained superstructure on the dock was removed with dismantling commencing in 2011 and being completed in late 2013.

 Click here to learn more about the Ashland Oredock

In October while I was waiting for my sister to arrive in Ashland, I took a little walk on the new Ashland Dock.

 

The City of Ashland has done a great job of improving the water front.

I enjoyed my walk on the dock.

I am sharing a few of the photos I captured from the dock.

 Looking at Ashland, Wisconsin 

From the Dock

 Welcome Back On The Dock

  

Chequamegon Bay

South Shores of Lake Superior

 Living on the Water

 

Thank you to all who entered my Thanksgiving Giveaway.

Diane of Welcome to Lavender Dreams

was the winner!

Have a great weekend!