On The Road Friday ~ Red Cedar State Trail

 Hello Friends,

Today we are going on a trip to Red Cedar State Trail Menomonie, Wisconsin.

The evening of January 27th  we participated in the Candlelight Ski. We have done this for several years. During the COVID19 years the candlelight ski events came to a halt. It was exciting to get back to  the enjoyment of the romance of a candlelight ski.

The trail is light by candlelight to the ice wall. The ice wall is light up by candlelight making it a true winter wonder. 

A lovely luminary along the trial.

 A week later my husband and I decided to head back to the Red Cedar Trail and ski the trail during the day. We had a week of very cold weather. In my day photos you will notice how the ice wall 'grew'. The colors of the ice are blue and green, sometimes photos just cannot capture natures ever changing beauty.

 

 

Red Cedar Trail

 This 14.5-mile rail trail shadows the steep walls of the Red Cedar Valley from Menomonie to its connection with the Chippewa River State Trail. Along its route, the trail passes through the communities of Irvington and Downsville and the Dunnville State Wildlife Area. The trail passes by prairies, marshland bottoms, forests and farmlands, including sandstone bluffs and other unique rock formations.

Thank you for coming along with me today.

♥ 

Carla

  

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. 

 

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!!

 

Staying at Cedar Point Cabins

Our family recently took a winter ski vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We stayed at Cedar Point Cabins Click here for more information.

Our hosts were amazing people. They had the cabin all warm and a light on for us as we arrived to the UP in the dark, after a "white knuckler" drive in several snow squalls.

 Our Cabin "Oak" already for us to move in.

 Your drive to a grocery store is a good hour or more away. Our hosts shared with us to bring what you want to eat and fill up with gas before you drive out of the last "big" town on the way up to the cabins.

 My lists of what to bring as we packed up for our winter getaway.

 The extras made it feel so cozy. A perfect cabin feel. Just what we were looking for.

 The lamps were one of my favorite extra touches to make it feel like a cozy cabin.

 Our view from the kitchen window.

Our view from our front door. We called the deer "Our Friendly Neighbors" because of the amount of snow the UP receives people feed the deer to help them survive the winter.

 Our cabin .. we hope to come back to visit soon.

 

A friendly neighbor peeking , look under the ski.

 

Upper Pennisula of Michigan .. Snow and Cross Country Ski Trails

 This year we decided to do something different. We rented a cabin in the UP of Michigan and tried out as many ski trails as we could. We were at the tip top of the UP, Copper Harbor Michigan.

Our journey up to the UP was a "white knuckler" that is what we call driving in a snow storm.

Wisconsin and the UP use SALT on the roads when we have ice and snow. All though it does a number on the vehicle I am happy because it clears my way. I give major "HIGH FIVES" to all the County Plow Crews!

This is how they measure snow in the UP!

Keweenaw Snow Report and U.P. Weather

2017-2018 Snowfall - 245" season to date

Click here to take a peek at the Snow Thermometer! 

 It was snowing during our first ski! 

Me and my oldest, Sam.

We are on Swedetown Trails.

Click here to check out more about Swedetown.

Swedetown has been a trail system I have wanted to ski for many years. Along the way, I found a pine cone and put it in my pocket. My souvenir from Swedetown. 

 You never know what you might find on the trail.

Time to warm up! We had some chilly days. We stopped in Roy's Pasties and Bakery for a sweet treat and coffee.

Two Hoots Too Trail

 Tolkien Trails at MTU
Our boys are huge fans of Lord of the Rings. This was fun to ski Hobbit Loop and others.

Do you see the face?

My souvenir!

 

 

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".