Snow, Black Ice, Waterfalls and the Inevitable (but Unexpected)Phantom Tick

Just uttering the words "spring break", people are often inclined to think of white sand beaches, margaritas, tropical music and a week away from everyday stressors. Aaron really isn't suited for that type of lifestyle nor am I the kind who could spend an entire week just bumming along beaches (although a day or two of total uninhibited relaxation would be welcomed at this juncture in my life). No. That's just too simple for the two of us...not to mention it would require a bit more planning than Aaron and I are suited to.

For this spring break/mini-vacation, Aaron and I opted to head to our usual go-to destination, the cabin up north. Its easy, simple, no-planning-required demeanor is an easy option for the two of us when we want to get away but don't want to put the effort (and not to mention monetary commitment) into a longer, more extravagant retreat.

Departing late Saturday afternoon, we knew that there would be a bit of snow along the drive; however, we didn't quite anticipate that it would involve a steady stream of snow that appeared to have been torpedoing at the car--and that patch of black ice that I hit was certainly not factored into the plans for the drive. Thankfully in that moment of panic that one feels when the car starts to go out of control, I was able to find an inner peace that helped keep the car on the road. With essentially zero visibility in that mid-April drive, I surrendered the steering wheel over to Aaron.

We decided on just doing some day trips during this four and a half day vacation, but our Sunday of watching our new dog, Guster, play with his parents' other three dogs, helping move furniture and taking a walk isn't much to note.

On Monday, we departed to see some waterfalls in the vicinity. I have been inspired to see the waterfalls in Wisconsin after a discussion I had several years back with a woman I knew who loved to visit the waterfalls of Wisconsin. Our first stop was to Potato River Falls. I'll admit that for some reason, the name seems a little off-putting, as if I would almost expect to see murky water with the occasional potato launching over the edge of the fall. Yet, I knew from seeing pictures that this would not be the case. Given the lack of adequate signage, the dirt road the lead the way to the fall and the vintage outhouse, we weren't quite sure if the community put much stock in the waterfall, either. Getting out of the car, stretching our legs and taking Guster on his obligatory potty walk, we could hear the falls in full force.

Getting down the falls was a steep hike down wooden steps. The first landing was an observation deck, which didn't offer much a view of the falls, so we continued on all the way down to where we were able to see a full, up close view of the falls. While we were able to get down to the falls, we had planned more on being able to do hiking around them, but there weren't really any trails to follow so we trekked back up the stairs to our car so we could grab some lunch.

After lunch, we were ready to leave for our second destination when we saw another trail. Hiking this second trail, we came across a second set of stairs that led us down to an up close vista of the Potato River Falls, which were thunderously roaring. We took advantage of the smooth rocks, the sunshine and the view for a while before deciding that we still had another park to visit.

Copper Falls State Park is located in Mellen, Wisconsin, which is about thirty miles from Park Falls. Our drive from Potato River Falls to Copper Falls involved a winding, hilly route in which we passed maybe ten houses and one car on that thirty minute drive. Middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin is certainly breathtaking, but lonely.

After purchasing our 2011 park pass, we drove to find the namesake of this park. Once we arrived, one teeny, tiny problem stood in our way of seeing Copper Falls--a "No Dogs Allowed" sign. Worse off, it didn't even say "No Dogs Allowed", there was just a red picture of a pointer dog's silhouette encased by a circle and a line going through it. As if to say, "Dogs Aren't Only Allowed, We Simply Do Not Accept them in these Parts so Take THAT." Okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but it did seem quite sad that we drove all that way to see Copper Falls and found that we couldn't even take a dog-friendly trail to see them.

Navigating back toward the park entrance, we found a trail to see Red Granite Falls, which clearly indicated that dogs were allowed on leash. No pictorial inference had to be made. Nope, just a clearly stated, simple sign granting us permission to take Guster on his much anticipated hike.

Meandering our way down a murky trail, we slid, sank and trudged a mile and a half before even hearing the roars of the waterfall. Although smaller than Potato River Falls, Red Granite Falls offered a unique beauty as we saw various levels of cascades that led into the eventual larger, rushing red-tinted falls. With patches of snow and ice still evident, it was a nice winter-to-spring transition as we lapped up the sun's warmth on the edge of the falls.

Heading back to the parking lot, we took a trip over to the lake abutting the parking lot. The tranquility of the scenery was quickly diminished by Guster, who was taking his first trip into a lake, diving right in and swimming around. Aaron and I had been pondering if he would like swimming or not--turns out we didn't even have to try to get him into the water!

After dropping Guster back off to the cabin, we headed out for some fantastic Kobe Sushi in downtown Minocqua. Well fed and back at the cabin, Aaron made the discovery of the night--a lousy tick lurking along the bathroom floor. After several tick checks, we headed to bed with the worst case of phantom tick, the feeling where you have a tick crawling all over your body. An amazing day, ended by a night of mystery phantom tick.

Yellowstone!

This blog is actually being posted in real time...no need to play catch up on this one!

Initially, we had planned on camping in or near Yellowstone; however, Wednesday's news about the fatal bear attack at a local campground made us change our idea of lodging at Yellowstone. With Aaron needing to keep his tester and sugar in the tent, we didn't want to risk anything...especially since they are still working on identifying the attacker. We realize that bear attacks are extremely uncommon; however, we did not want to take the risk.

After enjoying a picnic, we headed into the historic park. I had not been to Yellowstone in ages and never realized how it really is its own entity, complete with gas stations, restaurants and shopping centers.

While Aaron and I were enjoying a serene moment by the river, our attention was brought to 'alert' mode when two guys drove buy screaming that a bear was heading right toward us. Not knowing where the bear was, Aaron and I headed back to the car. We headed up the road and were greeted soon after by cars stopped and people running along the roadside with cameras.

We joined the madness and pulled off to see one of the greatest views ever--a grizzly bear strolling along the river, searching for grub. Although I was a little disappointed to not see one while out on a hike, I'm also relieved to know that this encounter was nearby, but we had the relative safety of a river as a buffer.

We arrived to see Old Faithful almost right on time, since it was about ready to erupt. We were surrounded by tourists eager to see one of the most popular features of the park. As it was finishing its show, the woman to the right of me commented how "amazing" Old Faithful was while the woman to my left remarked how "disappointing" it was. To me, it's somewhere in the middle, although I would not ever use "disappointing" to describe it. I would say, its a magnificent feature, but not the most spectacular.

After watching Old Faithful, we headed back to West Yellowstone to check into our hotel and grab dinner. We ate at a 1950s style diner, where I found out how difficult it is to find a restroom in a tourist town. There was one bathroom, with a code (which I didn't realize I needed to have a code to get in). After impatiently waiting, I finally decided to see if I needed a key or a code to get in. Sure enough I did need a code, but someone else beat me to it. Someone who decided to clog the toilet. The restaurant wouldn't give me the code to use the employee restroom, so across the street I went. No luck...the man just spread disinfectant all over the floor. Down the street I went, finally, a restroom. I just had to maneuver around the tourists shopping in the crowded aisles of the store. Ah...the wonders of tourist towns!

Since I'm on the note of tourist towns, another wonder is how their merchandise can be so full of (for lack of better words) stuff made in China. Another wonder is how people can feel so compelled to buy it! There are some things that do look nice, but I would much rather prefer to buy a picture taken by a local artist or a piece of jewelry made by a local jeweler.

Today, we are heading out to see more of Yellowstone and then we will slowly start meandering our way back to Wisco!

Back We Go...Sort Of!

While we initially planned on heading up to Washington, we opted last minute to head to Yellowstone National Park since it was a more direct route back to Wisconsin.

Our route to get to Yellowstone involved a trip back through Las Vegas, through Utah (including the beautiful Salt Lake City) and to the east portion of Idaho. With mountains surrounding our view the entire time, we could not complain about the drive. Plus, there's always interesting things to see on the road. Perhaps the most memorable sight was a burly man on a Harley with a fifteen pound mutt in tow on his back seat. The little pup was decked out in biker gear, including a little black bad a** bandana around its neck. With its fur whipping in the wind, the dog seemed carefree despite the fact that it seemed precariously perched on the backseat of the Harley. I tried getting a picture, but the one I was able to capture (since I accidentally had the camera on the timer) was a far off view of the bike. We'll forgo posting that pic!

Adventures in Cali

Our first full day in California was a day trip to San Diego, where we visited the zoo and spent an evening on the beach. The San Diego Zoo was amazing! From the bus tour to the air tram, we were able to see almost the entire zoo, which was fortunate since about half of the time we spent on foot was occupied by trying to determine which trail would take us to which exhibit—which turned mostly into walking in circles around the same exhibits again and again.

Departing the zoo, we aimed for Coronado Beach; however, the air had cooled so much by the evening that swimming was not an option. Despite the cool air, a light walk on the beach was in order, followed by sushi.

Our second day in California was spent mostly just relaxing at the house, with the only departure from laziness being the short trip to the disc golf course followed by a short sunset walk in Wrightwood.

Feeling refreshed from the previous day's 'loungefest', Aaron and I took Lily, Stephen and Jenny's dog, for a hike through a section of the Pacific Crest Trail. The day could not have been better! The weather finally cooled down a bit and rather than blowing hot air, the wind was actually blowing a cooler breeze.

We wrapped up our last day in California with a short trip to downtown Wrightwood and eating dinner out on the porch.

California Dreaming

After spending another hot afternoon in Vegas, this time from the rooftop pool at the Trump Intercontinental Hotel, we headed out to sunny California.

Even at five in the evening, the scorching heat proved for traveling difficulties—luckily our only difficulty stemmed from having our car, which was too tall for the parking garage due to the our bikes being mounted to the roof, being insanely hot from the uncovered parking spot when the valet brought it around. It wasn't even the heat of the car that was so bad, it was really the cooler, with food still in it, that cooked in the sun's rays. I'll let you imagine how pleasant the odor was. For other cars, once on the road, it seemed that just about every half mile, we were seeing cars pulled over to the side as a result of shredding a tire or overheating.

Once out of Vegas, the site of travelers' woes seemed to decrease. Once we hit Death Valley, I could see a cloud of smoke off in the distance. We found out soon enough what the mystery cloud was: a truck's trailer had caught on fire, resulting in a traffic jam and an odor much less pleasant than our cooler. Thankfully, the driver was okay!

We pulled into Wrightwood, California at around 9 in the evening, where we set up at Aaron's brother's and girlfriend's house. Although it did not boast the most romantic accommodations, we were able to enjoy a relaxing stay in a mountain town.

Vegas, Baby, Vegas

In stark contrast from the outdoor mecca scene provided in Moab, we chose our next stop to be Las Vegas. From high rise hotels to casinos to haute couture clothing stores, we found ourselves in a far different world.

To make the experience really worthwhile, we sprung for a suite the five star Trump Intercontinental Hotel—a far cry from our previous accommodations. With a full view of Vegas from the fifty-second floor, our suite set the stage for a relaxing getaway.

Leaving the hotel for an evening on the Miracle Mile, we were not quite prepared for the scorching 102 degree heat. While we just wanted to peruse the strip, we found ourselves ducking in and out of casinos, stores and malls just to escape the nearly oppressive temperatures.

With the sun setting, our appetites started to rise. Apparently, everyone else must have been thinking the same thing because the waits at restaurants were enormous. Walking block after block, we became consumed by the thought of food and beverages. Ducking in and out of restaurants to only find the same results, a 45 minute wait, we finally happened upon a nice Mexican restaurant.

Walking up and down the strip after dinner, we were treated to seeing Vegas' lights in their fully glory. Flashing and blinking neon lights seemed to have altered the complete scenery of Las Vegas, while giving it the appeal that we've always seen in the movies.

A Note about Utah

While Utah may be a playground for outdoor enthusiasts, it is not extremely navigable in terms of being able to enjoy a libation or two. I remember going to Salt Lake City a few years back and needing a drink voucher in order enjoy a glass of wine. If you are not aware, Utah is Wisconsin's polar opposite when it comes to serving and consuming alcohol.

This time around, we didn't need a voucher, we were just limited to drinking weak beer (3.5%) and could not enjoy hard liquor while in the parameters of the restaurant's bar (although I could have enjoyed a margarita in the dining room, just fifteen feet away from the bar). Our server at bar of the Moab Brewery told us it was best if we didn't think too hard about Utah's drinking laws, he said he still couldn't figure them out after living in Utah his entire life.