Wisconsin Adventures

We have arrived at Grant River Recreation campgrounds, right on the Mississippi River, near Potosi, Wisconsin, our last stop in Wisconsin. It has been a busy 3 weeks, so I will try to catch up. If this gets too long, I will it break into two posts.

After a fun time at Two Rivers, we headed east to East Arbutus County Park, near Black Rived Falls. Apparently, I had been mis- pronouncing Arbutus. It is ar-butte-us, not Are-ba-tus. Joanette found this little county park, near the Black River after I complained I was having difficulty finding a COVID19 comfortable location in this dense touristy area of Wisconsin. The small county park, with large sites made social distancing easy. And our sites were right on the lake.

We arrived at Arbutus on August 21st, my 67th birthday. Bill, Brian and Gary had tried to surprise me with Brian and Gary showing up in their new travel trailer, but I had seen little clues that something was up. Particularly when I had just left camp in Minnesota to run some errands and Bill tried to call Brian, but I was close enough that his phone was still connected to the truck’s Bluetooth. Anyway, even if the surprise was spoiled, I was thrilled to have Brian and Gary join us in Arbutus and celebrate 67 years.

67! It is hard to imagine. When I was young, 67 was ancient and today, yes I have some aches and pains associated with age, but I really don’t think I’m old. And the fact that I can ride 40 , 50 and yes, sometimes, 100 miles in a day, proves something. And, I plan to keep on moving. That is my formula to staying young and fit.

Bill, Brian and I decided to bike around Arbutus Lake. Here is the Strava Link to the ride:

https://strava.app.link/qye7kBG0B9

We had a rather, low key stay at Arbutus Lake. We swam a little, made dinner for the six of us and spent time checking out Brian and Gary’s trailer.

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After our quick 3 nights at Lake Arbutus, Keith, Joanette, Bill and I headed to High Cliff Park on Lake Winnebago, near Appleton, while Brian and Gary went home for one night before joining us at High Cliff. That first night, we all drove in to have dinner with Brian and Gary, at their home on the Fox River in Appleton. Bill and I had stayed at High Cliff last year. It is high on a bluff, overlooking Lake Winnebago, about a 15 minute drive from Appleton. It is a beautiful park, with lots of hiking trails, which we took advantage of.

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Not far from High Cliff is the southern terminus of the Fox River Trail, So I planned to ride from camp to the trailhead, and then, to ride to Green Bay, where the others would meet me for lunch. This ended up being a 33 mile ride along this beautiful trail, formally a track of the Fox River Valley Railroad. Although the trail has river in its name, you actually aren’t along the river except for the short section between De Pere and Green Bay.

It was a very enjoyable ride, capped of with lunch at Hagemeister Park, a riverfront restaurant with a large patio for outdoor seating. Amazingly, this is the only picture taken by any of us at that lunch.

My strava link for this ride: https://strava.app.link/07Yvy0Y3B9

After 3 nights af High Cliff, we made the short, 39 mile, drive to Fremont. Keith, Joanette, Bill and I had campsites at Hahn-A-Lula Resort, which was just about a mile, from Anchor Point Marina, where Brian and Gary keep their boat. Anchor Point is on the Wolf River, a Fox River tributary, with boat access to Lakes Partridge, Poygan,Winneconne and Butte des Morts. We made this stop with Brian and Gary last year, but since then, they have seriously upgraded their boat. So we enjoyed a weekend of boating activities. And, of course, I found a bike trail to ride.

My bike ride, for this stop, was from camp, along county roads, to the Friendship Trail and then onto the Wiouwash trail to Oshkosh, ending with a lunch of Lox and Bagels at Big Apple, near UW-Oshkosh. After lunch I rode to UW-Oshkosh to wait to be picked. I could have riden back to camp, but I was trying to balance time on the bike with time with friends. You might think Wiouwash is an Indiian name. Actually it refers to the counties along its route, Winnebago, Outagamie, Waupaca and Shawano. As you know, I love rail to trail conversations and the Wiouwash is a gem. Crushed Granite for a smooth ride, lush green belts and farm lands and lakeside riding all contribute to making this a stellar ride, and near the end a special opportunity to cross Lake Butte des Morts on the Trival Heritage Crossing Trail, which has several Informational stops celebrating the native American tribes that predated Wisconsin.

And, as always, Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/xCzy2hz6B9

On our last day at Hahn-A-Lula, Keith, Joanette, Bill and I rode on county roads from the resort to Lake Pogan, and the little lakeshore village of Tustin. It was a quick ride, but a fun end to our time in Fremont. On Sunday evening, after dinner, Brian and Gary headed home and the rest of us spent one last night at Hahn-A-Lula, took the ride to Lake Poygan and then packed up to make our way to the Milwaukee area. We elected to retrace our steps, driving right past High Cliff and then on to Highway 57. I chose 57 because it goes through a series of small, charming towns and is packed with family owned dairies, most producing for Wisconsin’s famous cheese producers.

Here is the Strava Link for the Lake Poygan ride. https://strava.app.link/cXjLSvOoC9

That is enough for now. I will cover the Milwaukee stay in the next post. I will get that done while we are here in Potosi, since we have the best internet we have had in a while.