Noisy in the campground last night. People were still chopping fire wood after midnight!!!

Camping formula: City Park+Weekend+Nice Weather = Noisy Night.

On the road heading our 62 miles to Hayward we encountered this ‘Midwest Nice’ version of rumble strips . . they lay them out in the gravel shoulder so as not to create too much noise or cause vibration . . . go figure!!!

ummmmmm . . .effective in northern Wisconsin in the peak of summer? . . .would like to read the fine print on the contract!!!

We passed under State Hwy 63 today which I believe is the first time we have passed under a major road since Hebron. ND . . .  the night of the fly attack!!!

The first Christmas tree plantations we have seen in the Midwest . . . more to come I’m sure.

I don’t know . . . I just liked the name of this farm. Sounds homey . . . Garrison Keillor style!

We had some big climbs today that seemed to go on forever, shades of ND . . .

. . . but what a view these people had at the top of this one. Not a good representation in the photo but wide open vistas of WI elevation in the distance.

. . . our first town for a break this morning was Haugen. Handsome restored school. The whole village was spotless!!! The map said there was a store there but our experience has been they are usually not open early on a Sunday morning . . .

. . . but Hill’s store on Main St was open at 8:00am . . .

. . .and manned by no one other than Jim Hill himself who has been behind the counter for over 50 years!!!! There is a little of everything in the store. He told his wife, Yvonne, when they were thinking of purchasing it he would only buy it if they could stock it with enough of what people needed that they wouldn’t need to leave town.  And he has ever since  . . . even had nice, fresh produce. Jim had been an Emergency Fire Warden for 40 years and worked with two of the Rangers from my Class of 1977.

. . . and he had EFW Appreciation Awards through the years from four state foresters to prove it!!!

Outside we met Al, a local historian who filled us in on the local Bohemian Cemetery that has one civil war veteran buried in it. He spend over 4 months researching genealogy records to find the soldiers name. Abraham Lincoln purchase property and turned them into cemeteries all over the north in order to provide final resting sites for his soldiers . . .

Al is one of the Bohemian and Czech settlers of the area . . . can you tell by his name????

Wade found this biking jersey along the road and has vowed to keep loosing weight until he fits into it!!!!

. . . a great looking barn we passed along the way. I really like the stone and the door . . .

Our lunch stop was 52 miles into the ride at Edgewater, on Big Chetek Lake.The thermometer said 90 degrees!!!! The Gatorade was flowing . . . no beer yet.

As we continued on to Hayward, we passed a unit of the Washburn County Forest. Interesting that the sign STILL says Wisconsin Conservation Department. The name was changed to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in the early seventies, wedding the conservation activities with the regulatory environmental activities (air, water, solid waste, etc.), much to the chagrined of many people. I wonder if some of them are on the the County Forest Advisory group and are STILL in protest!!!!!

. . . oh, we were in BIG fishing country now!!!!

Hey it looks like our own mbbt member Jim Miller has returned to his roots in Sawyer County for a second career of  . . . ‘taking care of all your earthly needs’. You go, Jim!!!

As we rounded the corner in Stone Lake and were heading down the final 12 miles to Hayward we passed this closed ‘supper club’ I went to several times during the 5 months I was a trainee, in Hayward, for WDNR in 1977 . . . a lot has changed in the world, and my life, since then . . . including the passing of this place!!!!

. . . oh we had a hill or two left . . .

. . . and a cooling little shower from a head on this irrigation boom that was stuck watering the road!!!!

Soon we entered the greater Hayward city limits . . . where there is some outdoor activity for most everyone and most of the visitors seem to come from the Twin Cities,

. . .it’s a layover day in Hayward tomorrow and emJay is coming up to join us for five days. YIPPEEEE. She booked us into the cozy Riverside Motel , , ,

. . . no sleeping for me on the lawn of the church tonight . . .  (in fact most of our gang decided to motel it over the next two nights in Hayward)

. . oh the vino will be flowing out on our deck tomorrow  night!!!!