Tuesday was the first full day of fall and it happened to be a very warm and beautiful day. Gracie wanted to take Little Gracie (our bigger boat) out one last time.
We set out in the early evening and we took along some Sushi that we got downtown and we dined at a spot called Picnic Point.
We enjoyed a lovely sunset and then made our way back to port.
It was a fitting end to the summer.
Well, not really…but we did go biking last weekend on the Glacial-Drumlin Trail. The trail goes a total of 52 miles one-way, we are not nearly that ambitous. Last summer we did the first ten mile segment, and it was a good ride. Crushed gravel makes for a smooth ride (look out for the occasional pothold were the drainage pipes are run) and there are plenty of shade trees to give a break from the hot afternoon sun.
This time we decided to try the second segment of the trail, which runs 6 miles to Lake Mills. We enjoyed this stretch as much (or maybe even more) as our first ride. The trail was nice and flat, perfect for recreational riders. No big hills to start out or deter new visitors from embarking. There was plenty of scenery, old railroad bridges, wildlife, and even a small tunnel we passed through.
One of the best surprises was the view of Rock Lake. The trail runs right alongside the lake, providing nice water views and a welcome distraction when your legs get a bit tired. There are plenty of rest points, including picnic tables and the nice bench where we took this picture. Next summer, we hope to continue our gradual journey across the divide.
A note on the bicycles – yes, they are identical. We tell them apart by the color of our waterbottles. As all good couples should.
Our adventures took us to Boston last week. The summer months have flown by, and we wanted to savor the last weekend before Barbeque Day. We packed our bags, and set off for a three-day trip to Beantown.
Arriving at Logan Airport showcased the waterfront right away. The airport is completely unique, jettisoned by water on all sides – as C said, “Not much room for pilot error.” We caught the shuttle to the Water Taxi. It was my first experience, and I loved every minute. We arrived just after sunset, and the skyline along the harbor was excellent.
C booked the perfect hotel, Marriott Long Wharf. Great harbor views, and as it turned out centrally located to all the sights we had in mind. Thursday night we enjoyed a genuine lobster feast, and had an after-dinner drink at an Irish bar named after one of our favorite movies.
Friday was our day to see the sights. We set off on the Red (Freedom) Trail, and loved having all the historical details at our fingertips. One of our first stops, although not technically part of the trail, was the Massachusetts Statehouse. We enjoyed the capitol, but still agreed ours is better.
Other favorites included the corner of the Boston Massacre, Old North Church (Lanterns in window to notfiy Revere, ‘One if by land and two if by sea’), and Bunker Hill. Down at the Boston Navy Yard, we saw the USS Constitution. As luck would have it, (C says – things break our way!) it happened to be the day of the final sail before Old Ironsides was put into dry dock for a 3-year restoration project.
One of the best moments on the trip for C was when we saw a Carver cruising out of the Boston Harbor during our time at the Navy Yard. It was the exact style of his old Endeavour, and cut quite a pretty path with the sun shining off every inch of deck boards.
Friday night was the Sunset Cruise, a tour of the entire Inner Harbor and outstanding view of the sunset over the Charles River. As the sun disappeared from the horizon, the Constitution fired off her final cannon shot for many moons (we noted even the local harbor police had motored over to mark the occasion).
We explored Boston’s famous North End Friday night, and ate at the oldest Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. We agreed the bolognese didn’t come anywhere near as good as the one we make at home, but we did love the ambiance.
Saturday was…drumroll…the whale watch. Something I’ve always wanted to do, and a new adventure for us both. We chose an early morning cruise, departing at 9am. Located off the coast of Cape Cod is one of the prime whale-watching habitats in the world, Stellwagen Bank. We found a bench seat on the port side, room only enough for two – perfect for us. It was unbelievable the amount of people who were seasick and tettering around the boat…landlubbers. The sea really was very calm, and mariners that we are, we’d dressed in layers and prepared for the weather. It was bright sunshine, and overall an idyllic day in the North Atlantic.
After about 90 minutes of cruising, the captain slowed and our guide announced “Whale! Starboard side at two o’clock!” C maintained our bench while we I went to check it out, but amongst the hundreds of other craning necks I couldn’t see much. But, the best was yet to come.
We turned out to have prime front row viewing as the boat turned and suddenly the mama whale (Nile) and her calf were right in front of us. The guide said they were nursing and resting, but it appeared plenty of activity to newbies like us. The baby whale rolled over, and both whales flapped their fins on the water. The bright sun gave a cerulean blue-green color to the water, and we could see clear through to the white stomachs of the whales. It was an unforgettable experience, and worth every penny.
The New England Aquarium was across the street from our hotel, and we continued the nautical theme with a short visit there. The best exhibit was the giant coral reef in the middle complete with squid, baby sharks, and the greenest meanest looking eels I have ever seen. C also loved the penguin exhibit, especially watching how fast they swim and dart past eachother in the water.
Boston has a fairly well-developed subway system, and C says it is one of the cleanest he has ever been on. We traveled through the various routes to the Cambridge neighborhood, where we visited a very quintessential Ivy-League looking Starbucks and the Harvard campus. We can now say with acclaim, “I went to Harvard. Duh”.
Sunday morning brought the end of our journey. The weather was just as beautiful as upon our arrival, and it wasn’t easy to say goodbye to our great visit. As Lion Tamer says, “If you leave feeling wistful, you know you’ve done it well!” One more ride on our water taxi, and we were on our way home.
We will definitely be back to Boston.
Last week Friday, we had a very special visitor. Lion Tamer made a hastily planned trip to Wisconsin, and we wanted to take advantage of our last opportunity this summer to show him the Madison waters. This was only our second time through the Yahara River channel, and it proved just as memorable as the first.
We had a bit different weather for this trip; Friday was 85 degrees and bright sun. Our trusty Lund slicing through the water provided just enough breeze though, and we really appreciated the occasional shade given by the oaks shadowing the channel and passing underneath all the cross bridges. C did an awesome job with the trailering and unloading at the boat launch. He backed the trailer in on the second try; Lion Tamer must have been our good luck charm (ha). We settled into our seats; this was the first time we have had 3 people on the boat. I found the back swivel chair to be just as comfortable as our customary captains’ chairs, and we still would have plenty of room to accomodate two more people.
C set the crusing speed at a comfortable 25 mph, the water was the smoothest we have ever seen on Lake Mendota. No waves to speak of, just the occasional wake left behind from another boat crusing. I could tell Lion Tamer loved every minute – the fresh air, the birds bobbing on the water, the mechanics of how the Tenney Lock operates. We had a bit of a wait going south down through the lock. Two of the mystery MMSD pontoon boats (who can explain why?) were waiting to come up to Mendota. Once they were through, we had the lock to ourselves and lowered about 4-5 feet. We set off through the channel, with little to greet us aside from the occasional lazy fisherman and of course ducks. Dozens and dozens of ducks, each more brazen than the last. This was mid-afternoon, so it didn’t seem to be quite as much of a feeding frenzy as the evening cruise C and I took a couple weeks ago. But still, ducks swimming right into the oncoming path of the boat, unfazed and indeed quite confident that it is they who own the waterway.
We made it to Lake Monona, I enjoyed pointing out to Lion Tamer the familiar sights from my early days after having moved across the state line. We cruised past the downtown, and enjoyed seeing the landmarks from a different angle than normal. Both the sun and the hour were getting late, so we set back retracing out path through the channel and back towards our state park landing dock. Another memorable day on the water is in the books.
Gracie has been wanting to see the sights of the Yahara river since last year when we got our other boat. I wanted to as well, but I had reservations. She’s a bit big and because I had never been through this stretch or talked to any locals who knew about it I had my qualms.
After our successful Lake of Pines channel crossing, I knew our fishing boat would have no problem with this journey so Thursday was the day and we set off.
The Yahara river runs into the north end of Lake Mendota from De Forest. The river then empties from Mendota’s south east side at the Tenney Park lock into Lake Monona. The lock has to be a drop of at least 6 if not 8 feet.
We had already obtained out annual county park lock pass and we were ready.
It took about a minute and a half to drop us into the Yahara river at the Tenney Park level. We proceeded through the channel under several road bridges and rail trestles, including our daily commuting menace – East Washington Avenue.
Once through the river we were on Lake Monona and we took a tour around the northern half and followed the continuing path of the Yahara until just past and around the bend from the beltline. Gracie and her bikini even got a shout out from a dump truck driver – well a nice horn blast anyway.
Gracie met a seagull and while I am used to having ducks swim away from a passing boat, these well trained freeloaders swim towards the boat demonstrating that getting handouts is customary.
We returned up the Yahara and back into Monona to finish our tour around the lake. We past Monona Terrace – one of many scenic wastes of money in this county – and then back to the Yahara where we trailed a group of paddle boarders until we finally reached East Washington Avenue.
One of the great joys of our little adventure is that the next time we are stuck on East Wash in the morning or on the beltline we can look down and remember the relaxing afternoon that we had and how we got to enjoy it from a completely different perspective. Our returning voyage did not disappoint as we were able to cross under the East Wash bridge while cars were stuck waiting above us for yet another one of those inexplicably ill-timed freight trains that travel at less than one-half of a mile per hour.
Filling the lock and going back up to the Mendota Lake level seemed to take about four or five minutes and then we headed back to the boat launch. In all, I think the entire trip was just over 20 miles.
It was a lot of fun. Even the fishing wasn’t disappointing, but that is because we didn’t even try to fish.
Next time we will plan for a little bit more time and take the last leg of the Yahara into Lake Waubesa.
One thing for certain – little Gracie would have been much harder to move through the river. There was at least one bridge that would have been hard to clear and based on the scrapes under that bridge, other boaters have learned the hard way that the bridge clearance is very low.
We set out for our favorite camping spot on Wednesday morning with our boat in tow. Having the boat made it so much easier to haul our gear.
From This
To This
Now, I am not going to lie about it, the fishing was pretty bad. Gracie caught a fingerling Walleye. We put it back and told it we would like to have it to dinner in a few years. We marked a lot of fish – and some that appeared to be good sized, but they just weren’t biting. We tried crawlers and leeches and even tried spinners but the big fish were just not that into us.
We stayed out until about 9:30 PM one night hoping for a wave of Walleyes, but alas – pffft!
The good sized fish were on Connors Lake but again, they had no interest and it appeared that people were not having any luck either.
On the other hand, the most important objective of this adventure was to test my theory that I picked the right sized boat for us. Our biggest goal was to be able to take it through the channel that connects Lake of the Pines and Connors.
Success!!
The biggest challenge is the last leg of the trip from Little Papoose to Connors. It is less than 18 inches deep and quite narrow. Our boat cleared it like a champ. Having a trolling motor and hydraulics made all of the difference in the world.
The weather cooperated very well. We had temperatures in the 70s during the day and high 50s at night and no rain.
We have our camping process down to a science. It takes about an hour to unpack and put up and about the same to decamp.
While the fishing could be better we still had a good time and we ate well.
Hopefully Gracie will add her thoughts on our trip. Speaking of trips, Gracie is going on her own adventure to Vegas tomorrow. Poor Gracie.
Gracie and I went fishing yesterday evening on Mendota. We stayed out for several hours and we didn’t get even a nibble. We marked quite a few fish but they had no interest in what we had to offer. We tried minnows, crawlers and suckers. Nothing. I don’t think we were the only ones that went away empty handed. The other fishing boats seemed to be lacking activity too.
On Thursday, they won.
But we still had fun!
On Sunday afternoon we took the new boat to Lake Mendota to give her a sea trial and to try fishing. We have been out on this lake quite a bit with our other boat but we have never fished it.
She ran great and was steady on the choppy lake. Winds were gusting to about 15 mph making the open water very rough. Luckily we had our rain gear so we could stay dry.
Gracie and I rigged up a Lindy spoon with a crawler on a 7′ leader with a bottom bouncer. Gracie got skunked and I caught a 7″ white bass.
Not a bad day at all.
Beyond The C... 