Nice Lunch-spot...

Boy, this was a longer downhill climb than I anticipated, and also getting rougher the further down we got, more scrubs and other obstacles that made it hard to decent. But here we are, back at the camp, quite a bit exhausted and ready for another swim. But first I need my cup of coffee and a snack of some sort. How about a Peanut-butter Jelly Sandwich, one of my favorite snack. I haven't seen the rest of our hiking group, by the time we was down at the trail I though that i might be shorter on the trail but they are not back from their adventure yet.

Good to be back at the Campground...

Where coffee gets brewed and some relaxation happens before the next good thing!!!

Off for another dip into the great Lake of Silver...

Before touring the different camps again for snacks and drinks...

In the meantime Stefan Ernie, Susan and Dell with the pack of dogs finally made it back to camp too, they on the other hand had NO fun al all to come down that mountain. Dell convinced them that is is easy to go down the same way we went but that turned out to be NOT the case. First Stefan has vertigo and so it was extremely difficult for him to overcome all these obstacles, like steep, drops to clim down, and just the feeling of going down that steep gulch is not his thing. Then there where the 4 dogs how could not get down some of the drops and so Dell had to carry them down, ohh boy, I'd say Dell is the major Hero in this action and he was really exhausted. I took quite some time until Ernie joined us in with conversation, he was exhausted for the mental stress he had to go through, and all of that because of me telling Dell that this is the way down for me, and he wanted to do the same!!!

Now getting serious with preparing dinner at our camp...

Making nothing less than a "real" Cheese-Fondue!!!

Some others had other dinner plans...

And the final dinner is ready to eat!!! Lets have a seat...

What a feast we're having here, in the middle of the Eldorado Forest!!!

Sunday, July 19th

The basic idea today is to pack-up, clean campsite, go for the last swim and then head out, but all of that certainly not without any breakfast. So lets get started...
This time Stefan and I went swimming at the private beach of the Kit Carson Lodge, the signs all pointed out that it is for registered guests only, but what the hell, nobody was there but a women painting the rail with a fresh green color.

Finally back in the water again, a private beach never the less...

Finding exceptional rare piece of art along the shore, wondering how much it is worth???

Ultimately it was time to say good-bye to the strange collaboration of Swiss and Stefan and I hit the road to return back to civilization, but not without finding another swimming-hole.
We found one, after a few misleading attempts. In Placerville we turned right onto Hwy-49, after that 299 veers off to the right and goes way down into a canyon where the South Fork of the American River flows through. Just after crossing the river we turn left onto a parking-lot and installed ourself for some lunch. Come to find out is that place is called the Chili Bar, and it is a place where rafters put in to flow towards Folsom Lake. And when I study the map closer I remember that I did that about 20 years ago with a bunch of friends. It took us 2 days to get to the lake and we all had a blast, one day I'll find the pictures from these days, it was my very first rafting-trip.

making big splashes with big rocks...

We're not the only ones with that great idea to have a soak here!!!

And then as it happens every day around this time... it's 3 o'clock once more, and it is way past any lunch-time!!!

Having our lunch at the south fork of the American River...

Late Lunch special...

A quick run to Costco to buy lots of sugar also made me buy one of their Hot Dogs, so I spend 12 dollars for lunch, that is a dog and 20 pounds of sugar. On the way home I also stopped at a Office Depot to buy a new notebook for my Job-site-notes. I'm ready to get jobs again!!!

Wednesday, July 8th... it;s time to get serious!!!

At nine I'm back at the "Storytelling-style" house to get some of the wiring figured out, lots of time I have to crawl into the underbelly of the house a big mess and lots of dirt but necessary to make sense out of it all. I get a few more lights to work and the others figures out but need more time to get it to work. Not today though... It's time to get home to shower and have some lunch!

A late lunch by myself...

Having leftover Chinese made into an omelet, no beer today!!!

Lunch with Stuart...

The Last evening of the yoga retreat is somewhat different. Much quieter than the previous night. Poor Dan finally returned from the dead, poor guy just had a wee bit too much to drink.
The dinner was made out of leftovers from all the other meals, enough for the 5 of us, that's for sure.
The last soak in the hot-tub, accompanied by Ann Marie was kind of interesting, first a facial with salts and oils then a body massage... no, no not what your thinking, just nice and gentle. For sure we ruined the water with all the salts and oils, but it felt great!!!

Monday July 6th... what back to the "real" world???

Yep, a short yoga class, just 3 guys, Tina and Ann Marie wimped out. Then the last meal, cleaning up the place and back on the road, driving the windy road back to Cloverdale and on 101 south.
Somewhere the Honda passed its 293'000 mile-mark and I was home just in time for a late lunch with Stuart.

The drive back over the mountains to Boonville...

25 Miles of beautiful mountain-road, with lots of turns, ups, and downs!!!

It's 3 o'clock, time for lunch back at the Burnett Ranch, before the "real" life hits me.

Having a welcome-lunch with Stuart...

And a beer with that!!!

Eating while being Eaten...

Now I'm back on the road again, leaving Seeley, WI by going North on US-63, through the town of Cable to Drummond, there I turn left onto CR-N. A small road leading me through a lush, mixed woods forest, a beautiful and peaceful feeling, a little lake here and a bigger lake there, one of them is Pigeon Lake, wondering with all the birds here how they come up with this name, I haven't seen any pigeons for quite some time now. At CR-A I turn north and that road gets me to the town of Iron River and back to US-2 which I wanna follow all the way out to the wild west. So I turn left and head West.

Lots of clear-cut forests for the nearby paper industry...

I can tell that these trees were planted some decades ago, all the trees here are in a perfect row!!! (the red spot is a reflection of the red wrist-band I had laying on the dashboard, thats what you get for taking pictures through the windshield while driving, but I do  that a lot.)

A small country store along the highway of US-2...

From a different era, now revitalized by a artist!!!

Here US-2 is getting close to Lake Superior again, the South Shore, big harbor structures poking into the sky behind the suburban houses of the town Superior. You can tell this place was busy at some point of time, this region here is, or was, rich on iron-ore, lumber, and grains.

US-2 and the rich history of these area here in north-western Wisconsin...

The huge steel-structure was used to unload the train-cars filled with iron-ore right onto the ships that then carry it to a smelter somewhere out there!!!

Grain Elevators the size of New York City...

Makes me wonder where all that agriculture is now, to fill-up these silos with grains!!!

At five thirty I drive over a newer bride, that spans the St. Louis Bay, into Minnesota to the town of Duluth. I visited here at around the same time in 2004 and it was a miserable adventure, fog so thick, it was worse than San Francisco, and that is bad, the waves in Lake where the size of waves in the Pacific and it was freezing cold. And that in June, how can these people life here???

Rolling into Downtown Duluth...


Today the weather has improved tremendously, compare to 2004, so I park and try to visit this city again, It is situated right between the lake and a steep mountainside. I drive up pretty high to get a good view of the city.

Duluth form above...

It's an old industrial city with lots of different flair!!!

On further explorations I come across this unique place with a rich history...

Im sure this guy was a very busy guy during the heydays of hunting and trapping!!!

Now it's time again to load up my car with food for the road...

Supporting the local grocery COOP, spending way too much money, and still miss a few essentials!!!

So I drive a few more miles to find "the other kind" of grocery store...

Now I can go into the wild and feed myself for a few days!!!

After a few friends recommended to drive along the North-shore, I figured I should and like to, I leave Duluth behind and drive north on Rt-61 that follows the shoreline of Lake Superior, the largest of the 4 big lakes, and I've driven along all of them in the last week. I take the tourist-road vs. the newer and faster highway build in a bit further inland and stop once in a while to check out the scenery.

Lots of places to get down to the waters of Lake Superior...

It takes a few tunnels to get up north on Rt-61!!!

It's past eight now and I'd like to find a nice place to camp, how about Gooseberry Falls State Park, lets check.

I'm in luck and find an available spot to set-up camp for tonight...

And have myself a beer while preparing dinner...

Hmm, smoked Lake Trout, with crackers, cheese, tomatoes, and more beer!!!

Today I've only driven 141 miles, from Carolyn and Harry's house in Seeley to the Gooseberry Falls N.P. I payed 25 bucks to pitch my tent, 20 for the camping fee and 5 for the car. The weather has been nice, a few clouds here and there but nice clouds, if you know what I mean. Now sitting here it is getting a wee bit nippy, I walk around a bit and scramble on top of these great rocks along the shore of the lake, I make a few phone-calls, and enjoy the very slow way the night shows up here. It is way last 10 and the sky still has some light in it. But still it's time to climb into the tent and leave them nasty mosquitos alone!!!

Tuesday, June 18th... lets see what else there is on Lake Superior!!!

After breakfast and packing-up I'm back driving north on Rt-61, but only for about 10 miles, then I see something I'd really like to look at a bit closer. I've seen lots of photos of it and now I want to have my very own impression...



I park and pay 8 dollars to be a guest here at the Split Rock Lighthouse, a marvel of location, and as I learn later, of engineering. First I get to watch a movie about the rich history of this place, to understand the necessity and importance of this Lighthouse, and the struggle to get it build. Then I take the guided tour and get a closer feeling for what it must have been way when back. I'm not envying anybody that had to live here...

Touring the guided tour of the Lighthouse and the home of the Lighthouse-master...

The beauty and craftsmanship is really something to admire, nothing gets build by the government like that anymore!!!

Then on my own I discover the beach and the vistas of this place...

A view form the tower to the beach and then looking back!!!

Good-bye Lighthouse, hello Highway 61!!!

It's one thirty by the time I'm back in my car driving further north on Rt-61, past Beaver Bay, to Silver City. Here I have to admire a different kind a human achievement, but it also has to do with the Lighthouse history. A huge Taconite production plant, right at the shore of the lake, for easy loading onto ships to deliver the Steel-mills in Ohio.

The look of these huge plants are amazing, I had to drive up to a vista point, build by the mining-company to show off their goods...

Today the plant looks kind of dead, maybe its sunday or no orders are being called in!!!

I took these pictures of the plaques provided by the Northshore Mining Company, very interesting documentation...

Later I'll see a different open pit Mine, not the one they got the stuff from though!!!

Then while we're at it, here is also the stuff about the lake...

I'd like to compare the size of this lake with the size of Switzerland!!!

I have to get going here otherwise I never get to the West. It's almost two thirty when I turn left onto Rt-1 to go finally westwards again. A lonely road through more forests than anybaody can think of. I'm almost getting bored with it.

Another visit to Ely??? Might as well, it's on the way out west...

It's 3 o'clock, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast, I think it's time for lunch...

The mosquitos and the black flies are so nasty here, I think they get a better lunch than I do!!!

Okay I sit down just for this picture, then I have to keep walking around while chewing on my Smoked Trout with Tomato Sandwich...

Not one of my most joyful moment!!!