Madeline Island 2022 - Arrival and Settling In

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

This is Dale's final summer with the camp on Madeline. Although he's mostly been working from Minneapolis this season he needs to make a couple more trips up before the end of the summer. Today he leaves for one and I'm going up with him. It's been more than a year since I've been. 

We left about 9:30 this morning and made our first pit stop in Clayton, Wisconsin. We're taking a route that's pretty much off the beaten path and it's quite picturesque. The above two photos were taken in Clayton. 

Next pit stop was just before hitting Hayward. I'm not used to driving up with Dale. At the beginning of the season he get's himself to Madeline and I drive up by myself to visit him a few times. One of the trips usually coincides with his last weekend there so I can help bring him home. We often drive back separately as he usually has a van the camp has rented for the summer to return. In the above picture you see him texting with people from work. 

Lunch in Hayward at what used to be the Norske Nook. The food really hit the spot. I had an omelette with hash browns and pancakes while Dale got a big salad.

We made the two o'clock ferry. 

We're staying at the Johnston House. After getting unpacked we headed to the Beach Club for a cocktail and beer while Dale waited for some musicians from the Twin Cities to arrive. They got in a little earlier than we thought but we had just enough time to finish our drinks. I got an Old Fashioned.

We brought the artists to the cottages where they will be lodging. Jonathan and Josh were there so we had a chance to catch up.

Chicken for dinner at the Johnston House. We watched t.v. and relaxed. Laid back and easy day. It's nice to get away from home for a while. They've gotten so much more rain up here than we've had back home. Everything is extra green and lush. On top of that it a tad cooler here. 

Madeline 2021 - First Trip: Walks, Cocktails, and More! (Friday)

Friday, June 25, 2021

Totally lazy day. Didn’t sleep well last night. So nice to wake up to Dale being around. Did lots reading today but also lots of walking. 

Got hungry around noon so I headed to Island Grocery to see if they had a sandwich but they didn’t so I stopped by Grandpa Tony’s and ordered a BLT to go. It was delicious. 

Lots more reading and walking this afternoon. I took a nap around 4 p.m. due to not sleeping well at all last night. 

Dale got home from work around 5 p.m. and we went to the Pub for dinner. Lots of the restaurants on the Island are open limited hours and seem to be trying to get their sea legs back after the pandemic. I ordered a brandy Old Fashioned but they made it with bourbon. I didn’t make waves due to them being short staffed and somewhat frazzled. 

We took a nice walk after dinner. The house pictured above has been in the remodeling stage since at least 2014. I usually refer to it as the red house since that’s what it used to look like (see picture below from 2014).

Otherwise not an exciting day but restful none-the-less. Also, it’s great having Dale around. We’d been separated for 3 weeks. 

Madeline 2021 - First Trip: Travel Day (Thursday)

Thursday, June 24, 2021

I meant to leave the house at 10:00 a.m. As I pulled out of the driveway the dashboard clock said 10:18. Not bad. Photos above and below taken at the Thompson Hill rest area where construction was occurring. 

Construction wasn’t just happening at Thompson Hill. I’ve encountered more than enough from Minneapolis to Duluth on the roads. I probably shouldn’t complain though because traffic moved steadily through all of it. It probably didn’t hurt that it’s not quite the weekend yet otherwise it might’ve been really bad. 

I ended up encountering some more construction on Highway 2 going through Wisconsin. At one point it was down to only one was and I came upon a long line of cars stopped to let vehicles going the other way through. The wait wasn’t too bad. 

I departed the ferry onto Madeline shortly before 4 p.m. and stopped at the Beach Club for an Old Fashioned. Dale joined me at about 4:40 and we ended up having dinner right at the bar. So very good to see him. 

After dinner we took a nice walk which included Nebraska Row. Gorgeous sunny evening for a walk. We had so much catching up to do. 

Upon arriving home we sat on the deck and watch the sun descend to the horizon. Funny, we watched some campers set up and grill and then build a fire on the lawn across from ours. Didn’t know they could do that. The land and the building on it belong to the phone company so maybe they’re with them. 

Madeline Island June 2019 - Day 5: And Another Full Day

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Long lazy morning. Coffee on the porch with Dale. Emma slept in late but woke up shortly before Dale left for work. 

Emma is training for a marathon. She took a 6 mile training run today. I headed into town on foot. 

In town I picked up a couple of blueberry muffins from Marie at Mission Hill Coffee. Delicious as always. I ate both of them in one sitting and then walked back to the cabin to sit on the porch. Emma returned from her run after a bit and said the heat really got to her. I could only imagine. I thought it was pretty scorching in the direct sunlight on my outing and I was only walking!

Dale and I took Emma out to eat at the Beach Club tonight. I had a couple of Old Fashioneds of course. They couldn't drink because they had to work a dinner concert over on the mainland. 

When they left after dinner for the the ferry I headed over to Grandpa Tony's for some ice cream and walked home with it. 

Once back I sat on the porch, read, and watched the beautiful sunset. When Dale and Emma returned we sat for a bit on the porch and watched the fireflies.

Madeline Island June 2019 - Day 4: Another Full Day

Friday, June 28, 2019

I'm falling into a routine. Coffee with Dale on the porch this morning and then a nice walk to town followed by a lunch at the Beach Club which consisted of two Old Fashioneds and a chef salad.

Emma is coming in tonight so I stopped by the store to get some wine and frozen pizzas. Needed to call Dale to confirm the kind of wine he wanted. The call went through but cut out and the phone showed there as being no service. OK, this island runs at a different pace and I can adapt to that culture but I don't want my phone to be on island time too!! LOL. I eventually got ahold of Dale but the phone service has been so bad this year. It all ended up working out just fine so I'll stop pissin' and moanin'.

Back home in time for a cigar on the porch in the afternoon. Emma arrived by 5 p.m. Dale made a pizza for all of us which we ate on the porch accompanied by some red wine.

We headed over to the club house shortly before with o'clock for the concert featuring the American String Quartet. It was a beautiful concert. The tree frogs outside even got in on the act.

Madeline Island June 2019 - Day 2: Glorious Day

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Woke up to a glorious sunshiny morning and had coffee on the porch with Dale. After he left for work I continued to have coffee and I read for a while. 

Lunch in town at the Beach Club. I had a fish sandwich accompanied by a brandy Old Fashioned (what else?).

After lunch I stopped by the Island Store for broccoli and a few other things and then back to the cabin for a little walking and then a cigar. 

After Dale got home from work we relaxed on the porch and then made chili for dinner which we ate on the porch.

We finished out my first full day here by watching night one of the Democratic debates with 10 contenders.  Tomorrow night another 10 will debate. My understanding is that there are still 4 others who didn't rank high enough in polling or financial contributions to make the cut. After that, bedtime!

Madeline Island June 2019 - Day 1: Winding Down the Day

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Dinner at the Beach Club. I had a couple brandy Old Fashioneds and Dale had beer. I ordered the chili dog and Dale had the fish sandwich.

Stopped by the Island Store on the way home for just a few supplies. I picked up one of their famous brownies. 

Back at the cabin (very rustic, btw) we checked out the dock and then sat on the porch and talked for a while. 

The sunset was beautiful.

After dark we came inside and looked at lots of Dale's family photos that Brenda's been scanning and sending him lately.