Up NorthNotes and News My sis, Billy Goeke and her husband, Dale up North Thoughts and reflections of life in Wisconsin's Great Northwoods (From Billy's point of view, of course.) If you'd like a taste of life up here, rent my sister's cabins. Up North July 11-13, 2008 Dale and I left Davis, Illinois after 5:00 p.m. Like many vacationers, both of us had put in a full day's work before departing. It was just the two of us again. On the drive Up North, traffic was fairly light compared to its usual congestion this time of year. When we got to the “Watering Hole” in Hazelhurst, we walked in and Joel was his lively self. When Joel saw us, he shouted a playful expletive in our direction and his girlfriend Jenny from Appleton gave him a swat. He said, “Heck, these guys have been coming up for years and I haven’t scared them off yet!” It's true. We are some of his weekend regulars and his playful banter always makes us feel right at home. Nothing like Joel giving us a "hard time," and a cold beer on the weekend Up North. After a couple of drinks, Dale and I headed for Cabin 1. As we turned down our street, it began to downpour. We put the car in the garage and unpacked our belongings. It was about then that the storm caused a power outage. We cracked a window in the bedroom and listened to the droning of the storm. By midnight we had fallen off to sleep.  We slept
in a bit as, once again, it was too wet
to really get up and
do anything outside. I went for my walk. Along the way, I saw the two
deer I've fondly named, “Jack and Jill.” They were very small fawns
about
two years ago and mama was never too far away. These days, mama is no
longer around. Jack has little 2-inch antlers. He stared at me as I
walked by. When I got back to cabin 1, I mowed the lawn while Dale cut and stacked wood. I then mowed the lawn at cabin 2 and Dale cut and stacked wood down there. We purchased a fire pit ring for cabin 2, so Dale cleaned up the area and stacked wood for a fire so our next guests would feel comfortable using it.    When all the work was
done, we decided to stop
in at R
and R Rental
and
visit our friends Randy and Nina Ryden. R and R rents boats,
including
pontoons, speedboats, canoes, etc. They actually
put the boat in the water for you and retrieve it after you are done.
Randy was sitting in his usual chair as greeter and storeowner. We
missed Nina, as she was spending the day with visiting relatives. Randy
is from the area and has the Wisconsin accent. He loves to get me going
by talking politics. He knows I love Hillary Clinton and he is an
advocate of John McCain. We talked for about 20 minutes and when it was
obvious he was not going to convert me into a Republican, he changed
the
subject to . . . you guessed it . . . the Packers and Brett Favre! What I love about coming up North is that all the merchants are really friendly. Randy and Dale sat at the counter and shot the breeze for the longest time. Out the window we could see Cody and Tommy (Randy’s sons) and Matt working out back, but Randy had not moved from his perch since we arrived. He was too busy visiting with us and being friendly. We love to give Randy a hard time about his definition of “busy, ” but it is part of what makes us love him so much. That, and because he does great work.  We then
went uptown to Ace
Hardware. Of course, we had to stop at
Fritz’s Bar to have a couple of beers. We then headed over to
Lake Tomahawk to the Shamrock Bar. They have the best Bloody Mary's. I
was really hungry for Walleye Fingers and fries. They are really good
and I can’t seem to find them anywhere else but up North here at the
Shamrock. Dale
had buffalo wings. It was just enough for a Saturday afternoon meal.We then took the back way home to the cabin to enjoy the beautiful scenery around here. You take Highway 47 South to County D West. Turn right on Mill Road. Turn right again on Sylvan Shore Road.  Dale
started a campfire and I brought the paper
outside to read. Jack
and Jill wandered back into the yard. Jack was out in front and Jill
stayed in the background eating. I started clicking my tongue at Jack.
He just stared at me. I clicked my tongue again. He started to snort
back. He stood there snorting for a good 3 minutes. He then turned,
held his tail up proudly and leaped off. Jill followed close behind. Yep, just another "boring" weekend Up North…… Maybe when you come to visit, you will see Jack and Jill, too. (Interested in renting a cabin? Check out the Goeke cabins here.) Up North June 27-29, 2008 Dale and I headed to the cabin on Friday afternoon at around 4:00 p.m. It started raining in Illinois around 3:00 p.m., so Dale left the jobsite early and we packed quickly and left. It is really nice to own your own place up North because you can pack lightly, take just a few items and leave at the spur of the moment. Most everything else we need is already up there. People who have to plan in advance and adhere to lists miss out on the joy of spontaneity. It's true we have an advantage over other vacationers, but realize at the Goeke cabins, you're pretty much welcome to use anything up there: paper products, dishes, utensils – even the cleaning supplies and vacuum. (Speaking of cleaning, while you're at it, could you hit that spot over there for me? . . . Just kidding!) Seriously though, when you come up, all you really need to bring is your food and clothing.  Well
back
to the trip. We
arrived at about 8:00 p.m. and had time to
sit out on the deck and have an ice-cold beer before the sun went down.
Since we were quiet and still, two baby deer wandered into the yard
looking for food! I am sure that the mama deer wasn't far behind.Dale had a bad cold, so he took a couple Sudafed's and was asleep in the chair by the time Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) was over at 10:00 p.m. We do have satellite TV in cabin 1, which is nice for evenings like this Up North when you just want to kick back and relax, but don’t really want to go anywhere. The channels are limited, which is perfect, because who wants to sit indoors watching TV when there are so many things to do and so much beautiful countryside to see? It rained lightly through the night and it was nice hearing the raindrops fall on the roof. Dale slept in since there was really nothing he could do outside in the morning until some of the wet dried off as the sun came out. I'm sure his Sudafed hadn't worn off yet.  I got up
at 6:00 a.m., as I never can sleep
late. It was a good time to
get my walk in. I put on my ball cap and some mosquito-repellent. The
Northwoods is wonderfully natural and heavily forested, but with all
that nature, ticks can be an issue. As is usual Up North, the walk was
wonderful, the air
smelled sweet and I saw a few deer along the way. It was a nice, quiet
stroll after an evening of summer rain. When I got back, I put on a pot of coffee, then jumped in the car and drove to the Motor Mart gas station on highway 51 and picked up the Lakeland Times (www.lakelandtimes.com). This is the local paper that is filled with things to do and places to eat while you are here. Their website is great, but for a well-spent 75 cents, the printed version provides some really great information and I love the articles. I grabbed a cup of joe, sat down at the table and quickly opened it to read “Wit and Wisdom,” a column by Bruce Cameron. He has a dry sense of humor that reminds me of a grown-up version of the side-splitting comedic torture my brother put me through when we were growing up. Some people have a real knack for humor and my brother is one of them. So is Bruce Cameron. Bruce can take the most mundane, insignificant, routine things in life and make them into events that bring you to tears with laughter. I have been known to be reading his column and start guffawing and snorting so much so that Dale has run up from his projects in the basement to see if I am OK. The rest of the morning was spent mowing, pulling weeds, cutting up a few fallen trees and stacking firewood. We have small stacks of firewood everywhere around our property that renters are free to use for evening campfires at the fire ring out back. We then quickly stained the deck at cabin 1 before a rain/hail storm began to pummel us. There was nothing we could do except pull the car into the garage and watch the storm pass from our patio windows. I love days like this. We took showers, popped in a movie (Coyote Ugly…one of Dale’s favorites) and waited the storm out. What a lovely day Up North!
Minocqua is surrounded by lakes. Rent a pontoon or bring your own! We then went to Stingray's
which is north on Highway 51. Patty is
always there with her Northern Wisconsin accent ("Hey-der")
and loves to see her weekend “regulars.” We had a bar burger
and
fries. The
sandwiches were great and hit the spot on a Saturday evening.
On the
way home, we spied a coyote crossing the road near our cabin. Its fur
was a sandy beige color and it had a long, fuzzy tail. Amazingly, it
was not spooked at all by our car. We stopped and watched as it
sauntered off into the woods.
 Then we headed back to the cabin. Dale's cold had zapped his energy, so we did not do a campfire. We watched another movie and fell off to sleep. It was an uneventful weekend . . . but a boring weekend Up North, beats a hectic, jam-packed weekend in Illinois any day! So until next time, have a safe and fun 4th of July. I leave you with a view from Up North. This video says it all on why this place means so much to my family and me. You need to visit soon, this place is truly food for the soul. Up
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