From: wolverine01@charter.net   
      
   I'd like to give a report on my trip last weekend to the Kettle Moraine   
   area in Wisconsin.  I stayed in the Northern District at a place called   
   Mauthe Lake State Park.  I did this trip solo, so I was unsupervised.   
   But wow, I shall remember this trip for quite some time.  It was   
   absolutely wonderful.   
      
   First off, it probably was the time of the year that helped since there   
   was not a campground full of kids, and very few adults for that matter.   
   The sites at this place were laid out so that you had a lot of solitude.   
     Most all of the sites in the park were like this.  They clear out an   
   area and put in a gravel drive, picnic table, and a fire ring.   
   Everything outside that is either brush or trees, so nobody can just   
   walk into your area.  Electric, but no water, though there were many   
   water stations around.  Even though it was woods, above the site was   
   clear so the Starlink worked nicely.  Though, it took me about an hour   
   to figure out that a stink bug had been hiding in the Ethernet port on   
   the dish and when I had pushed in the cable I squished him and the   
   connections weren't making contact.  Fortunately, one last check found   
   the little dead critter and once I dug him out and cleaned it up it   
   fired right up.   
      
      
      
   The first night I had no neighbors at all.  It was warm with night temps   
   still in the 70's.  It was also the weekend of the Hunters moon, and man   
   was it bright.  The other cool thing is that when you have a bright full   
   moon like that, the geese and cranes out on the lake just go crazy well   
   into the night.  After midnight I was still sitting around the fire   
   listening to either the birds out on the lake, or the owls banging their   
   beaks together.  Every once in a while the wind would pick up just a   
   little and whistle through the aspen leaves.  I did all this while   
   enjoying a good cigar that took about two hours to smoke.  I also had a   
   nice steak all three nights since it was only me and that is so easy to   
   do.  It was just perfect!  The pics are at about 11:30 PM.   
      
      
      
   I got up early and got ready to go hiking.  You can get to a famous   
   Wisconsin trail called the Ice Age Trail right from the park.  I decided   
   to go south along that and did 7 miles with 308 feet of ascent.  It was   
   an out and back route, but that's OK as you always do get a different   
   perspective, especially if it's the first time you've ever been there.   
   There was a little rain forecast, and I did just get back before a   
   gentle drizzle began.  I had the grill under the awning, so I had a cup   
   of coffee and then proceeded to eat dinner and get ready for the rain to   
   pass, which it did after about 2 hours.  I did enjoy sitting out under   
   the awning nice and dry listening to the rain.  It cleared up and I lit   
   the campfire, another good cigar, and enjoyed another magical night at   
   the fire.   
      
      
      
   Next day I got up and went hiking again.  This time I went north and   
   east of the park, sometimes on the Ice Age, sometimes on some horse   
   trails, and even a short distance on a very small gravel road in the   
   middle of nowhere and did basically a big loop.  I ended up going about   
   9 miles with about 432 feet of ascent in what was mostly a loop.  I had   
   taken meloxicam before I left, and it must have helped because though my   
   knee was sore, it was not overly inflamed and I was still moving OK.   
   This was an absolutely great trail and I would highly recommend it.  You   
   go around curves, up and over hills, and surprises show up at every   
   corner.  Several small lakes popped up out of nowhere, and they were all   
   in just a beautiful setting.  The bugs were not bad at all, and it was   
   nice and cool so I didn't get all sweated up.   
      
      
      
   Got back to the RV, had a coffee, and then another steak.  One last   
   cigar, the best one that actually made my tongue tingle, and a few hours   
   at the last campfire and I just sat there amazed at what a great time I   
   had been having, even though I was alone.  Everything worked finally on   
   the View and I had no issues at all.  All in all, even though it was   
   relatively short, this was just a perfect trip for me!   
      
      
      
   This place is only about 2.5 hours north of me, and when I got home I   
   just wanted to turn around and go back.  Some day I will!   
      
   --   
   Science doesn't support Darwin.  Scientists do.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)