July 14, 2015
We had some rain last night and into the the early morning hours. We got up at 7:30 and pulled out of the campground at 9:15. Our drive today would only be about 3 hours. It was a gray morning with light rain when we motored west on Highway 2. The rain ended after awhile, but it stayed cloudy, windy, and cooler at 63 degrees. We crossed the time zone boundary and entered into the Central Standard Time Zone, gaining an hour. It was now 9:10 when we crossed the border into Wisconsin. (Ooops, missed part of the sign.)
Highway 70 was deeply forested, so we kept our eyes open for any deer that might dart into the road.
We did see a couple of deer and wild turkeys, but none that came close enough to cause us any harm. We arrived at our destination, Patricia Lake Campground, about 11:30.
We got a very nice site near the lake and set up camp.
Auggie got settled right in and spotted the squirrels right away. He keep a keen eye on them from the trailer. What focus!!
We called our Florida neighbors, Jan and Dale Burbie, who live right down the road in Minocqua and made plans to meet Dale at his store “No Sweat” right on the main street in town. Main Street was busy and bustling with tourists.
We met Dale at his store and he found him busy working in this office.
We had a quick look around the store before following him back to his house about 3 miles away.
The plan was to go boating on Lake Tomahawk in their pontoon boat for the afternoon. Our other Florida neighbors, Jeff and Cindi Wallace, who live in Rhinelander would join us. We set out on the pontoon from the boat launch where Dale picked us up in the boat. The lake was like glass as we motored out onto the lake.
We had a leisurely ride on Lake Tomahawk. The sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful day after all. At times the wind made conditions a little chilly, but not for long.
We had a great ride in the boat checking out all the beautiful lake homes. Others were out on the lake enjoying the day too.
We saw a few loons and a deer scamper up the hillside. After a few hours on the boat, we returned to the house where we picked up the truck and headed back to the campground to change clothes for dinner. We spent a little time with Auggie and returned to the Burbies’ house to head out to dinner with everyone. We had a wonderful dinner at Chef Rene’s located on the golf course.
For dinner, I had perch and a great Old Fashioned cocktail. I was really looking forward to that. You can’t get perch or a decent Old Fashioned in Florida. Bob had duck! What a treat for both of us! We all went our separate ways after dinner, but made plans to meet again tomorrow in Rhinelander at Cindi and Jeff’s house for another day on the water and dinner. Auggie would be able to join us. He’ll love that! On our drive back to the campground we saw 2 deer grazing in town….right in town. The first doe sprinted across the street safely.
The second yearling took some more time grazing on the other side and then decided to cross the street. Luckily, the traffic slowed down and let her cross safely.
When we got back to the campground, Auggie got his evening walk. After relaxing a little, we went to bed after enjoying a wonderful day spent with friends.
