I've been remiss
I’ve been meaning to tell you all about my Cranberry Fest weekend ever since I got back. What can I say? The new fall line-up, my good book and shear laziness have impeded me. Better late than never, right?
OK, so, let’s start recounting last weekend.
I came into work Friday morning really hoping to get all of my cells harvested and put to bed quickly so that I could (ideally) get on the road before noon. That didn’t happen. Turned out to be more labor intensive than I bargained for. BUT, it was done correctly and I felt good about it. I ended up leaving work at 12:30. The drive over to northern WI was relatively uneventful.
Stopping in for a quick visit with the Grandparents I got slobbered on by the basset hound, and got to hear an interesting conspiracy theory from my Grandpa. I’ve not known him to be much of a conspiracy theorist, but there’s a lot about him I don’t know, so I’m rolling with the punches here.
Mom and Stepdad were in a hurry to get to dinner because Friday Night Lights was premiering that night. They had decided to take me to Little Bohemia (famous for a J. Edgar Hoover G-men & Dillinger gang shoot-out) approximately 20 miles from their house. Due to a rather unfortunate and tragic accident involving a school bus being rear-ended by a sedan (killing the driver of the sedan) the highway of choice was closed. We ended up taking what seemed to be a cross between a snowmobile trail and a logging road (along with about two dozen other cars) to get where we were going. Needless to say, we were running rather late.
Though Stepdad complained about the time, it didn’t occur to either of them to stop off at any one of the hundreds of eating establishments we passed on the way to Little Bohemia. I wasn’t about to make the suggestion – I don’t watch Friday Night Lights anyway. We finally get to Little Bohemia to find out that it’s packed, and they are understaffed. We wait around for about an hour before getting a table. During that time I was able to tour the back room where part of the famed shoot-out took place. They’ve preserved the bullet holes in the windows and walls, and made display cases of the items the gang left behind as they fled. Pretty neat. For about 10 minutes. Dinner turned out to be sub-par, but hey, we were there and happy to be eating at all.
Saturday was Cranberry Fest. It was rainy that morning, so we figured that would scare some folks away until Sunday. Boy, were we wrong. The hordes of people milling around the Fest was enough to suck the fun right out of it. I really don’t like constantly feeling like I’m “in the way.” I also don’t particularly like people being in my way. It was a lose-lose situation. The folks who decided to bring enormous strollers, or wheelchair-bound grandmothers had an even tougher time. By the time the lunch rush was over, there was a sort of “abandonment” camp of old biddies in wheelchairs, left to watch the crowds while their more able-bodied kin nimbly moved from craft booth to craft booth. The most annoying display: a woman who decided to pack her 4 Corgies along. She had a double-decker dog stroller – one dog in the bottom, 2 in the top, and one in her arms. This woman needed to leave. She was taking up WAY too much space.
We called it quits after lunch (a cranberry brat with a cranberry crème puff for dessert, thankyouverymuch). Seeing as how it was unseasonably warm and the fall colors were *just* past their peak, Stepdad took me for a long motorcycle ride out to Lac du Flambeau and back. It was gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. I just can’t stress that enough. With our short jaunts in town, I get a little nervous on the back of the bike. I keep thinking “If we dump, I’m going to break every bone in my body.” But on the highways – where there was very little traffic – it felt great.
Sunday Mom and I left Minocqua early to get to Wausau and run some errands. Then we stopped in to see Grandma and visit with her and her neighbor. Mom was staying with Grandma that night because she had a doctor’s appointment the next day that she couldn’t drive herself home from.
Overall it was a good weekend, despite Cranberry Fest turning out to be a bit of a bust. I got to get some quality time in with the puppy (who is still growing, but not yet grown), eat good food, and appreciate fall during 80 degree weather. I even got to sleep in the real guest bedroom (as opposed to the bunk beds in the office – not so much fun when you’re an adult).
I’m curious if it’ll be snowing the next time I venture to WI.
OK, so, let’s start recounting last weekend.
I came into work Friday morning really hoping to get all of my cells harvested and put to bed quickly so that I could (ideally) get on the road before noon. That didn’t happen. Turned out to be more labor intensive than I bargained for. BUT, it was done correctly and I felt good about it. I ended up leaving work at 12:30. The drive over to northern WI was relatively uneventful.
Stopping in for a quick visit with the Grandparents I got slobbered on by the basset hound, and got to hear an interesting conspiracy theory from my Grandpa. I’ve not known him to be much of a conspiracy theorist, but there’s a lot about him I don’t know, so I’m rolling with the punches here.
Mom and Stepdad were in a hurry to get to dinner because Friday Night Lights was premiering that night. They had decided to take me to Little Bohemia (famous for a J. Edgar Hoover G-men & Dillinger gang shoot-out) approximately 20 miles from their house. Due to a rather unfortunate and tragic accident involving a school bus being rear-ended by a sedan (killing the driver of the sedan) the highway of choice was closed. We ended up taking what seemed to be a cross between a snowmobile trail and a logging road (along with about two dozen other cars) to get where we were going. Needless to say, we were running rather late.
Though Stepdad complained about the time, it didn’t occur to either of them to stop off at any one of the hundreds of eating establishments we passed on the way to Little Bohemia. I wasn’t about to make the suggestion – I don’t watch Friday Night Lights anyway. We finally get to Little Bohemia to find out that it’s packed, and they are understaffed. We wait around for about an hour before getting a table. During that time I was able to tour the back room where part of the famed shoot-out took place. They’ve preserved the bullet holes in the windows and walls, and made display cases of the items the gang left behind as they fled. Pretty neat. For about 10 minutes. Dinner turned out to be sub-par, but hey, we were there and happy to be eating at all.
Saturday was Cranberry Fest. It was rainy that morning, so we figured that would scare some folks away until Sunday. Boy, were we wrong. The hordes of people milling around the Fest was enough to suck the fun right out of it. I really don’t like constantly feeling like I’m “in the way.” I also don’t particularly like people being in my way. It was a lose-lose situation. The folks who decided to bring enormous strollers, or wheelchair-bound grandmothers had an even tougher time. By the time the lunch rush was over, there was a sort of “abandonment” camp of old biddies in wheelchairs, left to watch the crowds while their more able-bodied kin nimbly moved from craft booth to craft booth. The most annoying display: a woman who decided to pack her 4 Corgies along. She had a double-decker dog stroller – one dog in the bottom, 2 in the top, and one in her arms. This woman needed to leave. She was taking up WAY too much space.
We called it quits after lunch (a cranberry brat with a cranberry crème puff for dessert, thankyouverymuch). Seeing as how it was unseasonably warm and the fall colors were *just* past their peak, Stepdad took me for a long motorcycle ride out to Lac du Flambeau and back. It was gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. I just can’t stress that enough. With our short jaunts in town, I get a little nervous on the back of the bike. I keep thinking “If we dump, I’m going to break every bone in my body.” But on the highways – where there was very little traffic – it felt great.
Sunday Mom and I left Minocqua early to get to Wausau and run some errands. Then we stopped in to see Grandma and visit with her and her neighbor. Mom was staying with Grandma that night because she had a doctor’s appointment the next day that she couldn’t drive herself home from.
Overall it was a good weekend, despite Cranberry Fest turning out to be a bit of a bust. I got to get some quality time in with the puppy (who is still growing, but not yet grown), eat good food, and appreciate fall during 80 degree weather. I even got to sleep in the real guest bedroom (as opposed to the bunk beds in the office – not so much fun when you’re an adult).
I’m curious if it’ll be snowing the next time I venture to WI.
posted by Lil Kate at 12:05 PM
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