2011-06 Madeline Island

The extended Bloom family (including Ray's mom Karren and sister Beth along with her husband Doug and son Jack--OK, I guess that makes it the entire Bloom family) headed to Madeline Island in northern Wisconsin for a long weekend in mid June.  We had decided at Christmas this year to do something all together rather than exchanging individual gifts with each other, and this is where we ended up deciding to go.  School ended no Thursday and we headed up on Friday.  Ray and his mom made a side trip to see Karren’s uncle Roald in Barron, WI since we would be going through the area.

To get to Madeline Island, you must take a ferry from Bayfield.  These run back and forth about every 45 minutes and can carry around 20 vehicles, plus walkers and bike riders.  We got lined up for loading and waited for the ferry to arrive, then drove on for the 20 minute trip.  During the winter, an ice road is used to go back and forth.  Before the ice is ready to drive on, and during the spring break-up period, a large, enclosed windsled is used for getting people back and forth.

We stayed in a rental unit called Mariner’s Rest which was inland about a ¼ of a mile.  It is a house that is rented out during times when the owners are not using it. 

As Beth, Doug and Jack were arriving, a small fox was wondering around the house.  He was as curious about us as we were about him, so we all watched him for a while.

Saturday morning the kids got on the bikes and rode into town to check it out and explore the area.  The adults later walked to town and we all met up for lunch.  The town had a few restaurants, antique and knick-knacks stores, and of course an ice cream shop.

Despite the cool and rainy spring we had been having, we had beautiful weather for the weekend.  It was a little rainy on Friday evening, but then it cleared off and we had clear, clam weather with temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s for the rest of the time.  The lake was very calm.  We saw some interesting sand patterns along the shoreline.  They must have been caused by some wave actions, but the calm water allowed them to remain and be easily seen.

After lunch, we headed back to the cabin.  Ray, Doug and Jack went out on a bike ride to the southern tip of the island.  Jack was skateboarding while Ray and Doug were bike riding.  We stopped near an old Indian cemetery near the marina.  Some of the grave sites were covered with small wooden structures resembling a barn called spirit houses.  These were built to protect the deceased in the afterlife and to protect offerings that were given to them.

Jack was able to ride the skateboard most of the way, except the last ¼ mile which was a dirt rode. He set his board in the grass and hitched a ride on Doug’s bike the last segment.  The beach was very long with soft white sand.  Only a few people were in this area.  We headed back and Jack picked up his skate board and had nice long ride down the hill to the marina.

On Sunday, we went up to Big Bay State Park.  The parents rode bikes up there and grandma and the kids drove up.  We first hiked in to the Point picnic area.  There we large rock outcropping and the kids enjoyed climbing and jumping on the rocks.  As we left the area on the bikes, Doug saw an owl up in one of the trees along the road.  It sat there for a long time allowing everyone to see it, and we got some good pictures.

We next headed down to the beach area.  This is a beautiful ½ mile long curved beach.  The sand is fine and soft, however the water is always very cold, generally around 40F even in the summer.  Doing much more than wading in for a short period time would be very difficult.  If this beach were a 1000 miles south of here, it would be packed all the time.

On the trip back to the cabin, Ray had a flat tire.  He was near a cemetery and so made that his place to wait to be picked up since it had some nice shade and nice grass to relax in.  About 5 minutes after settling in, a long processional of cars started to head to the cemetery and parking along the roadway.  This would make it hard to be seen and picked up, so he had to start heading down the road to get to a clear area to be “rescued".

We packed up on Monday morning and took the ferry back to Bayfield, where we picked out a coffee shop to have an early lunch before heading back to the Twin Cities.