2011-08-26 Little Crow Water Ski Show

We headed out to Green Lake in Spicer, MN for an afternoon at the lake and then went to watch the Little Crow ski team show at Neer Park in New London.  We spent the afternoon on the beach at Green Lake and then went to dinner Melvin's, which is right next to the beach.  We sat outside and enjoyed the great weather and great view.  This is the last summer for Melvin's as it has been sold.  It is going to reopen as a new restaurant next year.

After dinner, we headed north to Neer Park in New London to watch the ski show.  A full set of bleachers, a stage and concessions have been built for watching the ski show.  All the members (upwards of 70) are volunteers and range in age from 4 and up.  Many members of a single family are part of the show, and include the skiers, boat drivers, safety crews, and behind the scenes support.

The show included acrobatics, pyramids, jumps and barefoot demonstrations.

The boats have between 330 and 410hp and can be pulling up to 2 dozen people at a time when a large pyramid is built.  The bay is relatively small, so there have to be some tight turns with the skiers to make a return pass

 

After the show finished, the boats did a little showing off by popping some "wheelies".  

2011-08 Whitewater Rafting

We took a trip up north to Cloquet, MN to take a whitewater rafting trip down the St. Louis River from Cloquet to Carlton.  Ray had done this same trip many years ago with people he worked with, but the rest of the family had not done any whitewater rafting.  We thought this would be a good trip to give everyone a taste of it since it was a relatively short and tame trip (Class I to III rapids).   The kids each had a friend along, so we filled up the 6 person raft.  Superior Whitewater Rafting provides all the necessary equipment and even has a wall of shoes that you can pick a pair from in case you don't want your own shoes to get wet.  When we arrived at the starting point, it was raining, but the rain pushed through and finished before we started our trip.  We were surprised that the river water was not as cold as we expected and it ended up being a beautiful day on the river. 

After arriving and signing our life away, we got our paddles and life jackets and got in our rafts for some dry land training.  The rafts have enough room for 6, but the two people in the back share a very narrow seat.  I think 5 would be the ideal number for this journey with 2 people in the front and middle and one on the back who can focus on steering the raft.  Our guides were in kayaks and were leading and guiding us down the river.  After we put in, we did some drills to learn how to control the raft.  We were doing spins and then wove our way through the bridge piers that were downstream before our first set of rapids.

Before each set of rapids, they would pull the group aside and give us instructions on how to go down the stretch of rapids and what to look out for.  It was our job to interpret what they were telling us and implement their instructions.  We didn't always follow the suggested path as close as they would have liked as our ability to fully guide the raft and react quick enough to the river were a little less than ideal.  For this reason we went over a few rocks and boulders rather than around them.

There were a total of 6 sets of rapids, which got progressively more difficult.  After the second set, we all got a chance to paddle back into the rapids and surf on top of them.  We were on top for a few seconds, before being swept off and having our raft filled with water.  After the 3rd set, we all pulled off to the side and took a break in a small cove, and psyched ourselves up for the biggest sets of rapids.

The 5th set of rapids was definitely the most challenging with the largest drop.  As the guides were explaining the route, they emphasized how critical it was to go down in the right spot and control the raft through the 5 ft drop.  This buildup added some fear to the trip, and then when you watched the rafts ahead of you bounce and disappear over the "Electric Ledge", some people were looking for a way out, but there was not one.  We took our turn, hit the mark to go down the tongue and bounced our way through the rapids successfully

 

After completing the 6th set of rapids we paddled across Carlton Lake to our pick up point and rode the bus back to the car.  A few sore muscles and blisters were all that we had to worry about.  One of the guides had a camera to take all the action shot photos of us as we went through the rapids and so we were able get the action shots you are looking at.

2011-07 Waalwijk and Heusden, Netherlands

  

Ray made a trip to Waalwijk (sounds like vall-vick), which is a town about 60 miles southeast of Amsterdam.  It was originally known for the manufacture of shoes, not the Dutch wooden clogs everyone associates with Holland, but rather leather shoes.  There is shoe museum in town, but it was not open when I passed by.  I did see my share of windmills along the way, but only one was actually operating.

Being summer and located so far north and west in a time zone, the sun did not set until 10:00PM, giving me plenty of time to explore after work.  I went to visit the old town of Heusden, which was a major strategic town for many years due to its location at a bend in the river.  A moat was built around the island and 20-30' tall walls built along the walls to aid in the protection of the city and protect the castles.  I took a walking tour of the area to learn a little of the history of the town.  It was expanded from its original size and the old moat still runs through town. A full scale model of the town and surrounding area is housed in the city government building.

I stopped for dinner in the Vismarkt (fishmarket), which has a number of restaurants along the open plaza.  It is located near a small inner harbor.  I had a huge plate full of spare ribs, and they were delicious.  It was quite an effort to get them all down, but I managed.

The next morning before my flight home I rented a bike to do some more exploring.  I rode south towards the sand dunes national park area, but couldn't find a good path to take to the dunes themselves.  Most were sandy and were better for walking than riding. 

I did see a park working trimming bushes and trees with a lawn mower.  He was able to trim them up very evenly, and I was impressed.  One of the driveways I passed was lined with many beautiful and large hydrangeas.  Another nursery was growing some interesting curly trees.  The Netherlands is known for it horticultural industries, especially tulips.  The facility that I was visiting actually makes the plastic flower pots used for growing small ornamental flowers.  They are also known for Tulips, and I was bringing some home as a souvenir.  When I got home I read the inspection sticker and they were actually from France, but were being sold as Holland bulbs in the airport.

It was a quick trip in and out, but it was fun to see a new part of the world and take in a few of the sites.

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.