I Went for a Ride Today!

It sure brought back a lot of memories. I took a ride up to Ashland, WI, childhood home of my mother. My maternal Grandmother used to live in Ashland until her death in 1974. I can remember spending time up there in the summer of 1972. I know I was there with my mother, but I don't remember if my sister was along then or not. I remember riding my bicycle down to the Suzuki dealer by Lake Superior. I know it was 1972, because all of the motorcycles parked out front were orange and white. I remember wanting a TS-90 or a TS-125. I would have been 11 years old that summer. It would be another year or two before I'd get my first motorcycle.

This is the building that used to be a Suzuki dealer. That's Lake Superior behind it.

That summer, all of the Enduros looked like this.

And...

There is still room in the garage for a nice looking '72 TS-250. I saw one last year that was in very nice shape. I'll just be patient and watch craigslist.....

I drove around Ashland and tried to spot my Grandmothers house. I remember that it was a few blocks up from Beaser School on 12th. Ave W., between 9th St and 10th St. I know it was the second house up, because my Grandmother's sister lived next door, on the corner. The house looked a lot different than it did 40 years ago. I don't remember how many times I've been to Ashland since my Grandmother passed away in '74, but it's probably fewer than 5.

I also got pictures of one of the old Soo Line ore docks. They're being torn down. That's too bad because they were such a distinctive Ashland landmark. The locks were built in 1916 and used until 1965. Loaded railroad iron ore cars were brought out onto the dock and the ore was dumped through chutes, into great lakes freighters below. The docks are 80' high, 75' wide, and 1800' long.

There is a Soo Line steam locomotive on display in the middle of town. It's a 190,000 lb Baldwin Decapod (10 drive wheels).

It was a great day for a memory filled ride!!

Messing with the Cats...

Because I live in an area with abundant predatory wild life, the cats are now no longer free to roam outside. To keep them entertained, I've started to feed squirrels right outside the patio door. This drives the cats crazy and gives them something to do all day. I took a ceder 1x6 and drove 3 nails through it. I put ear corn on the nails and let the squirrels come to feed. If there's a squirrel out on the feeder and the cats are watching, all I have to do is whisper s-q-u-i-r-r-e-l-l-l-l... and the cats will fold their ears back like a Scottish Fold, flatten themselves out on the floor, and they'll start twitching and making AAAAAAAAkkkk noises. The poor cats are just waiting for me to flip the door latch and slide the patio door open so they can chase them.

At my last house, one of the cats, Vinnie, caught a squirrel on our deck. He had it by the neck for a few seconds, but it managed to twist its way out of Vinnie's mouth. Vinnie has been waiting for round two....Two of the other cats are very skilled hunters. Sticky, once brought home a mouse, a chipmunk, and a robin all in one short afternoon outside, and he has no teeth!!!

4 of the 6 boys..... waiting....

Waiting for this....

Screamer(L), and Vinnie(R) ready for the chase....

I'm Not Getting Much Riding in Lately.

The weather has been kind of crappy lately, so I've been busy doing repairs around the house and have had to put riding on hold for a bit.

I did make some time to swap out the black grills on the Ninja for the OEM, Candy Lime green, Kawasaki ones I bought a while back. Maybe the black lower fairings need to be swapped out too.

Before.....

After.....

I've been seeing a lot of Bald Eagles around the area. I was lucky and had my camera with me and managed to snap a couple of pictures of this huge guy sitting in a pine tree. Click the pic for a better view!

Now that the snow is gone and the lakes and rivers are free of ice, I've been checking out the canoe landings along the Namekagon River. I want to get the kayaks in the river soon.

I also discovered the Cable Rod and Gun Club. It's set up for skeet, trap, 25 yd. pistol, 100 yd. rifle, 300 meter rifle, and 25-50 yd. small bore. I've been doing a little shooting. I'm so out of practice. I haven't picked up a firearm since I retired 18 months ago.

Club house.....

25-50 yd. small bore range.

300 meter range.....

Pistol range.....

The Delta Diner.

A fellow Wisconsin motorcycle blogger, Doug, e-mailed me about my latest posts. He mentioned the Delta Diner. I had not been there yet and it was on my list of things to see. Much has been written about the diner by riders of the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail, AKA the T.W.A.T.
I went for a ride today with the intention of finding the diner. I found a great local road, Forrest Service Road 35. It runs north from Drummond, WI up to Delta, WI. Just a few hundred feet from FS-35 and County H is the Delta Diner. I stopped in the lot for a few pictures. There were a lot of bikes parked in front, and lots of people standing around. I didn't go inside, I'll wait until I can bring Nancy there.

I also checked out the National Forrest Service campground at Perch Lake, north of Drummond. It's a very nice place with a boat ramp and some camp sites on the water.

I also rode down towards Hayward to check on my sister's cabin. The snow has vanished in just a few days. The temps here have been in the mid to upper 70's lately. The Smith Lake Association has made fish cribs and placed them on the ice. When the ice melts, the cribs will sink and provide an environment for small fish to use as protection.

The ice is gone from the Namekagon River. It will soon be time to get out the kayaks.

Visitors in the Backyard.

When Nancy and I were living in Prescott, WI we lived in small neighborhood of about 95 homes. Now we're 5 miles east of Cable, WI in a small development. I can see 2 other homes, but they aren't occupied full time, they're summer homes. When the trees leaf out, I might not be able to see any homes.
Nancy enjoys nature and likes watching birds at the feeders and the antics of the squirrels. We mounted a corn holder to a tree in the back yard and the squirrels go crazy for it. We had seen deer tracks in the driveway and in the snow in the back yard, but they never made an appearance until today.

The night before, I was sitting in the kitchen and I heard one of the cats growl. He growled just like a dog would if you tried to take his bone from him. I looked out the patio door to see this about 10 feet from the house...

The cats are really enjoying their new home. There's so much to see outside. The cats will sit motionless for hours watching this....

Waiting For Spring Challenge

On Trobairitz' Tablet, she issued a challenge. Post a web cam picture. Seems easy enough, but it took me a while to figure out how to activate my computer's built in camera. Here I am.

Trobairitz' Tablet, spring challenge


OK, so the first pic was too serious??? Well how about these two...