Wild Weather and Other Wonders of Nature & Man

Welcome back, everyone! As I mentioned in my last post, Ron and Nilla and I arrived in Wisconsin at my sister's lake cottage as planned on Tuesday, July 27. It's been a whirlwind ever since! Between getting an even smaller version of our stuff out of the trailer and into our little 5-Star Suite in the cottage, catching up and story-telling, meal planning, adventure mapping, and of course ensuring smoothly operating technology, we also dealt with extreme weather (more on that later in the post)!

We stayed up late the first night, laughing a lot, and then slept in for the first time since Ron and I departed. Ahhhh, it felt SO GOOD! Of course that meant we got a very late start on our plans. Somehow, it all worked out.

After lunch, my niece arrived from Minnesota, and we all finally put together a plan for what remained of the afternoon. My dad surprised us by arriving a little earlier than we thought. We invited him to join us but he decided to relax by the waterfront with a good book.

The rest of us got in my niece's new SUV and drove to "downtown" Holcombe to explore a cute gift shop, then zipped down the road to Jim Falls to walk on a now-impassable bridge spanning the historic Chippewa River. I took many photos.

Defunct bridge over the Chippewa River in Jim Falls, WI

I noticed many of the upper beams of the bridge appear to have been hit long ago, but in strange ways that defy logic. You can see the beam at the right bottom rung has a big dent in it.

The river itself is strewn with rocks that create pools and waterfalls. Here is one large boulder with distinct strata:

Boulder in the Chippewa River, Jim Falls WI

I love geology!

Ron had brought one of our many tripods along our mini-adventure, and we set it up on the bridge to use my slow-shutter iPhone app to capture this delightful shot:

Slow-shutter photograph of the Chippewa River, Jim Falls WI

As we were leaving the area, I went off the path into this forest road to somewhere magical:

Forest road by the Chippewa River in Jim Falls, WI

We traveled back through Cornell and stopped at a local market for food. Then we came back to the cottage and immediately began preparing dinner. After dinner and dishes, thunder boomed and lightning like I've never seen lit up the sky like constant fireworks.

We ushered Dad to his truck so he could drive to my sister's house where he is staying while in the area, ostensibly to avoid driving in the storm.

After an hour of high winds, rain, and a few power surges, the storm passed, leaving the cottage and all of us fine, although this morning, the lawn was scattered with debris from the trees and shrubs. Weather always makes life interesting and more memorable!

Well, we're up early again and preparing for a fun morning and lunch before returning to the cottage for family shenanigans! I will post again soon, lovely people. Until then, I'm sending you all much love!