More Practice

 It's time for the home coming parade and pep rally with the football team and the dance team.

 With hippies

 And the King Kyle and Queen Kaily

 Then it was off the stream for a little practice with the fly rod.  Not a stocked stretch but there was still the possibility of a trout getting washed down stream from the stocked stream.

 Just knowing no one else would be on the stream and the opportunity to wade in the cool water on a beautiful fall day was a plus.

 The beaver have been active .

 Still, when it comes to fishing you have to be able to lay the fly where you want to and set the hook when the fish strikes... No mater how small

 We got in about a 15 mile bike ride out to the cabin and back with a great stop down a the music store and made our reservations for dinner down at the mill this evening.

Napping on the Capital Lawn

 We tried to pack in as much fun as we possibly  could in our 24 hour trip to Madison.  Friday night we rolled into town in a heavy storm.  We found our room about 7 miles out from the capital and cleaned up to go down town to one of our favorite spots on the capital square, the Old Fashion for a bite to eat.

Susie's drink of choice, what else an Old Fashion.  I went with a pint of  Hopalicious out of Madison.  We ended up with the best seat in the house in the front window.  We enjoyed  a batch of fried cheese curds and a great burger and summer sausage sandwich.

Up early for the farmers market. The Dane County Farmers Market has been around for nearly 40 years and today boasts over 150 vendors on site nearly every Saturday,  However, there is a seasonal rotation of nearly 300 vendors who have signed up for space along the square.  There is a smaller farmer's market on Wednesday's, but the one on Saturday also features street musicians, a craft and arts area down State Street, and the grounds of the State Capitol are reserved for non-profit, political or public information booths. 

The great thing about getting to market early is the crowd is small and you can maneuver your way from booth to booth, see everything and actually talk to the vendors.

Susie at the flower factory booth. 

 We learned years ago not to purchase things like pumpkins and squash until the very end of your trip to the market.  

 Graze for coffee and pastries and then an urban hike and shopping on state street before returning back to Graze for lunch.

 If you’re a frequent visitor of Madison, WI — or just a serious eater who happens to breeze through town every few years — you already know about Graze and  L’Etoile. For decades, it has been the biggest culinary game in town, the restaurant to which Beard wins accrue, the premier place to drop $200 to celebrate your anniversary or new degree. The Old Fashioned. As a tavern, it competes for a different demographic, but like L’Etoile, it draws big downtown crowds by making local ingredients irresistible.

 We didn't drop $200 but we did have a great lunch and a couple of beers before heading over to the capital lawn for a post lunch snooze in the shade of the maple trees.


Then back to Graze for the third time for Magic Coffee and then on the road again to New Glarus to the spotted cow brewery.  

Birthday Weekend.

 Celebrating Susie's birthday month.

She made a great cake to celebrate all of the September birthdays out at Roly Saturday afternoon.

 Saturday night it was up to DBQ for the Voices show.
The focus for Voices 11 is to bridge the gallery with the streets, highlighting a once subversive art movement, and a unique set of artists—artists that want to speak to and engage with others; artists that want to make a statement and have the viewer bring their own experiences to the interpretation and understanding of their work.

 Could be the streets of NYC but no, just up river in DBQ

 Large scale pices

 I've got the bus up at the show for the Burning Man inspired evening of magic and mischief! Burners from around the Midwest will converge on the Voices Warehouse to mingle, dance, share Playa stories, and bring you into the crazy, dusty world of Burning Man.

 Tagger

 A Happy Birthday Girl.

 Clara shows no fear at the burning man instillation

 Stopped down to Ohlert's to check the progress on the yurt.  Insulated and decking going down.

 Pulled honey the other day and dropped off honey in the blacksmith shop.

Two Words.

 Friday evening I rolled into Indee for the first time sense we sold the family home a few years back.

I pulled into the parking lot behind main street along the Wapsiepinicon River followed closely by one of the cities finest.  I knew I had a tail light that was a little sketchy, on again and off again.

"Did you know that you've got No tail lights?"  and then he asked the two words that I knew I would hear this labor day weekend: " License & Registration".  Thankfully I had all my papers just not at hand.  As he ran my plates I did manage to find my DL stashed in my wallet.  I told him I'd be happy to park it for the night and he said he would let the next shift know.  I thanked him and proceeded to take my bike of the rack to find the fellas, when I heard a yell from the local beer deck,  "Hey Bob"!

It wasn't long before I hooked up with my buddy Matti who was back in Iowa from northern Cali for a family reunion.  Along with his brother and our good friend MRX.  It was awesome to hang with those two again and renew our friendships. 

 Woke up the next morning in the parking lot and took off for the Backbone to kayak with brother Steve.


It was a beautiful morning with leaves falling and cool, clear water.

 Steve is 20 years older and shows no signs of slowing down.  We're both trying to get the swing of fishing out of a kayak.

Well, Steve caught on sooner than I did.  With a variety pack of pan fish, small bass and trout.





Looking forward to more time on the water this fall.