Posts filed under Wisconsin

Great River Trail along the Mississippi River

Adventure Tuesday

Great River Bike Trail

W went off biking with his brother starting in La Crosse, WI, and then entered into Minnesota land. I decided to start biking from a small town called Onalaska, along the Mississippi river. This trail takes you through wetlands and beautiful forest, over boardwalk and across small tributary streams flowing into the Mississippi river.

These bridges are so beautiful. And the whole landscape too.

You could definitely start seeing some signs of fall while biking through this landscape. Even though the peak colors don't start until almost 2nd week of October.

I am really happy I got to bike this stretch of the trail, and that I didn't venture off into Minnesota land. Maybe next time.

Do you have a favorite fall bike trail?

Follow Ann Olsson at Bloglovin'

Other posts in the adventure tuesday category:

Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open

A hike on the East Coast - Franconia Ridge

Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open

Adventure Tuesday, Yellowstone, Montana, Nature, The great wide open

When we Hiked through Lamar Valley - Summertime in Yellowstone National Park

Adventure Tuesday, Yellowstone, Montana, Nature, The great wide open

Adventure Tuesday, Life in New York

Dispersed Camping in the Catskills - New York

Adventure Tuesday, Life in New York

Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open, Yellowstone, Science

A Tale of Fires and Ghost Logs - Fieldwork in Yellowstone Pt. 3

Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open, Yellowstone, Science

Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open

Through Active Ancient Land

Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open

Christmas Skiing on Open Plains and through Herds of Bison

Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open

Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday

Take a Swim in the Boiling River

Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday

Where the Wildlife Is

Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday

Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open

All the Roads Lead to Yellowstone?

Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday, The great wide open

Adventure Tuesday, Life in New York

Walking the Line - The High Line

Adventure Tuesday, Life in New York

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Adventure Tuesday, Wisconsin and tagged Great River Trail biking biketrail mississippi river Wisconsin Minnesota border state states Summer Adventures Summer Flod spår 2016 Adventure Trail Macro Rail Trail Bike Adventure Biking.

Why U.S Beer and Coffee taste so bad - Or does it?

På Svenska

Wednesday thoughts

Swedes are generalizers

This year has brought new challenges and new opportunities to me and my life. I experienced my first summer in a city that is farther down south than what I ever have lived. It's interesting how large the US is, there are so many states. A lot of time people are generalizing their thought about the US based on a small experience in one town in one state, but with 50 states that doesn't really makes sense. It's like saying that just because french people like bread and cheese that is the norm for someone up north in Sweden, or that the coffee in Europe is really bad, because you accidentally got served bad coffee when you went to that tiny little cafe in Portugal.

Breweries in the US

I love beer, and before I moved to the US all I knew about American beer was Bud Light, which I had never tried before because it's seen as a watery and bad beer in Sweden. Who would buy that? Every now and then I see comments about US beer from European people, that the beer is really bad, watery and bland. I wonder where they have been? There are 20 or so breweries in Alaska and I have been to many of them. I must say, most of them are great, actually awesome. Nowadays I love going to breweries and try to find at least one to visit once I go to a new place.

Micro and Nano Breweries

Obviously there are small breweries that aren't as good as others, as there are large corporation breweries that are worse than the small ones. The last few years there has been such an increase in small breweries, and nano breweries, popping up all over the country. Everyone wants to brew beer professionally, and many people succeed, but not all. Now, how many small breweries does Sweden have? Right. They are popping up there too of course.

IPA

When my mom and dad came here for the first time W introduced my dad to IPA. He hated it. Man, I hated it the first time I had it. This hoppy beer filled with joy. At the end of my parents visit my dad was drinking IPA. He figured he needed to try it again, and again, and then he actually did like it. At that time when the parents were here, the IPA was almost unheard of in Sweden, but a few months later it made it's big entrance to Sweden too. The fridge was stocked with IPAs when W and I came to visit, my dad had prepared it for W of course, and me. I have a hard time drinking anything else than an IPA nowadays.

Coffee

Same goes with coffee. There are a lot of good places in the US to get coffee from, and if you keep going to the store and buy the cheap brands of instant coffee, or ground coffee, well you get what you pay for! I have seen Swedes living in the US complain about the bad coffee this country has to offer, while scoping coffee from a Folgers ground coffee container, or instant coffee. Similarly, you will not ever get any good coffee from a gas station, or most cheap motels. I know my parents always talked about how bad the coffee was in th eUS when we went here back in the day. How watery it was. W’s lab drank coffee that even I had problem drinking, it was so strong. Likewise W’s family like strong coffee. There is nothing wrong with the coffee, it’s how you make it. And there are coffee snobs in the US too.

Did you know that Alaskans are actually considered coffee snobs?

Here are some of my Alaskan beer favorites, I probably forgot a few...

Mother Ale, Denali brewing company
Twister Creek, Denali brewing company
Peninsula brewer's preserve, Kenai river brewing company
German Kölsch, Hoodoo brewing company
American IPA, Hoodoo brewing company
Belgian Saison, Hoodoo brewing company
Beaver tail blonde ale, Kassiks brewing company
Sockeye red IPA, Midnight sun brewing company
Pleasure town IPA, Midnight sun brewing company
Snowshoe white, Midnight sun brewing company
Copper creek amber ale, Silver Gulch
Pick Ax porter, Silver Gulch

Some of the more mainstream ones I enjoy:

Alaskan Amber, Alaskan brewing company
Freeride APA, Alaskan brewing company
White, Alaskan brewing company
Summer, Alaskan brewing company

Some of my non-Alaskan beers I enjoy

Bozone Amber Ale, Bozeman brewing company
Double haul IPA, Kettlehouse brewing company
Coldsmoke Scotch Ale, Kettlehouse brewing company
Moose Drool Brown Ale, Big Sky brewing company
Melvin IPA, Melvin brewing company
Pako’s IPA, Snake River brewing company
Myrcenary Double IPA, Odell’s brewing company
Rupture Fresh Grind IPA, Odell’s brewing company
Drumroll Hazy Pale Ale, Odell’s brewing company

Do you have a favorite beer, in Europe or in the US?

Follow ann olsson at bloglovin'

Elroy Sparta trails and tunnels in Wisconsin

På Svenska

Adventure Tuesday

Elroy Sparta Bike Trail

W and I went biking the Elroy Sparta trail that goes between Elroy and Sparta, hence the name. We ended up starting in a small town called Norwalk, and the plan was to bike all three tunnels. However, my knee decided to not corporate with me and we only did one tunnel. The old conservation department started to convert the old railroad to a trail in 1965.

I think it's pretty cool to bike through a landscape like this, and that it's made so accessible. The trails are in perfect shape. They go through agricultural lands and deep forests.

The Tunnel/s

It's pretty cool to see all the design features of the tunnel. These tunnels were built at the end of 1800, in an effort to keep the gradient down for the trains. Apparently they had to install these large doors because of the temperature differences inside and outside the tunnels (warmer inside and colder outside in the wintertime). Which led to the fact that someone had to be stationed there to open and close the tunnel doors as soon as a train came.

I guess I never quite thought about the fact that the tunnels would be dark. Next time i will for sure remember to bring my headlamp. The light on my phone did help a little bit to make sure you didn't trip on anything. These tunnels supposedly has some bats in them, but we never saw any. I was thinking that the tunnels would be prime habitat for rats, but no rats. The only animal we saw was unfortunately a dead raccoon :(

The Creamery

In Norwalk, at the start of the trail, there is this beautiful old creamery. It looks like it's abandon now but I hope that they wont let it go to waste, because it is really pretty!