Posts tagged #summer

Camping at Perrot State Park

 

Adventure Tuesday

Camping

    We decided to go camping and to do some exploration in an area close to the Minnesota state line. We ended up going to Perrot State Park because the camping at the other state park in Minnesota (which we originally wanted to go to) was already completely full (Great River Bluffs State Park). We really wanted to get a campsite next to the water, but those were first come first serve so we decided to reserve a different one instead. Here in Wisconsin, and probably other states you have to reserve your campsite through Reserve America, which add on an extra cost of a delightful 9.65$ on top of the already ridiculous cost of 18$. Either way, we did have a nice time, but I do wish these places were more accessible and cheaper..

 
 

    And I think we were pretty lucky, because the mosquitos were kind of bad and probably would have been worse if we stayed closer to the standing water. 

 
 

    We hadn't been camping since the big roadtrip and had to figure out where we had put everything. The more you car camp the more things you figure out how to organize, and we have even more ideas now on how to further organize our stuff before next camping trip.

 
 

    I really like camping, in any way. It's a nice way of getting out from the city and just relax. In the US it's really common to go camping during the weekends. A lot of people have RV's of course, but a large amount still uses tents. In the evenings people start fires at their respectively campsite, a bundle of firewood is between 4-5 dollars. After dinner we were relaxing in front of the fire and ate smore's. I came up with the amazing idea of adding banana slices to the mix. If you haven't already you have to try it! it's AMAZING!

 
 

    What do you like best, car camping or backpacking and camping?

 
Posted on September 27, 2016 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Adventure Tuesday, Madison Life, Wisconsin and tagged 2016 Wisconsin car camping Summer Adventures summer summer days smores State Park camping campa Camping.

It's the Little Things that Make you Happy in Life

 

The Tour of the Midwest?

Minneapolis

    A couple of weeks ago part of W's family did a midwest tour and visited both W's brother in Minneapolis and us here in Madison. W and I drove to Minneapolis to see them all there before we would all travel back to Madison together. 

    För ett par veckor sedan kom W's familj och hälsade på här i Minneapolis och Madison området. Vi åkte till Minneapolis och mötte upp W's familj där. 

 
 

Turnblad Mansion

    W's mom had already talked about a few things she thought would be nice to visit. One of them being IKEA, of course, but also this mansion called Turnblad Mansion. It was pretty fascinating to walk around in the mansion and see all the Swedish inspired and Swedish things he purchased and built for the mansion. 

    W's mamma hade kollat upp lite olika svenskheter i Minneapolis som hon tyckte vi kunde besöka. IKEA förstås, men även ett gammalt hus som var byggt av en svensk. 

 
 

    They have a store at the Swedish Institute (where the mansion is) where they sell Swedish and Scandinavian/Nordic items, OVERPRICED of course. We bought some Daim at IKEA, and a smaller bag at the Swedish institute was twice as expensive. WHY does it have to be this way? I mean, you can get American candy over in Sweden for pretty cheap, but yeah, I think we are increasingly seeing more and more Scandinavian, and European for that matter, sweets and food over on this side of the ocean. The other day for instance, I went to Woodmans, and found Ballerina cookies. 

    Vid svenska institutet, där museet ligger, har de även en affär där man kan hitta lite svenska godsaker. Tyvärr så är allt väldigt dyrt där, som det ju ofta är på museer. Men det finns andra helt otippade ställen man kan hitta lite svenskheter på, som till exempel den vanliga mataffären här i Madison.

 
 

IKEA

    At IKEA we didn't only buy Daim, we actually bought some furniture!! YAY! And textiles, as in sheets and nice duvet cover!! It's amazing how nice I think the IKEA sheets and duvet covers are compared to the American ones, well they don't really have duvet covers per see, some of them do, but yeah anyway. 

    Vi köpte inte bara Daim på IKEA, utan även lite möbler förstås. Och lakan och påslakan. Helt otroligt vilken skillnad det är på texturen av IKEAS lakan och de man hittar på affären här i USA, iallafall har jag inte lyckats hitta några riktigt bra lakan jag gillar här. Är så himla nöjd med mitt IKEA påslakanset. 

 
 

    Our apartment is really small, so we needed some smart solutions for the bathroom for instance, but also our closet. We also bought an awesome bookshelf (a sturdy one) that we put in the living room. We have so many books!! I don't have any pictures of our new furniture in the apartment, so I'll have to show you that part some other time!

    Vår lägenhet är riktigt liten så vi behövde hitta lite smarta lösningar till både badrummet och vår garderob. Har inte riktigt någon bild på de lösningarna vi hittade i slutändan men får kanske visa det vid ett senare tillfälle.

 
 

    Hope your Thursday is Awesome!

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Madison Life and tagged Turnblad Mansion Minneapolis Madison travel roadtrip IKEA Furniture Minnesota sommar summer Summer days 2016 Family.

Pine Cliff and Lakeview Trails

 

Adventure Tuesday

I know the weeks seem to go awfully fast and September is already upon us. Although, no fall weather here yet since the temperatures were in the upper 80's this past weekend. 

 
 

Pine Cliff and Lakeview Trails

    We went to Governor Dodge state park again, and as I mentioned before these parks are fairly big with lots of different trails. This time around we decided to do a hike around the lake called the pine cliff trail, and also a smaller hike called the lakeview trail. Again these parks never seem to cease to amaze me. They are always a mix of deep forest, fields of wildflowers and if you are lucky even some cliffs. We started of in the forest before we climbed up the ridge line.

 
 

    You start by walking through a dense stand of deciduous trees, and work yourself towards a more pine dominated vegetation. 

 
 

    There are of course a ton of small details to look at as you move through the forest, much to W's despair.

 
 

    The main attraction is just like the name gives away, a pine cliff, that is a cliff with lots of pine growing upon it. 

 
 

    I am always so amazed that trees and plants for that matter can grow in places with practically no soil.

 
 

    Eventually we worked our way down the ridge and came back down towards the lake.

 
 

    With a thin layer of topsoil I was not surprised to encounter this area, where apparently a tornado went through a long time ago.

 
 

    These trails can also be used during the wintertime for crosscountry skiing. I just wish we will get enough snow to be able to get out this winter. 

 
Posted on September 6, 2016 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Adventure Tuesday, Photography, Nature, Wisconsin and tagged Governor Dodge Governor Dodge State Park Pine Cliff Trail Lakeview trail Wisconsin Hiking summer Summer Adventures Summer days green lush Forest Deep Forest cliffs Cliff Adventure Pine Nature State Park vandra hiking Hikes Macro Summertime 2016.