Bars, Bears and Bare Birkebeiners

We left Minnesota, crossed into Wisconsin. Again, a new day and a new state for Daisy. We decided that "we're goin' fishin'." Like hell we are. Ain't eatin' no fish that eats leeches. Gave up that idea and decided to tour the old town section of Hayward, Wisconsin. Main Street, in case you haven't guessed.Hayward was settled by Canadian immigrants from Victoria, British Columbia at the turn of the 14th century so you see a lot of Victorian-style structures, or something like that.They also built gazebos and brought in their own water to fill in these holes in town. They call them "ponds". Wisconsinites think way outside the box. Now the damn state is nothing but pond and lakes. Oh, and by the way, we failed to mention while we were in Minnesota, "Land of 10,000 Lakes", we stopped by a Welcome Center on I-94. The sign has been changed to "Land of 15,000 Lakes". What the hey??? We notice stuff like that.Oh, again, here's Mary, Mother of God, outside the one true church. This is back in Hayward. I'm always noticing stuff like this.Them's flowers. Duh.And did ya know Hayward is home of the American Birkebeiner, a massive nude-in that takes place every year on the first of January when there's a "nip in the air"?  Thousands of visitors strip buck naked, run through Hayward's town square and jump into that aforementioned pond. (Actually, the Birkebeiner is a 31-mile cross-country ski race from Cable, Wisconsin to Hayward.)A windmill. Yep, that's Daisy sitting on a chainsaw-carved moose chair. Just after we took this shot Daisy took a big one right outside an outdoor restaurant in downtown Hayward. She topped it off with a poop-scoot, laying down a streak on the sidewalk running the full length of the restaurant filled with diners. I don't think we'll be invited back to Hayward any time soon.A pity because Hayward has one of the finest old Carnegie Libraries in the country. I obtained a library card with my fake ID, checked out twelve rare books and guess I'll try to get rid of them at a garage sale back home.We spent a couple of nights outside of Hayward at an RV park at the site of an old farm.It's called "Camp Namekagon", a Christian kids' camp with an open bar. You know this is gonna be fun.This is part of the 200-mile St. Croix Scenic Waterway running very near our camp (with bar open). And this is a kayak on the St. Croix. I'm doing the paddling and taking a picture at the same time. Paul stayed back at camp (with bar open) and babysat Daisy. A primitive campsite along the St. Croix. And if you like mosquitoes, you'll love primitive camping here. And just to prove I was there paddling the St. Croix, them's my feet. Don't have a clue why I didn't turn the camera around to get a shot of me. I suppose I thought I'd drop the camera into the drink. Now that I've lived to tell the tale, I question the wisdom of heading out on my own. Remember, the last time I went kayaking (on Lake Powell), the kayak sank. This time I hit a bridge post, got tangled up in a snaggy tree, and almost tipped the kayak over in a small rapid. Water and I don't mix. That's why I live in the desert.But, I made it. Wrapped up the five-mile downriver paddle in about two hours, pulled into shore and miracle of miracles! Probably because I took the picture of Mary, Mother of God in Hayward outside the one true church (and where the annual nude-in is held), when I put my life jacket down, I looked on the ground and there was a twenty-dollar bill and two ones.  Thank you, Mary, Mother of God. Of course, I believe our Blessed Mother wanted me to give the money to charity but I pocketed it instead and have been fighting scabies ever since. (Not really.)Here's where the miracle occured at North Springbrook Landing. Scabies set in shortly after. So word of warning: if you come into money suddenly, consider it a miracle from Mary and give it to charity. Or pass it onto us and we'll know what to do with it. (We've been eyeing the 2011 Lance. And oooh boy, she's a honey.)Oh, when I embarked on my kayak trip, the concession owner warned me about local black bears that like to eat people on the river. In fact, several black bears were in our campground a week earlier climbing trees. We did see a mother and three cubs right outside Hayward crossing a busy highway. Of course you never have your camera at the ready when a sighting like that occurs so we found this shot. It's a bear, it's black and has cubs.

Next, we're really off to Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, where we are staying with friends who winter every year in Arizona. Gotta go. Daisy says "hey".