Three Lakes Wisconsin

At camp I heard "Nicolet" pronounced with a hard "t". Here they pronounce it (correctly says Gary) as "nicolay" -- the French pronunciation. That makes sense for the "Nicolet Wheel-A-Way" bike ride. On Saturday Susan and I joined the 25th annual Nicolet Wheel-A-Way ride in Three Lakes. The ride took us on some roads we had ridden while on our Road Scholar Tour, but some new ones as well.

 

25th Annual ride start from Don Burnside Park in Three Lakes

A highlight (anyone who knows Susan well will now chuckle) was that our bikes got blessed!

 

 

Even Susan thought the blessing he read was quite nice.

Pastor Ken Ranos blessed our bikes, our wheels, our helmets and ourselves, so we were all covered.

 

165 riders this year. This is our first rest stop.

 

We had a full barbecue lunch at the halfway point -- lots of choices and plenty of food.

After our ride ended we found Lu and Gary's house where we would spend two nights. Lu is one of Susan's Mom's cousins and all of that family continue to stay in touch in some way. One of the draws for us to come to the Northwoods, besides the Road Scholar Bike tour, was to visit some of Susan's extended family. There are a few more that we will visit while here as we leave tomorrow to visit Susan's cousin on her Dad's side.

Lu and Gary have a gorgeous home on one of the Three Lakes (I have yet to know the names of any of these lakes including the one the they live on).

 

Stepping out the waterfront side of the house the long steps take you down to the lake.

 

Beautiful stone work.

 

Their dock once you get to the lake. A choice of boats to use though we don't have time to use any ;'-(

 

Walking back up to the house.

I got to do another ride today and Susan got to enjoy time with Lu. They looked at photos, shared family stories and had time to reminisce about similar family history.

I took the trail that leads from Three Lakes back to Eagle River.

 

Three Eagle Trail

The trail is unpaved (normally not my choice) but a very hard packed good, riding surface. The very first part of the trail is near the highway that is buffered by some trees. Then it winds through dark forests, opens up to cross marshlands, and rolls along low growth areas before entering Eagle River. I had a touch of reminiscence when I entered town that led me right to Trees for Tomorrow! Vern was there to say hello to and give me a few brochures to bring back for Lu and Gary, and while I sat to eat my banana and cookie, Colleen strolled by for a little chat as well. I felt like a local!

 

Good riding surface

 

Trail is sometimes lined by Birch Trees.

 

There are boardwalks and bridges -- this is a boardwalk

 

 

Winding through the forest.

 

This is a bridge.

 

Marshland

 

A "beautiful" out house!

 

The museum was not open for a visit.

 

A display on the museum grounds.

Diane Mc, if you are reading this, I thought Billy might like this museum and the signs ;'-)

On the return ride I felt so slow and was wondering what the heck was going on with me. Then I realized I had quite a good headwind that I was battling. I arrived back in town and rode some of the side streets, exploring the area while waiting for Susan to pick me up. One of my favorite things to do is to wander around a new town to discover what it is all about, so I enjoyed this part of my day as well.

 

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