Fri., 6/29/12 - Rock Harbor and Raspberry Island
At 9:30 we boated across to Raspberry Island for a nature hike. John went ahead and stuck flag markers at various bog plants and bushes. We followed later at our own speed to get good looks and photos of these unique plants like the pitcher plant and sundew that are carnivorous. On the Lake side of the island we had time to sit on the rocks and enjoy the view and the coast.
Wood lily
Spider laying eggs
Insects busy in a flower
Another insect in a flower
Emerging cow parsnip leaf
Loon
Raspberry Island hike
Butterfly
Sign describing varieties of meat-eating plants on the island
Pitcher plant, a meat eating plant
Sundew, a meat-eating plant
Butterfly on a wood lily
Us on Raspberry Island
Raspberry Island shore
Luna moth
At lunch we learned that the wind had picked up sufficiently to prevent us from using our free afternoon to canoe. Instead Ann, Rachelle, and the two of us walked/hiked back out to Scoville Point for the exercise. We got attacked by flies and didn't stay longer than the time to put on more bug spray. It was a very hot day, which brought out the flies.
Dinner was an outdoor grilled affair. Bret, the chef (who may be coming to Estes Park for the winter), cooked me a large strip steak because the group ate whitefish, again. They loved the fish and I loved my steak. We also had coleslaw, grilled summer squash, and fresh asparagus. Dessert was a chocolate anniversary cake for two of our group who were celebrating their 49th.
After dinner we went to hear the presentation by botanist Joan Edwards who talked about disjoint plants – ones that are here and reoccur thousands of miles away - and endemic plants. The best was her presentation about plants that shoot off pollen which she has investigated using high-speed (10,000 fps) photography. Bunchberry (Canadian dogwood) is the fastest plant and sphagnum moss is also very fast. The lecture and slides were spectacular.
Sat., 6/30/12 - Isle Royale to Houghton to Rhinelander, WI
We went to breakfast at 7, got in line for the boat at 7:45 (nothing else to do), and departed Isle Royale at 9 AM. It was another smooth crossing and we arrived in Houghton at 2:45 PM. We collected our bags, said our farewells, and drove south to Rhinelander, WI. We ate dinner at the Rhinelander Cafe and Bar. Marge's prime rib was wonderful and my chicken dinner was good as well.
Sun., 7/1/12 - Rhinelander to Madison, WI
We arrived at Teddy's house at 11:30 AM. (Teddy is a friend from our 2011 trip to Morocco.) After lunch we toured the Museum of Modern Art, where she works/volunteers and had dinner at Sardine. I had sardines as an appetizer. They were good.
Teddy's house looks out across the street to Lake Madison. It is a pleasant neighborhood and the city (the Wisc. capital) is clean and neat but at 99° we aren't spending much time outdoors.Mon., 7/2/12 - Madison
This morning we toured around Madison. We had lunch at a Nepalese restaurant on State Street (to prepare us for our upcoming Nepal trip) and then toured the State Capitol. It is a lavish building full of marble from around the world, mosaics of government scenes, and wall-sized paintings. It is as fancy as some European palaces.
We headed off for our day-and-a-half drive home to arrive in Estes Park before dark on the Fourth of July. We wanted to be sure our neighbor did not set off fireworks over our house. He didn't and the town did not shoot off their annual display because of the fire danger.
Another successful and interesting trip to a rather hard to get to place!
