Wisconsin Trip Recap Part 5: Days 9 &10 in 2020 Vision

I’ve been meaning to be done with these by now, but work really has been crazy since I got back, and my mom’s text over the weekend sort of through me for a loop. But I feel like I have an adequate amount of brainpower right now, so may as well knock out 2 more days!

Day 9: Wednesday, August 12th

After spending all of Tuesday exploring Pattison State Park/Big and Little Maintou Falls, and Duluth/Lake Superior, I was really for a somewhat chill day on Wednesday. This was mom and daughter day 2, although now all I can think about was how my mom was exposed to a COVID positive person all week the week prior and didn’t tell me. Anywho! This time we went on a hike to Brady’s Bluff in Perrot State Park in western Wisconsin. There are no gorgeous, sweeping mountain views in Wisconsin, so we have to take what we can get.

Brady’s Bluff overlooks where the Trempealeau River meets the Mississippi. My mom has done this hike before, but I have not. There are two ways up: the “hard” way and the “easy” way. My mom couldn’t remember which parking lot had the trailhead for the easy way up, so she just picked one and we went. It turned out to be the “hard” way. The “hard” way is shorter and more or less a stair climb straight up. The “easy” way is longer, more gradual and much more scenic. It starts at the other end of the state park. The “hard” way didn’t bother me, but mom was struggling. Now I think of it as karma.

The plan was to take the “easy” way down and then take the trail that goes along the river back to car. My mom is not a polite hiker. On the way down the “easy” route, she said to every hiker going up “We took the hard way up! Be glad you guys are taking the easy way up!” even if the person she was talking to was completely out of breath. Like, mom, they don’t want to hear that right now. The trail that would take us back to our car at the bottom has the river running to the left and the main road up the bank and to the right. The bugs were awful and my mom didn’t trust we were heading in the right direction. My sense of navigation is pretty good after hiking in the PNW these past few years. I convinced her to head the direction I want to go “just a little ways”, but it was a struggle. Not even 5 minutes of walking later and the car was in sight. She didn’t even mutter a “you were right!”

Y’all, its a lot harder to write these in a positive manner now that I know she kept the covid thing secret. Thankfully the next day didn’t involve her!

Day 10: Thursday, August 13th

Thursday was my dad’s 60th birthday! I actually didn’t even realize my vacation spanned over his birthday until my sister said “you’ll be home for dad’s 60th!” when I told her the days I planned on being home. It should have been a thought though because my sister’s birthday is two days later and I was thinking about her birthday.

Anyway, on Thursday, my dad, stepmom, myself, my sister and her family all met up at a restaurant for lunch. Thankfully we sat outdoors. It was a good meal and my dad and stepmom were the last two family members I needed to see before heading back to Washington. I had given myself mental permission to leave after Thursday if things got weird because by then I would have seen all of my immediate family I wanted to see.

After lunch we headed to a local park that sits on the river and has falls you can play in. I LOVED this part of the day.

You can play anwhere on the falls, swim anyhere in them or in the river. There are no rules saying anywhere is off limits or swimming not allowed in certain areas. It the freedom to explore that completely won me over. In Washington, there would be a lot of rules. It is posted that there are no lifeguards on duty and all swimming is done so at your own risk. There were also a few side trails that my niece kept taking everyone (individually) for “tours”. My niece is a lot like me in the sense that she can stay physically active literally all day long

We were here for a few hours and I was so exhausted afterwards. Partly from swimming, partly from playing with my niece and nephew and partly catching up with dad. I’ve never been to his house where he lives now, and I was able to keep that streak alive with this visit. I can’t remember exactly how old I was when my parents divorced - 16? 17? That whole time period is erased from my memory. I don’t know where he lived after he moved out, my mom never told me and she wouldn’t discuss anything about him to me even though I was somewhere between sophomore or junior year of high school. (why I remain shocked in present day when I find she’s kept a secret from me, I don’t know) Anywho, he met my step mom two years after I left for the navy and then moved in with her. I’ve never been to their house in any of my visits home and they’ve never invited me over. Families are weird, man.

But this birthday of his was good.

Last updated August 25, 2020