AZ’s “DIARY OF A DAMNED MAN”

Friday May 23, it was a half day at work, I got out of the office at 1, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the city and back to New Glarus where I had the best birthday weekend of my life. I took a cab home and gathered whatever was not packed into the car, brought the bikes down off the deck and the bike rack to take them along. Shelly was running late. And I was growing impatient. Getting out of Chicago is bad enough on any Friday afternoon, but a holiday weekend is even worse. And the nightmare was coming early afternoon for the man short of patience.

I had reserved the same package as last December only added a night. Originally we had planned to camp but being Memorial Day Weekend and the experience of all the families the weekend before, and based on prior experience, it was not a good idea. So that idea was scrapped, and luckily so because that Sunday night the skies drowned the earth in it’s rain.

We finally arrived and at check in there was an envelope w/ my name on it. It was from Mich and it highlighted all of the goings on at the Community Fest and he marked the things he figured I’d enjoy. There was also a map to his house and an invite to his daughter Toni’s high school graduation. AND a $20 bill with a note that read the first drink is on me. WHAT A GUY! I knew we were in for some fun!

Once at the room and as Shelly showered I brought a car load of things in and we had stowed the bikes. I was due to meet Mich (The Irish Piper www.irishpiper.net) at the red bar in the New Glarus Hotel (www.newglarushotel.com) at 8. We would only be arriving to dinner at 8 since we had checked in at the Chalet Landhaus (www.chaletlandhaus.com) at 7PM. And we were both feeling the effects of hunger. The room was set up with sausage, cheese, and a variety of beer from the New Glarus Brewery (www.newglarusbrewing.com) so I had a Spotted Cow while Shelly got changed. Damn, this was good stuff, which still cannot be purchased outside of WI….yet! But on this trip it was my mission to bring home a few cases.

We drove over to the Hotel which is actually now a restaurant, banquet hall and they had their Friday buffet. I couldn’t wait, because everything I’ve ever eaten at this place was incredible and the service is second to none.

Built by Swiss immigrants in 1853, the New Glarus Hotel has long been a landmark known for its fine Swiss cuisine, Swiss atmosphere and entertainment. The buffet on Friday is a luscious array of finest quality fish and chicken served buffet-style every Friday evening. Also on the buffet table: Baked beans, potatoes, and their famous Alpine macaroni and includes the salad bar. So needless to say this was a calling to me since December.

We were seated by Stephanie and I asked her to let Mich know we were in the balcony. As we sat there having diner I heard a familiar voice behind me, talking about his mother in law and sister in law, I knew it was The Piper!

He was 2 tables behind me with of trio of elderly. He is pretty much the local celebrity and it’s good to know him. And I walked over and placed a bottle of Camelot Meade in front of him. And that was where it started.

Mich made introductions all around and then he came by my table to pick up a “box”  of product I had promised him and he laughed. He, Shelly and I chatted and then he let us finish our meals and agreed to meet us in the red bar. We had a few there and he introduced us to his eldest daughter Kyna. I asked “where Conan was?”. He got it, it was and Irish comment based on Conan’s Irish counterpart. Kyna is the female version of the name “Conan”, or otherwise known as is the gorgeous red, or for “wisdom”. Mike bought a round or two of drinks and the night began to really kick into high gear.

The four of us then went over to Toffler’s a pub with a big patio stage and a live band. It was my first trip to Toffler’s and proved not to be my last. We drank there as I turn Mich onto some tequila; he had Guiness as well, on tap, naturally. I met some more of his friends and we decide after almost an hour to walk over to the Sportsman’s club, a local favorite. And I also feel as I should mention the prices at any place to drink in NG are very affordable especially considering the rates in Chicago. So 3 people usually drink at the cost of one in NG if not at times better. Mich said he and Kyna promised to meet us and we walked over and got a table. About 10 min passed as I had drinks sitting on the table waiting and worried so Shelly went looking for them and escorted Mich across the street and into the bar. Of course this made a good impression on Mich and his kin. They joined us and we all discussed a lot about a lot of things. Seemed no topic was off limits. Camping to rock n roll, to bagpipes, heritage and family. Even and AC/DC song was a topic being it used the pipes in it. (okay headbangers, name that fuckin tune!)

Mich was feeling the wear and tear after an hour. The next day he had his daughter Toni’s big graduation hoopla which we were invited to join. I already had a the card and the gift card which I purchased the day prior to our jaunt to New Glarus. Kyna got her father home and we hung for a bit then went back to the lodge. I chilled out and had some beer and called it a night, or early morning, whichever it was I was wiped out!

Sat May 23

To Be Continued………

May 16-18

Well it was far from over after the MINISTRY concerts. Every weekend has been jam packed w/ activity. And I like life that way just fine. And it sure has helped that my group at work has expanded and I now have assistance w/ my projects. Giving AZ a lil more time to do AZ things. Ya’ hear?

As if that MINISTRY rant didn’t take long enough to compile, the following weekend we were off to Kankakee River State Park and the most dreaded campground I have ever made the mistake of landing, and there have been many. They do not take reservations online or over the phone so the only way to choose a site is to pick three of which you would prefer off of a generic map online and send the first nights fee in the mail, and wait for a reply / confirmation, which arrived after we had returned from our weekend trip.

The place also has a strict alcohol ban and there are no alcohol signs everywhere. Well that ruled out beer because even in a tent you can hear beer cans and bottles open, and they love to patrol, especially in the campground I chose. We camped at Chippewa Campground and they do not even have showers. And the camp host is a royal pain in the ass old bitch I haven’t had to deal with since the last time we camped in Colorado Springs. (She was there 8 years before in Col. Sprngs as well)  Unless you’re and RV camper which I am not nor will ever be, I suggest NEVER camping at this campground. The river is great for canoeing and fishing and the bike trails are seriously second to none, but this campground I particular was hell. Kids screaming and playing and dogs barking 24-7. We were in utter hell till we split on the last day.

Friday we arrived at dusk and built a fire with wood I had to drive miles to pick up since the campground was OUT OF IT. What kind of campground is out of firewood when they’re not at capacity? I found later that they didn’t even sell firewood. For once I drove over the speed limit down this country road to a bait shop which was close. However the lady inside asked what I needed and I said wood, and she let me in telling me she couldn’t let me camp without firewood. So I bought all they had and drove it back to where Shelly was setting up our new tent for the first time. I helped get the rest of everything together, put on some music and started the fire….finally. And we ate light and did some light drinking.

I do not know how late we were up but the other campers came to be very annoying to me with their TV’s etc. To me that is not what camping is about.

The next morning I put on Johnny Cash as usual and started breakfast. We had a whole lot of new gear now and with what I had from before there was a surplus of camping equipment. Right down to the bike rack. I planned that we’d go biking on Sat and Sunday after packing up we’d go canoeing. I’d seen this river 9 years ago and read lots about how wide and fast running and clean it was. What I didn’t know was we’d have to drive 10 miles to get to a place where we could rent canoes. So as I spied tequila Shelly road into town to pick up some more things as well as wood and ice. And it took along time and I sipped a lot of tequila and began using my phone to distract me from the boredom.

When she finally returned we took our bikes out and I really should NOT have been biking because as I had mentioned, she took a long time and in that time I took a few more sips than normal. The kids in this place made me crazy so I just got us out of there and we got about 8 miles out and found a nice rock overlooking the rivers edge. I started to strip down and preparing to jump in, when I thought to ask a fisherman how deep it was. He said about 3 feet and I was about 20 feet up. There was NO WAY!

We returned parked our bikes and hiked down through the woods to the river. It just wasn’t far enough removed for me, not with kids on scooters, skateboards, Big Wheels, and bikes screaming and playing around to which even in the woods and in the river we could hear. So we went back and I broke out the bison steaks and bison chili. But all good things come to and end, and just like the weather forecasts ALL YEAR on a night where there as no rain predicted, it began to fall. And we were in and out of the tent between showers and it was not fun, but we made the best of it. Thankfully I found a larger tent for this next couple of seasons. And it really came in handy this night.

I woke too early as usual and got coffee and breakfast going and was ready to get out of there. I also had to reserve a canoe in advance and this time we postponed the trip till noon. I KNEW we’d do the 12 miles in no time and the only real bummer was it was now not going to get over 60 degrees. I had booked what was listed as trip 3 online because it could be more challenging. As I would discover the only challenging thing about this canoe trip would be the weather. It was chilly and would be even moreso on that damned river.
Reeds Canoe Trips in Kankakee, IL  www.reedscanoetrips.com  Trip 1 The most popular of our trips provides a 12-mile journey through sweeping river bends in the scenic stretch from the City of Kankakee to the Kankakee River State Park. The “Indian Caves,” a limestone canyon on the Perry Farm park at Bourbonnais, is a popular stop for shore exploration. Average paddling time for this trip is 3 to 5 hours.

Trip 3 Although this trip is equal in mileage to Trip 1, it will take somewhat longer to negotiate the distance. The first half of the 12-mile stretch from Momence to Aroma Park is studded with numerous small islands and meanders through narrow channels, providing a very scenic trip. Numerous sandbars along the way are inviting spots for swimming breaks. Average paddling time is 4 to 6 hours. It would take us less that 4 and that was with stops.

I finally got Shelly up as the entire time I was cooking I thought she was inside packing. She was actually sleeping. So I got her up, fed her and we packed the car and were prepared to stop at Jewel in town, get some supplies and get to Reeds. On the way we came upon a nice surprise, Potawatomi Campground which we passed on the way to the RV rendezvous where we had camped. We were both amazed and even more overwhelmed by what we saw, SHOWERS! And they were nice and hot and it made both of us feel a lot better. And that just made our days.

With both of us clean now we cruised the rest of this real campground and made our way into town. And this is where I found the very nicest Jewel store I have ever seen. I spent enough time there for it to be 11 so I could pick up some vodka, some chicken wings (and a few other items for home) for the journey and we were off.

We got to Reeds where they seemed to have a corner on every market in town. The people were nice but the trip was EXPENSIVE at $64 ! I’ve never paid for than 430 that I can think of for a day of canoeing. As they drove us out under gray skies we all talked about trips and travels and they got us to the drop off point and it would only be a matter of minutes before we felt the chill of the cool mid May Illinois country air off the river.

Now this was about the easiest tip I had ever taken but we saw lots of wild life, especially water fowl which made the river a duck hunters paradise. And there were huts and all other sorts of hunting signs everywhere. However my biggest letdown would be that nearly every bit of the river that we traveled went through residential areas. Houses and vacation homes cluttered and crowded the shores, and if not private property there were roads and traffic, so as nice and clean the river was, I have to say I was not in the wilderness I long for. I was in rural IL summer home HELL.

The trip was over before it began and other than some photography which ended up ruining my second digital camera, and a snack en route to our pick up spot, the afternoon was uneventful.

Thus ended our first camping outing of 2008.