We have quite a few events to talk about this weekend.
First up The Wall That Heals is in Crivitz this weekend. It is a huge Vietnam War memorial with all of the fallen soldier’s names on it. It is really something to see. There is a big craft vendor show Saturday along with a variety of things for vets.
The Strong Falls Bicycle Trails are having their grand opening tomorrow. It is a really extensive network of off-road mountain bike trails ranging from easy to quite extreme.
The Near North Trail Riders are having an open house at their clubhouse tomorrow. The clubhouse is on Eagle River Rd close to the Athelstane ATV park & ride.
Finally, the old Thornton’s Resort bar has re-opened and this is their grand opening weekend. It is now the coyote’s Den and they put in a kitchen so they serve food now too.
It has been a hot week. Today it was 91. Try and stay cool this weekend.
It was indeed a busy weekend last weekend. My neighborhood was fairly quiet but when I went out on the roads there was a lot of traffic. I don’t know if it stacked up as busier than normal or not but it was a busy weekend. That’s good. A lot of people have a lot of fun and it is good for the area in general.
The weather was bluebird weather all weekend. Probably the biggest complaint about the weather is that we were short on rain making roads and trails very dusty and raising fire danger.
The wood ticks and mosquitoes had a busy weekend too. Plenty of people encountered those.
The big excitement this week is that the deer are having their fawns. Lots of people have been encountering the cute little wobbly legged fawns or Momma deer fat in the late stages of pregnancy.
Other people reported seeing foxes and several bobcats.
The Wall That Heals Vietnam War Memorial came to Crivitz yesterday. Reports had huge crowds in all of the towns that it passed through. When it got to Crivitz it was lead by several emergency vehicles. Behind it were several hundred bikers, followed by a variety of classic and hot rod cars and other folks.
The wall will be on display at the Crivitz museum behind the McDonalds in Crivitz today through the weekend. We should be honored that it is staying in our little town for the weekend, and hats off to all of the people that made it happen.
Since the weekend the weather has gotten hotter. Yesterday I think that we hit 89ºF. There is more of that ahead, the forecast has temperatures in the upper 80s or near 90 right through the weekend.
I don’t recall the last time that it rained. A wild guess would put it close to two weeks ago. The fire danger is very high. There is a little relief in sight. Unfortunately it isn’t anything organized or of any duration. What I’m expecting is more heat of the day afternoon thunderstorms popping up here and there. Those can get interesting. I have seen those absolutely drench one side of the road and the other side doesn’t get wet. It is wild when it happens, but it isn’t the area-wide inch or three of rain that we could really use.
I am about to run along. With the heat of the day getting close to 90 I am trying to get on what I call the roofer’s schedule. Get out there early and get some work done between 6-10 or 11am and then knock off before the heat wears me out. If I’m good I will go back out and get three or four hours in before sunset after the heat of the day passes.
First of all we have freeze warnings out for tonight. Bring those new garden plants inside or at least cover them up. You know my advice… don’t plant until June 10th or you WILL get bit by frost.
Item #2 I missed an event for this weekend- Motocross racing at Pine Ridge Raceway on Deer Lake Rd.
The bands at Rustic this weekend are local boys Bullets & Booze Band Saturday and Killer Clowns Sunday. Both start at 7pm.
We have a mostly clear 80 degree day going on today. There is a little bit of wind but nothing too troublesome.
The green explosion is slowly going off. Most trees are getting full with leaves. The color pallet of the different new green leaves is very pretty on hillsides and valleys. The ferns started unrolling their fiddleheads this week and some are turning into real plants. The cherry trees and flowering crab trees are in spectacular bloom.
The trillium are a different story. Around here and between here and about Amberg they are just getting started. When I went to Wabeno yesterday I found a much different story. About the time that I crossed into Forest County it was like walking through a doorway. The woods and roadsides were just littered with trillium blooms.
I expect that the major trillium bloom will spread east and we have some scenic beauty coming here any day now.
We have been getting a lot of smoke from Canadian wildfires over the past week. That has made for some very strange sunsets with the reddish brown haze. That isn’t going away any time soon.
We currently have high fire danger here. That isn’t going to get any better by the weekend. There is a strong cold front coming through tonight, but not much rain is expected. After that the next rain that I see on the GFS forecast model is June 1st, a week from Thursday. It will be plenty dry by then. I would not be surprised to see high or very high fire danger for this coming weekend.
ATV/UTV riders will want to remember their dust masks. The forest roads and trails are plenty dusty right now.
Our wet spring has come back to haunt us. The mosquitoes are incredible right now. Forget the lawyers, guns, and money, send Repel. This is the stuff that I use. Repel Sportsmen Max 40. I know that a lot of people don’t like DEET. I don’t either. Sometimes it is just a good idea to suck it up and spray. When I took the sunset picture it took about 2 minutes to drive us back into the car. https://www.amazon.com/Repel-Sportsmen-Aerosol-Insect-Repellent/dp/B07DNKF34T/
There are an assortment of other bugs, gnats, midges, and so on. No big deal. The gators (mosquitoes) are the star of the show today. Maybe I should start calling them sky piranhas.
Those will get a lot better soon. The dry weather will limit future hatches. The bats are starting to do their job, they eat their body weight in bugs every night. Soon the dragonflies will hatch and start their feast. For now bring Repel.
The deer along the roads have become more scarce. Their food sources in the woods are coming into play and they don’t need to be up by roads. They are also getting into fawning season. I haven’t seen one yet but they will be having fawns any day now. You still need to watch for deer along the roads, but it isn’t insane like it was a couple of weeks ago.
Last night I was sitting on the back porch at sunset and just digging the quiet and the sounds of nature. I sure wish that I could bottle that.
I have some events this weekend and there are likely more that I don’t know about yet.
Saturday- The Crivitz Museum will be hosting a Craft/Vendors Show and Flea Market on May 27th the Saturday of Memorial Weekend. $15 for a 25×20 lot. 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Vendors can set up at 7:00 a.m. The fee will be collected during the event. No need to register, just show up. We have plenty of room.
The Crivitz Museum is right behind McDonalds.
Sunday there is a memorial service followed by a picnic at the Silver Cliff Memorial Picnic Grounds. I have conflicting information on times and I will have to track that down. I believe that the service is at 10 and the picnic to follow at about 11.
Parkway Inn is having a HUGE bluegrass music festival Saturday and Sunday with the pre-party Friday night. They have two stages with about 20 music acts and a lot of acts that I have heard of.
There are a ton of bars that are having live music this weekend. I could spend all day tracking them down and still miss some so you are on your own there. I know that Rapids and Rustic are having live music. Lil Tipsy’s in Townsend is having a big name act. After that places like Uncle Mikes, Woody’s, and others will be having entertainment.
There memorial services in Crivitz, Middle Inlet, Amberg, and most other towns. Remember WHY we have this holiday.
Gas companies are in the habit of cranking up gas prices for the holiday weekend. I paid $3.39 in Carter yesterday. The TV said that it could go to $3.50 or maybe a little beyond.
I saw on TV yesterday morning that the AAA said that it would be the busiest Memorial Day weekend in 20 years. They didn’t tell us WHY they though that, but that is their story. Of course I wish everyone to be safe and have a great weekend, but OK, lets have a little fun with that.
From Facebook..
And my favorite..
That’s all fun and games but please be safe in your travels. The cabin will still be there if you get there 15 minutes later because of traffic.
One final thought.. The grass needs cutting. I have held off because of No Mow May, a plan to let the beneficial bugs and pollinators that live in the long grass and leaf litter emerge. It is time now to get cutting.
I am off to do just that. Mr John Deere is in for a workout today.
