MUDDY TIMES...

'Spotted green foliage of the daffodil and daylily leaves just emerging .  Spring is always ahead of us in town and since the frost is still coming out of our End of the Rainbow drive, it's still really muddy in spots. So, this week was the perfect week to go to a hard top path for our walks with Balto.


Our first time we didn't see a soul on the Chaseburg Nature Trail that runs along Coon Creek but we did spot our first red wing black bird. The second time we walked the trail we were passed by a young guy running with his lab, 1 woman walking and one arriving as we were almost finished. Yesterday provided the opportunity to take an even less populated trail in nearby Coon Valley. 

Natureman mentioned wanting to bake bread and needing more  flour. A call placed to the Mennonite run Valley Market in Coon Valley let me place the order, pay by phone and have the bag of groceries left on one of  their chairs on their front porch. 'So appreciated for this immune compromised household.

It was a perfect drive up 'n grab the merchandise.  The plan worked like a charm with no one to exchange money with/ run into and no deterrents unto we got to the walking trail with a sign which read " Sidewalk Closed".  We knew the sign was due to last year's flood damage. But as far as we could see, the path looked fine. There was no machinery nor gaping holes in sight so we continued... We could always turn back.

 We crossed the bridge with the creek really moving beneath us. Across the creek a trout fisherman cast his line back into the waters and almost immediately was reeling in a 10 incher.  I yelled across to him if this was his first and he replied, Nope, it was his eighth. He was one happy fisherman.  Even with catch and release until the first Saturday in May he was enjoying the sport and being outside...

The devastation of the flood was so immense the large pavilion was gone and the asphalt mud lined trail showed a lot of work had been done with bobcats to remove the mud. It wasn't until we got to the bridge's underpass were the path was none existent  rocky and not quite dried out. It was passable, just a bit muddy. 

During the flood due to the nearby dam's failure, the water had flowed across this county highway above us. (16+') Homes and a senior living facility had to be evacuated in the middle of the night.  I also will add FEMA's funding has never appeared to fix that dam... There will be issues again this year for sure.

After completing that horseshoe bend we did pass another young guy who walked out of his way to not pass us on the wide walkway. 

The outing was a success with the grocery stop and exercise. We returned home with flour to bake and a clean dog!

I made a new recipe of a grape cake using the new cake flour and that almost new spring form pan and  am anxiously awaiting Natureman's freshly baked challah.

Mark off another day of social distancing as we head to the end of our second week... BTW I liked the cake and it turns out it was a good thing we got out when we did as 3 continuous days of rain are expected...