Riding Day 38 and Layover - Tranquility Found

The 86 mile ride from near Superior, Wisconsin, To Teal Lake (20 miles east of Hayward) was like a pilgrimage for me. In 1930 my grandfather built a summer cottage on the lake, and it was a favorite vacation place for my family when I was a young child. I have had the privilege of visiting occasionally in the many years since then. The property has over 800 feet of lakefront, and the cottage sits on a slope above the shore, among the birches and scattered pine trees, so we are relatively isolated even though there are more homes on the lake than there used to be. Blessedly, my brother, Bob, had come up from Chicago a few days earlier to enjoy the lake and to greet us, so the cottage was open for business. Immediately upon arrival we went for a swim, and little pleases me more than swimming in natural water. Then we went out for dinner, joined by my Aunt Fern-Aileen, who was visiting from Massachusetts. After dinner we went took kayaks and the canoe out onto the calm lake. I cruised faily close to a family of loons, and Bob and I stayed out to watch the sunset.

This morning Bob and I kayaked across the bay to visit my cousin, Jim, who has built a house on the lake. Later Bob and Rich and Cindy and I took an outboard tour. We have been seeing loons, eagles, and herons. Bob and I have been talking about the things that have changed since the 1950s, and how much is still the same. Now in the late afternoon we are listening to distant thunder and the otherworldly calls of loons. Today we will be on the road again, but today we are in paradise.

I must also mention Jeremy Rhea, a friend of my cousin, who joined us for the last half of yesterday's ride. It was a pleasure riding with him and getting to know him, and also having him cook for us last night at the Tally Ho restaurant, where he is the chef. If you are visiting Hayward for the Birkebeiner cross-country race, or the Fat Tire mountain bike race, or the World Lumberjack Championships, or just to enjoy one of the many lakes in the vicinity, stop in and see him at the Tally Ho or at the Spider Lake Lodge, where he cooks breakfast.