Gilman, Wisconsin

Wed - May 12

Traveled from home to Lorri's house which is in northern Wisconsin near Ladysmith (about 50 miles North East of Eau Claire). About 300 miles, it was an easy drive. I arrived about 3pm. Lorri showed me around the house and yard. Really, really nice. The back yard backs up to the yellow river. Very peaceful and picturesque. Their house is really nice and they have a few projects already going to fix up the basement.

Lorri has two super cute and friendly cats, Lucy 4 years old and Lacy 2 years old. They hung around with us all the time.

If you look up "made from scratch" in the dictionary, you will see Lorri's picture. Her latest project is making sour dough bread from her own starter. It is a very involved process but, I was lucky to get the reward. She made a loaf and we sampled it warm. Outstanding! I had the bread for breakfast every day and even took the last bit home for breakfast on the road on Saturday. Thanks Lorri!

She also gave me my own starter to take home. I am not so sure I have the patience (or skill) to do tackle this project.

We just hung out and visited. Catching up on a lot since the last time we got together was Fall 2019 in Door County. Stupid COVID!

Diane, arrived around 6 after a three day 1700 solo drive. A true road warrior! Her first stop was Billings, MT her second stop was in Jamestown, ND. It's claim to fame is the world's largest Buffalo Statue. What an attraction!

A little later we sat down for dinner. Lorri and Keith made very delicious Corned Beef and Cabbage. After dinner we sat and talked and sipped a little tasty bourbon Diane had brought.

A few pictures of their place and the river behind their house

Thur - May 13

Keith made tasty pancakes for Lorri and Diane and him with maple syrup Lorri tapped herself helping a neighbor. I stuck with my Sour Dough toasted bread.

Gilman only has a population of 444 (not sure if that is counting the new arrivals - Lorri and Keith). It's a nice little town and has a fairly large Amish population. Saw an Amish farmer plowing his field with a plow attached to three horses (hard work!). Also saw a large Amish family walking on the side of the road, straw hats, print dresses and bare feet. I am curious to learn more about their culture.

Lorri, Diane and I drove around a lot today. Pretty country - No Traffic - No Stop Light!. I was amazed at how many people Lorri already had befriended in her new town and how well she knew her way around. She seems to fit in well.

We stopped at a foraging shop. Diane and I are fully vaccinated and Lorri had the illness. So we went in carrying our masks. The woman was wearing hers. We mentioned we were vaxed and was she ok with no masks. She said she was vaxed too and took off her mask. What a great thing! Finally, light at the end of the tunnel. Lorri and Diane really liked the shop and it did have a really good library. They both bought a few things.

We had planned to take a hike and thought we had found a restaurant near hiking. Well, seemed like we drove forever to finally find our restaurant destination out in the sticks. The Pickled Gill was worth the drive! Again, no masks, not even a mention of them. But, it was late afternoon and we were pretty much the only people in the place. The waiter was friendly and all our meals were really good.

Our next stop was Marieka's Gouda Shop. Wow, she had a lot of Gouda! We decided since we had such a late lunch we would just do cheese, crackers, the smoked salmon I had brought with me and wine for a lighter dinner. We all bought different kinds to try. I took a bunch home with me too.

Our final stop was the Munson Bridge Winery where we bought some wine for dinner. Decided maybe we come back tomorrow for a wine tasting.

So, dinner was easy and tasty. Cheese, crackers, Smoked Salmon and Wine.

Pictures From the Day May 13 - Pickled Gill, Marieka's, and the Winery

Fri - May 14

I don't remember what the others had for breakfast but, I stuck to my sour dough bread (kinda hooked).

Lorri, Diane and I finally got our walk in. We just started exploring from Lorri's house. Lorri found a rummage sale next to a park and bought a plant stand.

I found an M60A3 Tank! Very, very cool. It is a memorial for those who had fought in the Great War (WW I). Although, obviously, the M60A3 was not around back then. It started manufacture during the Cold War in 1959. The M1 replaced it but their are still M60A3s in service today. I added a link on the right side bar for the memorial web site.

M60A3 Tank

We wound up at the Gilman Public Park. Just hung out on the swings for a while, relaxing on a perfect spring day. Lorri wanted to do the teeter totter so, we did that. Thankfully, no pictures! Note: the picture of Diane in the animals head is actually a bubbler (for those from Milwaukee who know what the is1).

We finished our walk arriving back at Lorri and Keith's house.

Gilman Park

Next stop was Keith's family farm, about 10 miles from their house. Keith took us down a road where Albino deers frequent. Sure enough, we saw one, and got fairly close as they are not afraid of humans (endangered and protected and I guess they know that!). Did not get a good picture tho.

Keith grew up on the farm and now maintains it with his nephew Kenny. They have used it for hunting over the years. They lease the tillable land to a local farmer. The one picture is the back of the house, look at those new windows and door!(keith installed a few years ago)! Me, a diy myself, notices these things....

Keith was kind enough to give me gun safety lessons and some target practice with Lorri's 9mm Barretta semi-automatic hand gun and Keith's Marlin lever action 30/30 rifle with scope. We set up a target 50 feet away. I was not accurate with the hand gun. I should not have had so much coffee and it was my first time shooting a hand gun. It was very cool. Lorri and Diane showed up a little later and Lorri hit the target nicely showing up her big brother! Then, Keith let me shoot his 30/30 Scoped hunting rifle. With the target only 50 feet away and a scope I did much better with the rifle. First time shooting a 30/30. Note: the pictures of the target below... not sure who was the first pic because with the pistol I did not hit the target that well. The second target picture is mine with the rifle. The third, I think, is Lorri doing nicely with her 9mm.

This was an awesome experience and a highlight of my trip. Thanks very much to Keith for the lessons. I'll bring my own ammo next time!

Keith's Farm and Target Practice

Later in the afternoon Diane, Lorri and I went back to the winery for a wine tasting. It was OK. My fav was the Black Cab (dry blackberry cabernet) which we had the night before too. They had many more sweet wines than dry. I like my wine dry. Lorri, tho, likes the sweets so it was good for her. After the tasting we bought a black cab and drank it ouside before heading back to Lorri's.

For dinner, Keith made some hamburger patties. I enhanced them with my garlic salt and worstechier recipe and cooked them on the weber grill. I thought they were tasty. Not sure Lorri did tho.

Visited the rest of the evening.

Sat - May 15

I wanted an early start home since Jake and I had planned to spread 5 yards of dirt delivered on Friday (a big lawn reseeding project). So, got up early, said goodbye, grabbed my cheese and sour dough and starter and hit the road. Thankfully, Jake had the wearwithall to cover the dirt pile as it rained and would have been a disaster of mud had he not.

A great visit. We started planning a next May get together at Diane and Dave's cabin on Priest Lake.

Thanks very much to Lorri and Keith for their hospitality and Keith especially for the target practice. Nice seeing you Diane! Next Year - Priest Lake!!

Home sweet home!