Day 1

We started our yearly trek to Wisconsin in Milwaukee on a Friday – where we were picked up by our awesome friend Marnie and whisked off to Wauwatosa to meet up with family and friends at the little place called Cranky Al’s.

If you know Wisconsin at all then you know that Friday night means it is time for a “Fish Fry” and Cranky Al’s did not disappoint. We met up with Sara’s sisters, by brother and our friends Marnie, Sarah and John and their daughter Inga. After getting caught up Sara and I were ready for some sleep for the big week ahead.

Day 2

We were very excited for this day to go to Sara’s cousins house that they are building on Lake Michigan in Muskego, WI, so we got up early to go for a run. We had been watching the progress of Renee and Chris’s house all year as they posted updates online. It was one thing to see it online and another thing to see this custom house on Lake Michigan in person.

It is European Modern with a great room on the left and a third floor master with a circular balcony overlooking the lake – breathtaking. It is going to be quite a home once they are done very soon.

After checking out the house and visiting with some family we were off with Chris to his office/temp home in two rivers where he is right on the river, and where we were going to go kayaking ;). After a short drive we walked into to the backyard of his office and we were on the river.

We had to manouver the kayak’s down to the river….

and then we were in the river, with a slight rain that would come and go on the water. The river was like glass on the surface with one the ripples from the rain as it hit the surface.  The farther we kayaked the more tranquil it became and the more wildlife we saw.

Here is a short video of Sara cruising along with only the calm water between us

It was great time, peaceful and nice to be out in the elements and the nature.

When we got back the food and wine was out and the family had showed up to check out the river.  We had a great visit and when we said our good buys we knew it would only be until tomorrow…..

Day 3

One reason we love to go to visit Wisconsin this time of year is because of the corn..if you are from the Midwest you know what I am talking about, if you don’t then you are missing out. Every Fall the sweet corn ripens and you can pick it up at local farms along the road. Sara’s brother Steve always has a party for get his family and friends together and corn 🙂 is one of the main attractions.

Well I guess it wasn’t just corn that was drawing the crowd because Donovan, Sara nephew seemed like he was going to fuel up from his last couple of days from running X-Country to have some sweets – who could blame him.

Day 4

Next it was off to my parents house in the Promised Land on the lake. My parents had changed their backyard into a vegetable garden, as a kid I would have thought this crazy but now I thought it was pretty great. My mom even had a guide to tell us all the things they had planted.

It was a nice day so we were outside grilling some….. can you guess it brats on the grill; with my brothers.

Sara and I usually don’t give up a chance to an open water swim, as long as the weather is cooperating so we decided to go for a swim. The water was pretty calm, however most of the pier was out so we had to start swimming in very shallow water to get out past the weeds into the more open water. Here is a picture of just after getting out of the water….

Day 5

Our friend Marni was so awesome to set us up with bikes to ride while we were in town, and this was the day to head out on them. The one thing we forgot after been pampered with bike lanes and manicured streets was riding in traffic and big city streets.

So we headed out for our ride…

We headed from where we were staying on the West side to the East side by the lake and then North to possibly better street conditions. When we got down to lake and were about to glide down to the water and we noticed on a bluff the color of the water in light blue and green with contrasting dark blue…..

It was really fun to be back on the roads that we had trained on so much when we lived here and to see all of the changes in the city.

Day 6

Today started with an early rendezvous with our great friend Lauren Jensen for a run the parkway in Tosa.  It was great to be out running with Lauren again after her bad accident last year. We had a great run in the parkway with great running weather and at the right pace to get caught up with each other.

Then it was off to a nearby coffee place to get a after run snack…and some more catching up, don’t forget to TriFaster

After a great morning we were off to Sara’s parents for a visit and we decided to bring the bikes to get some time in the saddle out on the country roads north of Milwaukee. The two things we didn’t plan for were the strong winds and knowing where we were going on these country roads.

Luckily we checked out a map, and Sara remembered enough from growing up for us to find a route in and around Sheboygan.  We stopped to take this pic when headed past a Gillys ice cream store which Sara hadn’t seen in forever – notice the special on Packer game day for 2 dollar Packer Sunday’s – Yum!

 

We also had a chance to ride into the Kohlar Andre State Park along our route. The beach and the water looked beautiful however on this ride we weren’t prepared for a swim…

Day 7

Having a day to go visit in Madison is always fun, but this year was even more special because our first stop in Madtown was Sara’s nephew Paul who has just started UW Madison as a freshman.

He is living in the lakeshore dorms, so dropped by to see his room setup…oh and brought along his sister for the ride as well.

It was a typical room…

And with a typical problem, yea you guessed it out of peanut butter after only a couple of weeks….good thing we brought reinforcement food to back him up. Caption for this picture “Dude I’m out of peanut butter…..!”

After a trip down to state street to the Sunrise Cafe for a great breakfast we walked over to the Terrace to check out the lake and sit and talk. The lake looked nice and the sun had come out so what better place to be than the Union Terrace….

The day was young and we had a date at lunch with Sara’s longtime friend Eileen..who we hooked up with on State Street. We had some lunch and then walked around state catching up and being goofy….here is one example:

Leaving Eileen we dressed in our run gear and went for a great run on Lakeshore path toward University Hospital and back on the path. It was beautiful day and it was Ironman Wisconsin weekend so there were lots of people out walking, running etc. so fun!

Now we were getting our second wind and went back up to the capital square to meet up with our friend Marni who was doing the Ironman again this year. We met up with her and walked with her through check-in

After finishing up and cleaning up, we were off on an adventure to hook up with another friend Heather who was in town from Florida and her husband Todd.  She was staying at a friends house on the West side, so after picking up some food we met up with them.

Marni, Heather and Sara in the same room is truly a fun experience and to get a glimpse here is what I will call:

Kari’s Angels 😉

Comment on this post and tell me which Angel each of them are!

After a great nights sleep in Madison it time to for a swim at the Ironman race course at Menona Terrace. The water was flat and felt about 70 degree’s, awesome for just going for a cruze in the sunshine…

We weren’t’ really ready to leave but our time was up…we had a great time.

 

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