I'm over the 'Rona - a Lunch with Coop in Trempealeau

I'm happy to report that both my FIL and I managed to survive the COVID-19 virus infections we got recently.

I've still got a nagging cough but it's getting better.  My FIL is home from the hospital as of three days ago and he is moving about slowly but surely.

He's actually just using a cane most of the time to walk, the above was him using the walker to go down his long driveway to fetch the mail.

Now that I'm out of Covid Jail, per Martha, we drove to the nearby town of Trempealeau to meet with Coopdway from Coop's Corner and his son Ben.

Coop, or Doug, a fellow motoblogger and rider drove down from Redwing with his son Ben to meet us at the River Cafe.  Ben is a Sergeant First Class in the US Army, Infantry, fresh out of a duty tour as a Drill Sergeant at Fort Benning and now headed towards Fort Campbell, KY to join the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division.

Ben came across as a very impressive, well spoken, motivated, professional NCO to both Martha and I.  Coop, you and Peg should be very proud of this young man.  Any unit would be lucky to have him!

Martha, Coop and Ben

Yep, I still live...

After lunch, Martha and I decided to check out the nearby Lock and Dam #6, built by the Corps of Engineers on the great Mississippi River to control water levels and permit the passages of tow barges and other water traffic.

Before we got there though, we spotted this treehouse:

Now that, is a treehouse!

more info here: LINK

Martha and I both though it was really cool, something to think about later on perhaps when we get some land, maybe.

On to #6 Dam and Lock:

A nice map of the Minnesota - Saint Louis portion of the Mississippi Rive.

Here's a closeup of the area we're in.  Redwing, where Coop lives is in the top left corner and we're near LaCrosse, which just due south of Trempealeau.

Some facts and figures, nicely presented I thought:

Uff Da! I got the 'Rona.

 Not a major surprise really, I had presented with mild flu symptoms on Tuesday after having close physical contact with my FIL on Sunday; he is presently in the hospital with Covid-19 and other issues.

We had an ambulance take my FIL to the hospital, no way I could help him/carry him down the porch steps to the car!

The EMTs got here quick on Sunday...

While Martha continued to visit her dad at the hospital, I had remained in my FIL's home, isolating as a presumptive positive for Covid.  Well, no more presumptiveness!

My symptoms, started with the same as you get with the Flu: chills, sore throat, coughing, but no fever though I felt warmer than usual.  I thought, since the symptoms were like a mild flu, I could just ride them out.  However, the pain caused by swallowing or during coughing were worse and constant through last night so Martha carted me off to Urgent Care in Onalaska, WI.

Learned today that the Veteran's Administration (VA), whose healthcare coverage I'm under, partners with preferred medical providers such as the Gundersen Healthcare System.  Coincidentally, the same system in which my FIL is currently undergoing physical rehab prior to returning home sometime next week.

The process took only 90 minutes from presenting my VA ID Card, to walking out of there with a prescription for Paxlovid, an antiviral cocktail of three pills, taken in the morning and evening for the next five days.  It apparently provides an attenuation of the virus' symptoms, prevents it from replicating any further, and has a 90% success rate for preventing the need for hospitalization.

The doctor mentioned too, had I not had my two vaccines and one booster shot from the VA previously, I would have probably needed to be hospitalized!

Martha continues to test negative using home Covid-19 tests and will be having a more reliable test done tomorrow.   She had the second booster shot, which I believe matters.

So, definitely more isolation to be done, and then once I'm well enough, we'll drive the VRRV back to Colorado.  I'm not sure we'll be staying to the end of the month as we'd planned beforehand.

Note: all photos by Martha.

Moochdocking in Holmen, WI

 We got to my FIL's place around Noon yesterday, Friday the 10th.

Got the VRRV all settled and we had a nice late lunch "al fresco" with Martha's Dad/ whom we're visiting to see how he's doing since his fall earlier this year.

Richard appears to be doing well, only seems to need a cane to slowly move about, pretty good for 87 years old.

As we left the COE campground yesterday morning, I spotted this young cow just standing on the side county road.

I said to Martha that the cow probably belonged to the farm up ahead, who apparently raise Guernsey Cows; and that we should look for a farmer to let him know.   Martha started giggling and said: "Yeah!, we'll say: Hey your cow is out of the barn!", then she proceeded to laugh out loud.  Sigh.

If you don't get the joke, consider yourself a mature adult.  I may, repeat may, have slightly laughed myself.

Today, due to some health factors, Martha was the only one headed to some distant family wedding in Chippewa Falls, WI.  I stayed back to help out with her Dad and of course to avoid being the token "person of color" in a gathering of strangers.  ;)

Martha returns tomorrow morning.  We'll be in this area for the next couple of weeks at least, so not sure what kind of rides we'll be able to get in!  Chores to do for my FIL and meeting with my SIL and her husband at the end of the month here.

A Ride to Crystal Cave, a little bit of Hiking back at camp...

 Yes folks, Martha is back in the saddle again!

She was a bit "jitterish", her own words, but she did just fine.  We rode the 9 miles or so to the Crystal Cave tourist attraction; it's apparently Wisconsin's Longest Cave.  (Less than 1/3 of its mile long length is open to the public).

The "personalized" tour fee is about $21/person and both Martha and I agreed that yes, A for effort but really can be skipped if pressed for time.  The topside facilities are quite lavish, and include a "pan for gold" attraction and a putt putt golf course with a Dinosaur motif.

Some of the stuff that caught my eye, all of it pretty small scale, it's apparently a pretty young cave system.  (Less than 2 million years old I think).

The tour did include lots of information, I guess to

make up for the lack of large crystal formations?

Back in the beginning of the tour operation, they used to let folks put coins in the "Wishing Room" portion of the cave.  If you could get your coin to stick, then you would get good luck.  Then they realized the coins were contaminating things and rusting in some cases; and no more wishing with coins.

After the tour, we stopped at a Cheese Factory on the way back to the campground:

Martha says the barn is typical of the barns seen on

Wisconsin Farms

The farm above specializes in Guernsey Cows

After lunch and a little rest, I went on a short hike while Martha stayed in camp to read and relax after the morning's riding.

I followed the trail called Ox Trail, which eventually leads one down the ridge and towards the Northwest Day Use area of the Highland Ridge Recreational Area.  There's not a lot there but there's places for picnics, launching one's small boat and horse riding trails.

At the end of the trail, you can see the dam which

created the Highland Ridge Reservoir

Yep, an authentic Amish Carriage, pulling a trailer

for their small boat.

The Amish man and his young son were further on, behind the trees on the left past their carriage.  Their horse was tied up in the shade of trees on the other side of the road.

Near the Amish carriage, I could see a series of holes on the bottom...I could see small fish diving into and out of these holes, and wondered what caused them?

As I wandered about, I spotted this fellow crossing the road slowly.  He speeded up as I approached of course, moving along smartly and into the bushes.

Quite a peaceful spot to gaze upon the water and perhaps have a snack?

Finally, a mushroom I spotted near our campsite this morning:

We'll be moving on in the morning, and staying with Martha's Dad for the rest of the month I think.

Now in Wisconsin, at the Highland Ridge COE Campground

 We left Minnesota in the rear view mirror today, negotiating the heavy traffic around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area without too much stress.

We'll spend a couple of nights at the Corps of Engineers (COE) campground near Spring Valley, WI.  It's a nice campground, not very large, and lots of trees to make the sites feel secluded.  Not many campers present either which of course is a bonus.

Martha and I went for a short hike, found a bench at a scenic viewpoint overlooking the swim area in the main day use area across the lake.  No swim area at the campground, just as well as the water would be too cold.

Nice and shady under the trees, here's some mushrooms which begged to be photographed in their unusual (to me) color:

The rest of the afternoon was spent just relaxing and reading our respective books.  In my case, listening to my audio book.  Currently working my way through the large series by Bernard Cromwell, about a British Rifleman during the Napoleonic Wars.

Oh, I did make a recce ride with Yagi, my Yamaha TW200, of nearby Spring Valley and located the entrance to Crystal Cave.  It's apparently the largest cave in Wisconsin.

Riding with Coopdway

Today, I had the absolute pleasure to go on a 100+ mile ride with Coop, aka Doug.  He's a fellow moto-blogger who lives in the country, perhaps 57 miles or so from his work in the city of Minneapolis.

We met up at 9AM as arranged and soon he was leading the way through some really nice winding roads, with many twist and turns at times, dips and climbs and all this while surrounded by the lush and verdant foliage that is this part of Wisconsin!

Temperatures were fine for most of the day, it did get a bit warm towards the end though.

 Did I mention how green everything is here in Wisconsin!

Funny thing is the locals were saying that more rain was needed.

 See the peaked top of the silos?  That's apparently how

you identify an Amish Farm, the ones with the round cupola

are just farms owned by "the English".  

 Coop in his natural habitat, cruising along with his

Moto Guzzi 750

Coop took me through Amish Country as part of the ride, I was quite fascinated at witnessing the contrasting transportation choices of this religion.  And, I can see why the government makes them put a "slow vehicle" sign in the back; it's very easy for them to become invisible in low light conditions.

 Coop pulled ahead so I could get in front of these two 

horse drawn rigs for photos.  I tried to be somewhat discrete

but I suspect they knew I was taking pictures.

 These young fellows did wave back at me when I waved 

at them while they passed my position.

 Old vs New

 More of a wagon than a buggy?

 Note how easy it is to miss seeing one of these carriages

when they're in the shadows ...

 Coop passing, slowly, a fancier buggy.

I shot many pics of Coop as he rode ahead of me, and sometimes I got lucky and it came out in focus!

 I think this is Carlson Ridge or perhaps Clinton Ridge

The last planned stop was the Mindoro Cut, where the third deepest cut through rock for a road by hand had been done.  Sadly, the road was closed for unknown reasons.

So Coop got me to County Road D and let me lead all the way to my FIL's home.  Unfortunately, my FIL was out doing errands I guess so I wasn't able to introduce him to Coop.

Coop and his Guzzi

My heartfelt thanks to Doug for his time and expert knowledge of the many back country roads in the area!  I know that without a GPS, I would have been completely lost.