The last of this year's fun on the lake, and some shots of Wausau, WI

Dwight Peck's personal website

Summer 2023

A photographic record of whatever leapt out at us

You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a
good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

The last of this year's fun on the lake, and some shots of Wausau, WI

The day begins with Eternal Vigilance.

Much later, settled in, awaiting the evening TV time (or awaiting someone opening that box of Greenie cat treats on the table; those are nightly simultaneous events)

Drydock
(There are lively rumors that someone's lowered the lake level at the sluice gate, & plausible speculations about who that was).

Perhaps Trump can help us achieve 'retribution'.

We're down in the South Bay, 3km to the south, and today we've struck turtle gold. As it were.

We've only seen one turtle all summer, back in the mid-lake of the canal, as usual, but here . . .

. . . is another one, two miles away.

Unfortunately, we frightened it and it's just plooped in and headed west.

We were trying to follow it along -- Rob claimed to have a visual -- but then we lost it. But . . .

. . . this little swimmer came out of nowhere.

Dashing for cover, where, in fact, we find . . .

. . . still another; that's three in one day.

And still another, who senses our presence. We'll leave them alone -- but in all, five, or maybe six, in one go. A modern one-day's record, for this lake, anyway.

The erstwhile plooper is already climbing back up now.

Leaving the South Bay. The highway, and the towns farther north, have been reverberating with the thunder of -- literally -- a thousand or more motorcycles in the annual 'Big Ride' through the region. The riders and passengers are nearly all aging and large and wrapped up in black leather kit. But with only ca. seven helmets amongst them all ['Helmets suck!']

Look who's noticed that there's a suitcase out. Determined not to be left behind. But . . .

. . . it's only for a one evening high school reunion for one member of our party, in Wausau WI, and that's the upper floors of the Jefferson Street Inn. We've been stopping in here annually for the Birds in Art exhibition opening in the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, but that was a week ago and not all of us showed up this year.

Here's the inn's entrance, newly taken over by the Radisson chain, and our sentimental favorite, the City Grill, has been upscaled and renamed the 'Char' (which sounds rather off-putting, one would have thought).

Check-in (a friend of Kristin's is head of the reception crew now, apparently)

A top floor room (best scenic views), by a series of elevators and . . .

. . . circuitous hallways

Whilst the reunion is carrying on in another venue, we'll take the iPhone camera round for a little healthful exercise.

A fun place to work in? Everyone with name badges? Regular elevator inspections? (Every office with a fine view of the carparks below.)

The Landmark Apartments, overlooking . . .

. . . the City Square Office Center, which houses . . .

. . . our bank, inter alia.

The popcorn wagon

A venerable 'bookstore' in Wausau, featuring greeting cards, kids' games, souvenirs, napkins, plush toys, clothing, candles, magazines, and books (both local history and quite a few Republican biographies, and some pop fiction)

Wausau street scene

There are several central streets with interesting buildings.

And lots of churches (of course) (that's the First Presbyterian Church)

The 'Mosaic of North Central Wisconsin' of the YWCA, 'eliminating racism, empowering women' (fine building, fine mission)

The St Stephen Lutheran Church

The Episcopal Church of St John the Baptist

The central commons, with the Jefferson Street Inn on the right

The Reflexology Center

A large portion of the central downtown, formerly a mall amongst other things, is slated for a new future.

It's an enormous plot of valuable downtown territory. One wonders what the timetable is!

Oh.

The Wisconsin River flows through the downtown, with some attractive parks on islands

A four-mile riverside path, the 'River Edge Parkway', with . . .

. . . a footbridge to a park on Barkers Island at midstream

The 'Church of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ' (apparently a Catholic church), and on the next block . . .

. . . 'the finest beads & crystals'

That's the labyrinthine extent of the Jeff St Inn, with various classy shops on the lower level, and . . .

. . . the entrance, tucked in at the end of it, along with the Char Grillroom.

Having come up four floors in the elevator, we now proceed down this hallway (which looks like a Renaissance experiment in artistic perspective) to another elevator for the next floor up.

Back up north now, to wonder why Melvin the Doge persists in treating septic tank lids as his regal throne

A last bike ride for the summer, the familiar route down past the Tigertail, 16 September, pausing along the way to view the progress on this rather thorough project for rebuilding the dock, as they've already improved the boathouse with the Renaissance loggia on it.

The President-for-Life of the Lake Association would be pleased to learn whether the proper building permits had been secured.

Cousin Rob splitting off for home after our last hydrobike excursion of the summer, 16 September 2023

Back up at the north end, we see some people we know.

Like Kristin, pedalboarding, and . . .

. . . Stephanie, in front of her dock, and . . .

. . . making plans for the future.

Mussent Point in the late afternoon, and . . .

. . . it's time to pedal home.

Emery and Choupette are playing about on the trampoline, when . . .

. . . Choupette tackles a project of her own.

-- What you lookin' at, Buster?!

[ -- Back off, don't antagonize her. ]

[Four photos apparently taken by Emery's mom Meryl]

We're just in time for a preprandial apéritif at Oscar's and Cathy's family's cottage next door,
16 September 2023

Rob and Bill sharing yarns

Joellen and Nancy

The twilight trudge back over to Mussent Point for . . .

. . . a last (for us) gang dinner in Joellen's cottage ('ribs', of all things)

Tomorrow, we (and the cats) are off to the East.

The Lake in Wisconsin

Mussent Point is at the red dot.

Next up: Summer's over -- now for the long road home