Why I Oughta...

We were out walking around Elizabeth Lake in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin a couple of weekends back and we came across this setup near Sunset Park.  It is out near the waterline and is kind of set back from the park.  But, because it is shiny, metallic and has that big solar panel and the antenna, it sticks out.  We walked up to it and the sticker on the front told us what it is.  See below: It is a Crest-Stage Gaging Station operated by the US Geological Survey (USGS).  The sticker goes on to read: This station is part of a national network for obtaining water-resources information.  The high-water mark recorded by this gage and the discharge of the stream related to it are use for flood forecasting, reservoir operations, design of bridges and culverts, interstate and intrastate water-rights claims and many other projects. It ends with:  for information contact: (nobody). So, I went digging.  And turns out, the USGS runs a nice little dashb...

The sky was full of pinks and purples as we stood on the pier and took in the magic of the twilight sky.  This is what I'll call a midway point in the series - is it a series?  - that started with sunrise at Sunset Park (terribly named) back in June of 2020 .  Like a lot of lakes, Elizabeth Lake is dealing with Eurasian Watermilfoil - an invasive plant that takes over.  We had it up in Coloma on Paw Paw Lake , too.   It is a common 'hitchhiker' that is brought from lake to lake hung up on props and trailers.  The weeds on Elizabeth Lake have been something this year - maybe that's due to the water temperatures? Or, maybe that's just how things are these days. 

That photo was taken in the area of what is known as Sunset Beach Park on Elizabeth Lake in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.  I was out for an early-morning walk and the sky was painted purple and pink.  The Park is located on the West side of Elizabeth Lake (or...as I call it:  Elizabeth Lake) and has great views of the....ummmm....sunrise.  The location of the park is mentioned in this article about new playground equipment :  Sunset Beach Park is located on the Lake Elizabeth shore, at Sunset Drive east of Lakeshore Way. Here's an overhead look of the park (the red spot is the playground equipment) from Google Maps: It is located at the end of Sunset Drive.  You might be able to tell from that small photo of Google Maps that the lake is, ummm, EAST of Sunset Drive.  And to the EAST of Sunset Beach.  Here's a zoomed out view that shows you the orientation.  Note the red arrow point up for North.  The yellow circle is the positio...

And, is "spring fed".  Based on this flyer that the Twin Lakes Sailing Club tossed on the dock.  They used fruit snacks to weigh it down - which was kinda cute. Paw Paw Lake in Coloma, Michigan is 4,300 acres.  7x the size. I'd been trying to figure out how they compared and now, thanks to the Twin Lakes Sailing Club's brochure....I have my answer. Also, fun fact, it is technically "Elizabeth Lake".  And according to Wikipedia , Elizabeth Lake was named for Elizabeth Barrett Browning, an English poet.  Who, I'm guessing never visited the lake.

As seen on the dock outside of Disney's Contemporary Resort.  Looks a lot like what we see on Lake Elizabeth in Wisconsin.  There are so many things that we haven't done in the Vacation Kingdom, including fishing.  Who knows...maybe when the kids get older, we'll give this a shot.  When we were recently staying at the Boardwalk, we saw a family fishing off a pontoon boat right outside of the Boardwalk - and they kept reeling in fish after fish.  The Vacation Kingdom , indeed.  

Back in late January, I posted a photo from the Lakeview Room* out on Lake Elizabeth showing the colorful sunrise one morning .  Here's another one from the same room showing the view that we woke up to on a recent weekend morning.  The lake was still frozen and covered in snow and if you look closely, you can see one of the ice fishing shantys in the middle right of the photo out in the distance.  *Room name pending

There I was minding my own business early one morning recently reading on my phone when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some movement out on the back porch.  I looked up and saw this guy's head peeking out from behind a post.  Those pointy ears and his bright coat told me he wasn't a coyote.  He was there for just an instance.  Then off he went down the stairs.   I shot up and made my way to the window to see where he was heading.  After some frollicking in the snow, he made his way into the neighbor's yard and disappeared.   Nat tells me that she's come across a similar fox last fall up there - so he's a known neighborhood member.  Turns out... they don't attack dogs .  So they have that going for themselves...

On a recent visit to Twin Lakes , we spent some time with friends at their place up on Lake Elizabeth.  They have a few water toys that the kids got to try out including one of those massive water trampolines .  What was most interesting was that the kids figured out how to use raft and paddle that they boarded from the dock to navigate out to the trampoline - all the while staying mostly dry and out of the lake.  I talked with the Babe that night and she said that having the ability to pilot her own 'boat' out on the lake was a lot of fun. It was only about 20 feet from the dock to the trampoline, but that whole time, she was the captain and first mate.  She was on her own.  And, she expressed that she liked it!  So...while we're not in the spot to score a trampoline, we happen to be in possession of an old raft.  My Dad gave it to me as he was closing down Coloma and for the past year, it sat up in the garage in Twin Lakes.  Until now. I d...

We've been able to spend a little bit of time this summer up in Twin Lakes on Lake Elizabeth with the kids and little Lizzie.  I've posted a few times about Lizzie.  First, when we got her .  Then, earlier this spring when we marked her 7 month mark .    She was born on July 21st of last year , so we're coming up on her 11 month mark and there are still some new experiences - including her first trip into the lake.  Our dear Maisy - who Lizzie isn't a pimple on - spent some time up in Paw Paw Lake in Michigan.  We bought her a dog life jacket and that's the one that Lizzie is wearing in the photo above.  Maisy was a good swimmer, but one of the funniest things was seeing her swim in the lake only to haul her out by the handle on her back, on top of the jacket, only to see her little legs keep swimming even though she was out of the water.  Turns out, that's a Cavalier thing!  Lizzie does the same thing. The girls love this big 'yog...

We're now all set up with fishing rod and a little tackle box up.  We went off to Walmart and came home with a few little poles (for the two younger kids) and an intermediate one for the Babe and I even bought my own rod.  When we were picking out the equipment the lady at Walmart was very helpful and encouraged me to get a license.  After answering a handful of questions, she printed out this barcode license that says that we are supposed to carry this with us when we fish.  We didn't buy any stamps because, well, we're just beginners and we're catching a lot of little things and tossing them back. The Babe has had the most luck of the bunch.  She throws her line in - usually with a wax worm on the hook - and most sessions, she pulls out a fish.  A lot of panfish (bluegills) and a few bass (not sure if they're large-mouth or small-mouth...again....we're beginners!) so far.  The King of the Ball Tossers is currently using a casting practice weight...

Check out that shoreline!  That's what they call Ice Jacking or Ice Heaving.  And best I can tell it is quite common in Minnesota.  There's dozens of stories like this one about it happening and damaging both the shoreline and occasionally, someone's property.   I took these photos a bit ago before the lake ice melted completely. We dealt with heaving with our old gate and the pavers underneath it as each winter they'd rise up by a small fraction of an inch, but it was enough to make the gate stick underneath it. That curling up of the earth and movement of the stones from the riprap is something I've never seen before in all my years spent around a lake.  Paw Paw didn't do this, but we also had a lot of beach area with a zero-depth entrance, so perhaps the ice had room to expand? If you look in the photo below, you can see it happening in the neighbors shoreline, too.  But, it doesn't occur everywhere.  Just in *some* spots. Based on what ...

I feel a little bit like Sarah Palin when I stand on the dock at Lake Elizabeth in Wisconsin and look to the right to see the great state of Illinois.  Just a little bit.