Northwoods - but no picking

Last week was a short trip for Scott and I. We took the "mini" car so no picking happened, although we did have time to take pictures.

Unlike the typical vacation, we stayed in the back of your friends bar. Midway Bar. So this was not exactly relaxing, but a lot of fun.

The barn across the street has seen better days, but in the northwoods, you use everything, if you ever want to learn how to be good to the environment and save resources, live like the people who live far from big cities. They do not buy things they do not need and the find more then one purpose for everything. You use a fan instead of air-conditioning and heat your home and water with wood. It was much like how I saw people living in Estonia when I visited last year. It is amazing how backward so many of us live and think we are being responsible just because we recycle a few things.

We did not see any wolves or bears, but my husband did see a about 20 wild turkeys in the parking lot of the bar one morning, I was woken up by Shane scaring them away!

One evening we took a drive looking for a spot to take pictures of the sunset over the water, we found some abandon log cabins.

The hardest thing about vacationing in the back of a bar, is that you are vacationing in the back of a bar of someone who has the need to have more bourbons then "The Kentucky Bourbon Trail" (13 total)! At least we did not need to have to worry about a designated driver.

Wisconsin and Minnesota during deer season and an early snow storm

Without a production crew following you on your picking adventures, it takes a little longer to get the details of our adventures posted in a timely manor. The weekend before Thanksgiving, I headed north to Minneapolis for a convention I needed to attend. Laura decided to tag along, needing a break from her job. The weather was great and we had a great day to work our way north. A few wrong turns, but we managed to find some interesting small town antique stores. We did not have much time and we heard the weather may not stay good, so we decided to take the car instead of the truck. I had one nice find, some old church lighting. After I got them home I realized they were copper. and painted. I am debated cleaning off the paint to expose the copper, it will be a messy job so I may wait until summer and then have my husband rewire them. For know they will just have candles in them. 

One of the best parts of a road trip is the food, and Wisconsin is great, because at any gas station you can get "fresh" cheese curds. We try to eat out of the cooler to save money and that is easy in Wisconsin.

We found a hippie destination, for coffee and fun collectables, they also directed us to the closest antiques stores.

In the store was this fun VW hood painted and displayed. Maybe the picker sisters will make it into a chair.

Antiques malls can be overwhelming, and this was no exception. It was a reused old grade school, and not a small one, a very large 2 story school filled from top to bottom.

After 2 days in the city, we headed north again back into Wisconsin. Unfortunately, I was not feeling well, so Laura had to drive. and it was also starting to snow, It may have made sense to head home under the circumstances, but for some reason, I thought it was a good idea to continue on our picking adventure, and besides our Saturday night destination was only suppose to be 3 1/2 hours away, far closer then going all the way home, unfortunately, it took us over 6 hours!

Picking, is not just about the finds, it is also about experiencing the small towns and coming across interesting places. This is a sculpture park we came across along Route 8.

The sign indicated they have concerts in the park, we will have to come back during the summer.

 

We found a few junk shops, but since I was not feeling well and the snow was falling, we decided to just try to get to our destination, Midway Bar in Butternut Wisconsin. Remember, Laura is driving, I do have to give her credit, she kept the car on the road . . . well at least on Saturday.

Deer season started this week so we got to see many of the  hunters trophies. One 13 year old girl went hunting for the first time and got an 8 point buck, her sister also got a deer, dad came home empty handed. In this picture, they are counting points, possibly a 16 pointer!

In the morning, the roads were not much better, so I planned to drive, at least until we go to a major highway.

Yep, as I said, Laura did a good job driving on Saturday, Sunday on the other hand was a different story. I was still feeling bad, so Laura was trying to do be helpful and packed up the car, she then thought it would be a good idea to pull the car down the long driveway, as soon as she walked in the bar, I could tell by the look on her face that the car was in the ditch.

It is not even December and this was my second snowstorm, but it was beautiful!

As I wrote this post I came across another junk show on HGTV called Junk Gypsies. Some how I have not seen this before. We are not county girls and their style is defiantly country shabby chic, but I found them real and interesting to watch. The episode I saw was redoing a small Texas ranch house. Laura and I live in small houses, so it is nice to see ideas for decorating in small spaces with little money.

Some of my best  finds are vintage textiles.  I love doilies, lace, tablecloths etc.  I found this quilt in Wisconsin.  It was practically a steal.  The reason?  Some yellowish age spots around the edges. Hey, no problem for this picker!  I have some (environmentally safe) tricks up my sleeve for this.  One of my favorites is an old timey bar soap called Fels Naptha.  Got this tip from my late Uncle Julian, an amazing thrifter.  Not only is it an unbeatable  stain fighter, it has tons of other uses.  It is great for treating poison ivy, a hazzard for those of us that like to dig up wild plants and rummage through overgrown yards.   Check out www.felsnaptha.com for ideas.  Other good ones are Mrs. Stewart Bluing, hydrogen peroxide and a hearty dose of sunshine.  After some scrubbing and a day on the line, my quilt is as good as new!! 

Its pretty obvious we love garden art. I found this adorable iron bunny on my trip to Spring Green as well. 

Speaking of that lovely Wisconsin town, I recently discovered that they have a "Country Christmas" festival, featuring house tours, cookie walks, ice carving and of course, plenty of local art. I'm sure it is beautiful that time of year, and there are plenty of outdoor places to cc and downhill ski. The campground I stayed at, www.wiriverside.com has some cabins that are cold weather equipped. 

Mo and I are now gearing up for the first winter road trip, Chicago to Minneapolis and home via Wisconsin's north woods and a stop at the "Midway Bar".  I'm busy loading the ipod with tunes and researching groovy places to visit...and pick.  Suggestions welcome! Maybe we will bring home these silos from Butternut Wisconsin. We scouted them out when we were there in September . . . oh wait they are still in use . . . and we are the "picker girls" not the "picker sisters"!