Travel – Forestfire4's Blog

October 20, 2025October 20, 2025

Day Tripping

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything at all, time has definitely gotten away from me. My biggest accomplishments this past year is new carpet throughout my condo, painting most rooms, and remodeling my master bathroom. Most everything looks fabulous but everything just left me drained. (Not a fan of my new carpet unfortunately, I had one in mind and picked the wrong one). All that is left really are some repairs in my main bathroom and my kitchen (not really looking forward to that one).

But recently I went on a fun day trip to Luck, Wisconsin that I wanted to talk about. My daughter received a gift card to a small winery up there, so my son-in-law drove us up there for the day. We passed through St. Croix Falls, which is such a pretty drive all by itself, and kept traveling north until we reached Bunnycup Winery. They had a small craft fair and a food truck for the day, which was nice. We bought a sourdough cinnamon roll and an order of sidewinder fries to go with our wine. I also bought some sourdough bagels to bring home, I have been trying to keep primarily to sourdough for my baked goods, so having a sourdough baker their was kismet.

The wines were not bad either. My favorites were the Sunshine (viognier grape), Wait, What? (Rose, Sabrevois grape), and Hidden Gem (A Petite Pearl grape). The R.B.F. fruit wine was also much better than expected. What we liked is that they imported many of their grapes for production, from South America, California, etc. They also have a nice mix of local grapes they use also.

All in all, I had a very nice day with my “kids” and it was a very nice drive. Not quite peak yet when we went, unfortunately, but still beautiful weather and the drive always brings back many happy memories of driving through this area to visit my parents who were up in northwestern Wisconsin. I also got a very cute sweatshirt as a souvenir.

April 14, 2024April 14, 2024

Cruise Review – Oceania Vista

I am back from my latest venture and reflecting on how it went. First up was my cruise on the Oceania Vista. The Vista is a newer ship, it just launched in May 2023, and only holds 1,200 passengers (with double occupancy). It was nice to sail on a newer ship, although you could already see areas where a few small pool tiles needed to be replaced and edges were frayed, but they were very minor and rarely seen.

The ship sailed from Miami and was scheduled to stop in Cozumel, Harvest Caye (Belize), Roatan (Honduras), and Costa Maya (Mexico). You might notice I say “scheduled”. Unfortunately the wind conditions prevented a stop in Costa Maya, so there was a last minute decision to reroute and we had an extra day at sea. The cruise went from March 9th to March 16th. This was my birthday treat to myself, as my birthday was on March 15th!

So what did I decide? YES, I would do it again just with another itinerary (maybe 4.5 stars out of 5?). I loved the ship, the crew were amazing and the food was very good. I had a nice balcony and spacious veranda cabin all to myself. It was beautiful. I did sit out on the balcony almost every day, but I couldn’t really leave the door open as it whistled like crazy when I did.

I remembered to bring some magnets and used them to post my tickets and boarding pass in front of the door lock so I didn’t forget them. I also posted the daily schedules and other information above my desk. I was very glad I had the magnets for another reason too, there was an annoying blue light above the door that didn’t turn off, I used two magnets and some paper to cover it up at night! I didn’t need it, the nightlight in the bathroom was more than enough light at night.

One of my favorite spots was the library, the scope of reading materials available was very broad. I even found a book I have been wanting to read and brought that to my room. I also loved the bakery, they always had little treasures to try every day. The good thing was I avoided the elevators often and walked everywhere so even though I ate very well I didn’t gain an ounce! I was sad to leave and head out on the next parts of my vacation in Florida.

October 9, 2023

Going back – to Camogli, Italy

I have been looking back and reminiscing as my Facebook site keeps sending me “one year ago today” reminders. So, I thought it would be a good time to fill in some of my blanks before I dive into creating a scrapbook on my trip. I am almost done with my “Florida and Back” trip from earlier in 2022. I am definitely behind! So here it goes…

After leaving Como, Italy I sent my daughter home and jumped on a train south to Camogli through Genoa and Milan. All was going well, until……Milan. All of a sudden our non-stop train stopped just outside of Milan. It turns out there was an earthquake ahead and they needed to make sure the lines were safe for us to continue. So they passed out some snacks and water and left us to sit. About an hour later we parked at the station and an employee walked through and said “cancelled”. He did not speak English and I don’t speak Italian so it was very confusing. In fact many in my car were Americans and didn’t speak much Italian either! But we just got up and followed everyone out the door. I was pointed towards customer service (at this point I was in tears and trying to pull it together), where you take a number. This line moved SLOW and there were over 100 people in front of me (an hour later), so I kept walking back and forth to the taxi station but most were gone. About 90 minutes later I finally found a taxi driver willing to drive me to Camogli, which was about an hour south. I just barely made it to the hotel before they closed for the night. I was so grateful I definitely gave him a good tip!

Camogli was beautiful and a great place to stop and relax. I rented a small efficiency mid-way down the “cliff” that leads from the main part of town to the historic part of the city along the coast. I washed clothes (in the sink) and hung them out on a line to dry. They had a tiny “kitchen in a box) that had a small stove and microwave and I did find a small grocery store on top of the hill. I bought a giant box of Corn Flakes, which definitely brought home a taste of home! And there was a lovely garden in front that I spent some time relaxing in, when it wasn’t raining.

The steps along my rental, I was halfway down.

On Monday I met up with a friend of a friend (Alexandra) who took me on a tour of a part of the Cinque de Terre region via ferry. This was my favorite part of my trip, she was awesome. We stopped in Portofino, San Fruttuoso, and San Margherita. I am glad for her company, by this time I was a little nervous and I know I wouldn’t have had the courage to try the ferries without her! We also had an awesome lunch in San Margherita, I had the linguini with clams, and a great dessert. It was a beautiful day and she helped me understand how to figure out the trains a bit to help alleviate my fears over trying again.

As my stop in Camogli came to an end, I headed up to the train station for my journey to Nice, France. Sadly not non-stop, I did one changeover near the border between Italy and France. I also did a great job getting a few complaints about all the room I took up with my backpack and luggage as we got closer to Nice. The further along we went, the more people that boarded and I ended up crammed into a corner with all my stuff, trying to be smaller than I was. LOL I will write more later!

March 13, 2023

Going Back – to Lake Como

Here I am, looking back to my vacation in Europe. I did a terrible job keeping up with it all while traveling this last time, but I want to write down my thoughts before they completely disappear! In fact there are no notes between September 16th (our stop in Mannheim and Heidelberg Germany) until September 29th when I was in Nice, France. And nothing between there and arriving home. Plus my notes were very sketchy. Why??? I note that I wasn’t feeling great and I was exhausted by the time I arrived at my stop in Italy, then I must have just given up? So here we go….

My daughter and I finished our European river trip on AmaMora with a 3-day stop in Lake Como after a drive through Switzerland. The last stop on the cruise was in Basel. After leaving the boat we took a drive through Switzerland and stopped in Bellinzona, Italy for a tour and lunch. I have to say, the rest stop in Switzerland (below) was a real treat, what a beautiful stop! Bellinzona was a nice stop for getting out to stretch our legs.

After our quick stop, on to Lake Como and our weird hotel. Don’t get me wrong, it was a Hilton and overall a nice enough hotel, but the rooms were dark and stark and the food in the restaurant was just okay. It was a short walk across the (very busy) street to get to the trail along the lake shore which was convenient. Just not my choice for a comfortable place to stay, but the room was definitely very large.

My room at the hotel. Unfortunately, the travel pillow I bought the cover for in Amsterdam was “lost” by the staff at the hotel. I am so sad I left it behind! I missed having it on my travels.

Como, Italy is a very busy city with super narrow “sidewalks” and beautiful buildings.

Como-Brunate Funicular Railway (or Funicolare Como-Brunate) – One of our tours was up to the top of a mountain overlooking the city, which is where the village of Brunate is located. My first experience in a funicular cable railway system! In a funicular, cars are attached at opposite ends by the same cable, known as a haul rope, to safely take you up some very steep slopes. I loved it!

We did also tour about town a bit.

Our visitors at the café on the lake. We stopped here twice, happy hour and lunch.

Tanya set up a short wine tour for us in Como. I have to say, it was a bit crazy walking the super narrow sidewalks as we followed Google map to our location. One misstep and you would be smooshed by a car! These are the wines I enjoyed most during our visit. Sadly, their advertisement said they ship their wines, but unfortunately not to the U.S.! Someday I will have to see if I can track these down.

Last Stop: Lake Cruise

When in Como, you need to do a lake cruise to see George Clooney’s house! Of course! And, we also saw lots of other “stuff”. 🙂 We stopped in Bellagio to do a little shopping too. I bought a silk scarf for my sister-in-law Jill and a wool scarf for my sister Laura. Looking back, I should have bought more scarves, they were so beautiful, but now that I am retired I don’t wear dressy scarves as often.

Our guide from AmaMora stuck with us in Como

Last Stop: the Cathedral

There is always a cathedral to look at in European cities and villages! And they are works of art and always a peaceful place to stop and gather your thoughts. When on my own I would usually spend more time just sitting and enjoying the atmosphere.

Well, that is about all I remember from Como. Next I think I will go further back and add in some more thoughts and photos of the river cruise.

October 16, 2022October 16, 2022

Rijksmuseum

So, my favorite stop in Amsterdam was the Rijksmuseum. I love visiting museums, but don’t always take the time to go (I am not exactly sure I know why). But I spent almost 7 hours wandering around looking at all the exhibits. I had a wonderful experience and I definitely got my steps in!

I recommend eating at the museum café, I had a very tasty chicken sandwich. The only weird thing was the way they served meals. You order like normal, sandwich and a drink. But the sandwich is made over on one half of the kitchen and drinks in the other half. My sandwich came out a good 15 minutes before my drink! I was able to flag down a waitress and ask what happened and she got me a glass of water to tide me over until my tea came. Ended up being a longer lunch than I expected because of this, but it was a good rest for my sore feet. I also met a very nice woman from Germany over lunch too.

I would say my favorite exhibit hall was actually the special collections section. This is the revolving area, they have so much in their archives they need an area where they can bring items in and out to showcase. And they were all so interesting, all their stories and history. Seeing the Blue Delft, the crystal work, and so on.

Next the floors on floors, through time. Each section a separate century. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to come back to visit I had to see them all, thus almost 7 hours later! 😊

One highlight of course, is the Night Watch by Rembrandt. This was a very popular spot!

I also loved the doll houses, wish mine when I was younger had been so intricate!

Here are a few pictures. I am not touching the mantel, just trying to look like I am, but I just look weird as my shoulder was too sore to raise it further. LOL

Stained glass all over the museum, just gorgeous.

And the library, you really wish you could peruse what is there. But I am sure very little is in English.

The only thought I had was regarding the tour groups. Twice they blocked off some pictures and it was difficult to get around them to see what they were looking at! Once I even walked around the hall for a good 20 minutes and they didn’t move! They were packed in too tight into a corner it would have been terribly rude to walk around them, so I moved on. If they want to spend so much time talking about a picture, please move away! You can look and then step back to talk about it. Does that sound picky? I just was so curious as to what took so long to talk about it. I never did get a good look at the one. Oh well.

October 16, 2022October 16, 2022

Heading Home

So, my post for when I was on my way home and trying hard to not cry. DO NOT CRY!! I am coming home one month earlier than I hoped, but later than I thought I might at the start. I was so nervous when I left home, what was I thinking? To head out and jaunt around Europe on my own? No clear idea of where I was going once I hit France or how to get there? What about my tendency for crippling anxiety (not very easy to manage, I have a habit of stepping back, distancing myself from the world around me all to calm my mind)? Or the fact that I don’t speak French much and only recognize about 1 word out of every couple dozen words? And I am hard of hearing? All reasons to not go, but I made it out of the house, and I WENT PLACES I never dreamt I would actually get to.

Maybe someday I will go back and take another look, I did love Amsterdam. The French fries were awesome. And a burger joint on every other block, definitely not all bad! September was a good time to visit. Not as many tourists and the weather was still nice. Although the Mediterranean Sea was so beautiful and warm!

And I did cry a little bit on the plane, I am sure my seatmate was wondering what was going on. I watched the Minions on the monitor to try and cheer me up.

September 13, 2022September 13, 2022

Saying Goodbye to Amsterdam

Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I boarded the Ama Mora in preparation for our river cruise south into Germany. Ama Mora is a beautiful ship, the dinner was very good, and the crew is so friendly. My cabin is gorgeous and a comfortable spot. Since they had a few open cabins, we were able to get a separate one for Tanya, so I have one all to myself! Which is good since lately I have started to snore a bit, unfortunately one that is a new development and I keep thinking if I lose some of this extra weight it will help? Thankfully I am single. LOL

Central Amsterdam was a warren of narrow sidewalks, narrow one-way streets ringed with little shops, cafes, businesses, lawyers, and residential homes all mixed together on street after street. I walked more steps in the past 9 days than I can ever remember doing. Unfortunately, the food was so good my weight didn’t budge at all. I blame it on the burger bars all over, a great stop for quick takeout. I hit two of them!

For the end of week I walked, a lot. I love the canals and looking at all the houseboats. The tippy looking buildings and the bridges. If I had more time….

I did choose one day tour, out to Giethoorn Village. I chose this one as they picked you up at your hotel, rather than having to figure out how to get up to the north end for the windmill tour pickup. I am glad I did; it was a relaxing day, and the tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. He was originally from Tibet but has been living in Amsterdam for over 20 years now. The tour company is his own business so was eager to make sure we relaxed and had an enjoyable day. I have my raincoat on, but it only drizzled a little bit in the late afternoon. I found the tour on Viator.

To get to your home, you have to go over a bridge

On Thursday night I did an evening canal tour. I was not impressed; I didn’t read the description close enough. No tour guide (just prerecorded radio messages!) to help out. And it would just randomly switch to Dutch now and then. Also sketchy in that it was hard to hear, ear bud only (I have hearing aids). Often, I missed the place I was supposed to look at as there were no directions, just “out there” in the dark somewhere. The captain never said a word, perhaps he did not speak any English? Also, no way to purchase snacks or drinks on a two-hour cruise! Definitely didn’t understand what I was getting.

My last day was meeting up with my daughter, Tanya, as she arrived in Amsterdam to prepare for our cruise down the Rhine River. We walked, a lot, and had some good food during her short visit. She did get me into may small shops that I typically would just walk on by. We also went to the Albert Cuyp Street Market. A tourist trap in some ways, but we found a couple nice deals. I found a cute ring as a souvenir too. Plus, the stroopwaffel was awesome! Although I still think Tanya should have gotten the chocolate sauce on half.

I will save my favorite stop, the Rijksmuseum, for later. Then onto the river cruise! I am finishing this post up as I sit here on my balcony enjoying the evening on the river!

September 6, 2022

AMSTERDAM – Days 1 and 2

Here I am, relaxing in Amsterdam. This is definitely a curious city with all the canals and narrow streets. And the traffic! Pedestrians have to fend for themselves, they definitely don’t have the right of way here. So you are constantly on the watch whenever you walk. In fact, if there is a traffic blockage they even skip up onto the sidewalk and don’t like it when you don’t move out of the way. This free for all is the first thing my taxi driver warned me about when he picked me up at the airport even. The previous week he saw a bicyclist hit a pedestrian, pick himself up and ride off! So the driver stopped and gave her a ride to the hospital, where she found out she had a broken ankle. Unfortunately, it meant she had to miss her river cruise, so sad! I don’t want to do the same, so I trying to be careful.

Day one saw some serious exhaustion as I slept very little on the airplane, big surprise. I liken it to being in a hospital as the stewards roam the aisles to see if you would like a drink, or maybe a snack, periodically. Plus, the calls for assistance from fellow passengers, or those trying to find the bathroom. Fun times!

Above are some pictures of my hotel room, really more of a small apartment. Once I unpacked I did some walking around to stay awake. The sun was shining, and I put in quite a few steps around the inner canal rings. I had a nice pasta with chicken for dinner before heading back to my hotel room to try and sleep.

On Monday I slowed down, my legs developed quite a “rash” after all the walking the State Fair last week and the airplane ride and walking yesterday. The “rash” is really a bunch of burst small capillaries according to my dermatologist. I get it almost every year for the last 10 years or so during the fair unfortunately. It can be sore but is usually just tingly and hot feeling. Not comfortable at all, so I slept in and didn’t go out except for lunch and then dinner.

Lunch was at Cafe George, I had the Croque Monsieur. It was very good and I had a nice view of a canal. Dinner was at Red, which is just a few doors down, a great steak with the wonderful Dutch french fries (frites) out along the canal. It was great, until a bee decided to try and fly up my skirt which made me jump and spill half a glass of a wonderful rose on myself. Of course!

Here are a few shots from my walk and eating out.

I will post more soon!

August 24, 2022August 24, 2022

Confused and dismayed

I am deep into planning a trip to Europe for an extended amount of time (posts will be forthcoming as I get there). My housesitter is lined up, my neighbors all know what is happening and almost everything is paid for and scheduled. Whew. But….. Unfortunately I made a last minute change in schedule, opting for Toulon instead of central Marseille as a base of operations. I panicked to be honest. I had one person too many tell me how unsafe Marseille is for a woman on her own who doesn’t really speak French hardly at all. So, cancelled there and reserved a spot in Toulon in an apartment building that has a staffed lobby, yet is still within walking distance of a train station and the port. I feel so bad for the place I cancelled as I am sure she will have a tough time renting the unit so last minute, but they had free cancellation until September 1st. So here I am feeling guilty, but at the same time relieved at the decision. Does that make sense?

toulon-facts Download

July 5, 2022July 5, 2022

Log Cabins and bears = oh my!

I am sitting here, trying to recollect when I started coming to the Log Cabin Resort here in Trego, Wisconsin. My daughter, Tanya, found this place first, starting in one of the smaller cabins (the Pine Cabin, an efficiency really) with no working television but at least electricity and water. The draw was always the Namekogan River, the resort staff and the surroundings. And my daughter and son-in-law love to go tubing on the river.

Namekagon River – Wisconsin’s Moving National Park

I would camp in Shell Lake at the Red Barn Campground while they would come and stay here at the resort. Always the weekend of July 4th. Then in 2014 they weren’t able to make it and to maintain our reservation I stayed here, and that was that. Tanya had put our name on the waiting list for a 2-bedroom cabin which we got in 2015. So this is my 7th year in the Bear Cabin here at the resort. The current owners purchased the resort 5 years ago (awesome!). This is just something my daughter and I love to do together each year. Relax and cook and sample surrounding restaurants. Mostly for pizza and cheese curds! The staff are friendly and watchful; the tubing and canoeing operations are well-oiled machines; and the beach is great for swimming (just need to be careful of the current). I plan on coming as long as I am able to drive and lug up all my supplies!

Camping | Trego | Log Cabin Resort and Campground (logcabin-resort.com)

Trego is a small SMALL town. Mom and Dad used to own a home on the Namekogan River flowage, just upriver of the dam. My siblings and the grandchildren loved to come and visit in the summer. Being so close to the dam, the current was much tamer and we loved to swim there. The water was cold, but nowhere near as cold as Shell Lake! We were very sad when they sold the house and moved to Florida full time.

What is there to do in Trego? It has a great breakfast spot (The Prime), the river and national park land. Not much else. But it is between Hayward and Spooner as well as on the road from Eau Claire to Superior, Wisconsin. During the fourth of July weekend you see a lot of license plates from Minnesota! It is a great place to stay and you can find a lot of wonderful spots to eat, hike and visit. I definitely recommend a stop at the Lakeview in Shell Lake and a trip out to What the Heck in Spooner for sure, I always stop at these two and go from there. The Shell Lake Arts Center (Home – Shell Lake Arts Center), Perlick Distillery (Perlick Distillery), Pine Brook Farm and the beach in Shell Lake are also great places to stop. To burn off your food, try one of the local hiking trails, such as the the Trego hiking trail; visiting the Wilderness Walk in Hayward; shopping in Spooner; fishing or sailing in Shell Lake; swimming; or floating down the river. Just relax and breath.