Musings from Illinois

Stone Bridge Trail, Leland Path, Kinstone Path 1-29-12

2012-01-29T17:54:00.004-06:00

A three-for-one day. Got to walk on three seperate trails. We started on the Stone Bridge Trail entering at the Elevator Road access point headed south. When we got to the Leland Path, we headed west and then north on it up to the corner of Main Street and Elevator Road where we took caught the Kinstone Recreational Trail. We took that back to the Stone Bridge Trail and then back to the Jeep. We parked up the street at a mall. Total length according to Base Camp was 3.6 miles. Took us 97 minutes.

We previously hiked the Stone Bridge Trail its entire length. No snow then. It is a nice trail, with some good scenery. We have seen the two paths before but not walked them yet.

We were also on the Hononegah Path for about 100 feet from the end of the Leland Path to the start of the Kinstone Path, so maybe it is a four-for-one.

The view looking down the SBT south from Elevator Road.

Most of the Leland Path is either residential or retail. The local merchants apparently appreciate the Leland Path that goes by. The path had been plowed AND salted. There was still some ice and snow, but it was mostly bare pavement.

Trail head at Elevator Road and Main Street where the Hononegah, Leland, and Kinstone Paths converge.

It was hard to tell for sure due to the snow but it appeared that some of the Kinstone Recreational Path was paved and some of it was gravel. The Kinstone Path is mostly tree lined, and follows along the creek most of its length.

North branch of the Kinnickinick Creek as viewed from the Kinstone Path.

North branch of the Kinnickinick Creek as viewed from the Stone Bridge Trail.

Arrow Manufacturing Plastic Water Bottles 1 Liter

2012-01-28T19:53:00.005-06:00

I bought these at Farm and Fleet in the kitchen section a few weeks ago. I think they were $1.69 each. Made in USA. Nice one hand sport caps, and a good size cap. I had thought to use them in place of the bottles I have now in my fanny pack, but the size is off just a hair. I may try them anyway. I noticed they said 1 liter/32 ounces on them. One liter would be almost 34 ounces. Have not used them for anything yet.

Random stuff

2012-01-28T19:49:00.002-06:00

1-25-12
I stopped for gas and noticed this sausage sitting on top of a pallet of salt bags next to the gas pump as I was leaving. I felt the need to take a picture of it for my blog.

1-28-12
Bumper sticker seen today.

Next to the front door of the Hunting Hut in Belvidere. Wonder what caliber it is.

Meritline 39 cent keychain compass

2012-01-27T20:18:00.001-06:00

Or maybe it is a zipper pull compass. In any case, for 39 cents shipping included (from Singapore), I could not resist. I don't know quite what I will be doing with it. Maybe keep it as a spare.

It is small, but it seems to work.

Questbar Protein Bar Vanilla Almond Crunch

2012-01-26T21:40:00.004-06:00

Questbar website

I got this as a sample from some kind of on-line promotion. It was pretty tasty. It has 4 net carbs. I think they call them effective carbs. No sugar alcohols in this one although some of their products do have it.

Oddly, the individual package did not state the flavor of the bar on the wrapper.

Another website that does not allow cut and past of their ingredient list.

Protein blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Milk Protein Isolate)
Isomalto-Oligosaccharide (IMO - 100% natural pre-biotic fiber)
Almonds
Water
Natural Flavors
Sea salt
Lo Han Guo (another sweetener)
Sucralose

9 g fat
22 g carbs (18 g fiber, 1 g sugar)
200 calories

It was a little gritty and kind of chewy, similar to the other bar I got a sample of. I liked it. I did not try heating this one either. I did not experience any carb crazies from it.

They are kind of pricey at over $2 each (not including shipping), and are only available online thru the manufacturer, eBay, and I think Netrition has them.

Questbar Chocolate Brownie

2012-01-26T21:40:00.003-06:00

Questbar website

I got this as a sample from some kind of online promotion. It was pretty tasty. It has 5 net carbs. I think they call them effective carbs. No sugar alcohols in this one although some of their products do have it.

Oddly, the individual package did not state the flavor of the bar on the wrapper.

Another website that does not allow cut and past of their ingredient list.

Protein blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Milk Protein Isolate)
Isomalto-Oligosaccharide (IMO - 100% natural pre-biotic fiber)
Almonds
Cocoa
Water
Natural Flavors
Sea salt
Lo Han Guo (another sweetener)
Sucralose

6 g fat
24 g carbs (19 g fiber, 1 g sugar)
170 calories

It was a little gritty and kind of chewy. I liked it. I saw a suggestion either on the package or some advertising that came with the samples that suggests heating it up, but I did not try that. I did not experience any carb crazies from it, although I think I could have eaten 3 or 4 of them.

It has a lot of fiber for a small bar like this. But I did not get any intestinal issues from it like I would from some sugar alcohols. I could not find that much on IMO online. It appears to be a sweetener of some sort that is not digested by the body. The FDA considers it GRAS.

They are kind of pricey at over $2 each (not including shipping), and are only available online thru the manufacturer, eBay, and I think Netrition has them.

Rothco BDU Trousers

2012-01-23T05:03:00.009-06:00

I broke down and ordered some new trousers recently. I thought I would try some BDUs. Thought they might work a little better then the denim I have been wearing mostly. I have lost a lot of weight so a lot of the pants I used to have went to Goodwill as they were just too big.

I bought them on 1/17/22 on eBay from seller "armyuniverse". I picked them because they had good prices and a high feedback score. They arrived in the mail 1/21/12 via priority mail.

They are tagged as made in China, but seem well made. I wanted some heavier weight pants to wear during the winter and thought I would get some cargo pants and these were basically cargo pants easily available in my size. The stitching is solid looking, and I did not notice many tails hanging anywhere. They are made of 35% poly and 65% cotton.

I got them in blue. Didn't want something that looked real military. Just some utility pants. I did not know quite what to expect, never having had a pair before. I don't know if they are true mil-spec or not either, and don't really care much. I don't know that any military service ever wore blue BDUs anyway.

This is the tag that it came with. The little belt like strap with the buckle is for waist size adjustment. They seem to come in a range of sizes in the waist that are like a 4 inch span and these buckles (one on each side) are used to adjust the waist. I left them all the way extended. They seem to work OK at that position, although I may need to tighten them up just a bit.

There are cargo pockets on each leg, with hidden buttons. The front edge of the flaps are sewn down. I think the hidden buttons and front edge of the flap being sewn down is supposed to protect the flaps and buttons.

This is the tag on the inside.

The blousing bands on the legs.

I wore them hiking today (1-22-12). It was not real cold out and I had my fleece long johns on under them. I was quite warm. But it was in the upper 20s. It was kind of windy and the trousers seemed to work pretty well at deflecting the wind. The blousing bands worked pretty well at both holding the hem up off the ground (the pants are a couple inches longer than my leg), but also keep cold air from blowing up my pants leg.

I did not wear my gaiters. I probably should have. The hike in the snow resulted in wet snow getting all over the bottom of the pants legs. I was damp almost up to my knees by the time I got back to the car. Not an ideal situation, but it was not uncomfortably cold. I guess the poly fleece long underwear worked its magic. I never really felt the dampness until I got in the car.

There are some features I am not overjoyed with. I would prefer Velcro instead of buttons for the pocket flaps. It is a little awkward unbuttoning them. Probably will get used to them in time. The slash front pockets do not seem as deep as some pants I have had. I have yet to use either of the cargo pockets. Not real thrilled with the button up fly either. The blousing bands seem to work pretty well, but I am not quite sure how one is supposed to hem them up without cutting off the bands.

I think I would prefer a little higher waist as well. But, overall, they seem pretty well made, and fit OK. Given the built in waist size changing capability, I ought to get a lot of service from them before they just get too big and end up at Goodwill themselves.

ETA 1-23-12
A couple of things. It has occurred to me that it would have been nice if there were belt loops supplied closer together at the front. There is over a foot between belt loops at the front that allows the belt to slide up some. This seems like a common issue with larger pants sizes.

One of the back pocket buttons came off. The thread holding it in place unraveled. It will need to be sewed back on.

1-22-12 Snow hike Rock Cut State Park and turkeys

2012-01-22T21:52:00.004-06:00

We went it by the dam again. Down a ways on the Willow Creek path and then up the hill in the snow. Then west and finally south back to the Willow Creek Path. At one point a coyote crossed the trail about 50 yards ahead of us but I was not quick enough to get him on video.

Base Camp said is was 2.6 miles. Took just over 2 hours and that was with more than a third of it on Willow Creek Path. Very slow going in 4-6 inches of snow.

Got some nice pictures.

On out way home while still in the park we saw these turkeys.

Chinese Snow Gaiters

2012-01-21T18:11:00.004-06:00

I got these on eBay. I paid $1 for them, plus $5.59 shipping from Hong Kong. Seller name = topicshop. The item description covers it pretty well.

Brand new and high quality
Made of anti-abrasion, rainproof and anti-wear 300t nylon
Walking waterproof gaiters
Protect your boots and pants from water, rain and mud
Keep you clean, dry and comfortable
Easy to wear and carry
Foldable
Great for walking, hiking, fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities
Color: black
One size fits most
Material: 300t nylon
Rainproof rating: 3000mm
With nylon drawcord at top and adjustable buckle at bottom
Full length zipper
Length: 40cm
Top circumference: about 52cm

They were shipped from Hong Kong. I don't get how anyone can ship anything from the far east for the price, but somehow they can. IIRC, I got it on 1/10/12. The sale date was 12/22/11.

I have used them a couple of times during snow removal chores. They worked pretty well.

My only real gripe with them is the size. They are advertised as one size fits most. They probably do but by US standards they are just a hair small. They are about 16" high by 20" wide. I am wearing my size 13W ICW boots in this photo. If you look closely you may see that they don't extend the full height up my leg. That is because my boot and calf is more then 20" in circumference. They would work a lot better for me if they were another inch or two wider. That is not the product's fault though. And even not extended all the way up my calf they worked pretty well.

They do seem to be of generally good quality, and they did keep the snow from getting on my pants legs. They did seem to be waterproof as the wet snow did not soak through the nylon. The zipper seemed pretty robust, and the Velcro worked.

There is a draw string at the very top I did not need, along with a piece of elastic at the bottom, and another about ankle high.

The strap under the boot seems pretty sturdy. It took me a while to figure out how best to put them on. It seems to work best to leave the strap connected and just kind of step into it, and then zip it up around your foot.

There is some kind of metal fastener at the bottom. I think it is meant to hook onto your shoelaces, possibly to hold it down to the front of your shoe. It is not the strongest of fasteners and bends easily. I did not even try to use it, as it did not seem necessary.

I don't think they would be appropriate to use as snake gaiters as they are pretty lightweight. But for keeping snow off of my pant legs, they worked pretty well.

They did not come with any instructions. Just the two gaiters that appear to be identical. It is not as if they are real complicated, so instructions were really not necessary.

More snow

2012-01-21T16:17:00.001-06:00

1-17-12
We got maybe an inch of snow today.

1-20-12
We got 4-6 inches of snow today. Blizzard like at times.

1-21-12
I went out to remove the snow this morning.

4 degrees F. Seemed warmer because the sun was out and not much wind.

Snow blower made it a lot easier than trying to shovel 4-6 inches of snow.

We went thru Rock Cut State Park this morning. Very pretty. There was some kind of running event going on. People were running across the lake as part of the event. Did not get a picture of that. The geese were also on the lake.

Grove Square Cider Drink Mix - Caramel Apple

2012-01-16T17:07:00.000-06:00

I liked the spiced apple cider flavor.

This flavor I did not like. It did taste vaguely like caramel, but I just did not like it. Maybe personal preference. It literally left a bad taste in my mouth as well. I will not be buying any more of this flavor.

1-15-12 Rock Cut State Park Walk Along the Lake and Turkeys!

2012-01-15T21:13:00.002-06:00

We parked at the dam and walked around the lake. We walked a path right next to the lake around to the east side of the lake and then went into the forrest on the south side of the park to get back to the dam. Base Camp says 3.6 miles. Took 2.5 hours. Very slow going thru the snow. But nice scenery.

Lots of good scenery.

We saw this sign with a typo in at posted at the top of the dam.

As we were leaving the park, we came across this herd of turkeys.

1-14-12 Rock Cut State Park Willow Creek

2012-01-15T09:04:00.004-06:00

We parked at the dam and walked mostly along the Willow Creek Path down to Perryville Road, with a side excursion up the hill on the north side of the path. The arrow is where we saw the downed tree.

The snow from the other day made everything pretty. We ran across this downed tree on the side trail we took.

Willow Creek.

It was about 15F out, not much wind. A nice winter hiking day. We did 3.2 miles according to Base Camp. Took us 110 minutes. It is slow going up and down the hill, and on the snow and ice.

We got back to the parking lot by the dam to find a DNR guy there, who told us we had to be out by 5. It was already a few minutes after 5. I am a repeat offender on being in the park a few minutes after 5. I did it once last winter too.

We did not run across many people there. A couple joggers and two dogs who brought their humans out for a nice walk. As we were headed back to the parking lot we ran across two skiers who were skiing along the paved path. They said they parked outside the gate so they would not get locked in.

Random stuff

2012-01-15T08:38:00.003-06:00

1-14-12
We were in the car on the way back from the water store and is our practice decided to drive thru the park. As we were headed down Harlem Road, a herd of turkeys was encoutered running toward us. About 20 of them. Right down the middle of the road. Was funny as heck looking. I did not have the video camera with me. Too bad, it would have made a great video. They were moving prety darn quick.

Wilma licking the windshield.

Snow 1-12-12

2012-01-15T07:58:00.002-06:00

Herd of Turkeys by Rock Cut State Park 1-11-12

2012-01-11T20:34:00.001-06:00

I saw these rascals on my way to work this morning. They were in someone's yard and decided to walk back into the park as I was going down Harlem Road. They made me wait for them. About 20 of them.

Hononegah Recreation Path 1-7-12 and 1-8-12

2012-01-08T21:23:00.006-06:00

Hononegah Recreation Path runs along Hononegah Road from Roscoe to Rockton. It is a paved path the whole way. Google Earth says it is 3.25 miles according to the way I traced it. The western end just stops at the route 2 bridge on Hononegah Road in Rockton. The eastern end of the trail goes under route 251 and into Roscoe and stops at Elevator Road where it connects with the Leland and Kinstone paths that start there.

Google Earth says the whole length of the path is 3.25 miles which would make it 6.5 miles back and forth. I did not use the GPS for the western part of the walk but Base Camp said the eastern part was 4.2 miles, so that would leave 2.3 miles for the western part. So that would mean Hononegah Forest Preserve is located about 1.15 miles from the western end of the trail, not quite in the middle, but a good place to park to walk to the western end and back, so that is what we did on Saturday, 1-7-12.

It is not a scenic path. It runs along a fairly busy road, without any screening from the traffic, and is rarely more than 15 feet from the road. We encountered only 2 other people on the path today, a middle aged couple out for a walk. I was kind of surprised as often I have driven on the road and seen a fair number of users.

It is a residential area, and the trail abuts peoples' yards most of the way, so it kind of gives me the sense of walking through someone's yard. There are some trees that screen the path from the yards most of the way.

The video I made was an experiment that did not go as well as I had hoped. I just took cell phone pictures and narration to the cell phone while we were walking and stitched them together later. It might have worked better to do the narration later. One of the issues turned out to be that the software I use to stitch the photos together into a video montage cannot read the audio created by my cell phone. I may play around with this in the future. Or maybe not. I don't even know if I have a microphone for my computer.

We came back on Sunday and walked the part to the east of the FP. It is also mostly along Hononegah Road, and is mostly residential as well, but becomes retail and commercial near route 251 (N. Second St), and is more wooded once one gets to the part to the east of route 251.There was nothing in the way of facilities along the part we walked Saturday. The part we walked today had benches and trash cans every few blocks. It even had a water fountain - not working at present. It is probably shut off for the winter. There were several creeks along this part of the path that Wilma appreciated. It was 23F when we left the house and it warmed up considerably during our walk. It was 38F when we got home.

This is the GPS track for Sunday.

Some plaques at the FP commemorating the people who got the path moving.

A sign as we started on the path at the FP.

Some obscure mountain climber who was born in Rockford. The tourism bureau thinks he is worthy of a sign for some reason.

There is a side path under the creek bridge near the FP that appears to go into Kelly Meyers park. Possibly somewhere we will go walk sometime.

Dry Creek as it enters the FP.

Some of the benches have dedication plaques. Some don't.

View of the north branch of the Kinnickinnic Creek. This was taken on the path east of route 251 not far from where the path ends at Main Street and Elevator Road in Roscoe.

It ends and the Leland Path begins at Main St and Elevator Road.

I took this picture near the FP on the way back. Another obscure Rockford historical figure.

Look closely. There is a blue bowling ball in this garbage can at the FP.

Wilma falls into the creek at 9:58.

Grove Square Spiced Apple Cider Drink Mix K Cup

2012-01-06T20:22:00.007-06:00

We have a Kuerig brewer at work. The owner's wife got these apple cider drink K cups at WalMart I think. She also got some caramel apple flavor as well, but I have not tried that.

I have had several of them now. Pretty good. Sugar free. 1 gram carb per K cup.

It took some doing to find out much about them. Apparently made by Strum Foods. They seem to mostly be a private labeler of food products, and don't list it on their web site. They do show the product in a different package.

http://www.sturmfoods.com/consumer_products/spiced_cider_nutrition.html

INGREDIENTS: Malic Acid, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Caramel Color, Spice Extract, Tricalcium Phosphate, Aspartame **, Acesulfame Potassium, Calcium Silicate.

In looking for information about it on the Internet I came across a fair number of people who gave the product poor reviews. I am glad I did not read those reviews before trying it. I don't know what product they were drinking. The product I drank was good and I liked it.

Hot sauce gift box

2012-01-06T06:33:00.001-06:00

My wife gave me this for Christmas. It is a fairly typical gift box that appears around Christmas time each year. Some kind of boxed assortment of something. Sometimes it is hot chocolate, other times it is sausage and cheese. I have seen all kinds of these types of gift boxes. No idea who makes it.

This is the box it came in.

I have had a chance to try all three. They are all pretty good. None are anywhere near as hot as the packaging might lead you to believe. Often times these kind of gift boxes go on clearance after Christmas, so there may be some bargain hot sauce waiting in the clearance aisle.

Maxcraft Mini Screwdriver and Bits

2012-01-04T22:33:00.002-06:00

This small screwdriver was given to my wife as a Christmas present. She is not much into tools so she gave it to me. It has turned out to be pretty handy. The screw on top comes off to reveal storage for 7 bits. Four flat blades and 3 Phillips.

The bits slide into the end of the tool and are held in place magnetically.

The bits are good size for working with smaller screws like on eyeglass frames and computers. I have already found the tool quite handy for those kind of chores.

The blister pack it came in was labeled MIT (Michigan Industrial Tools). I put it in my desk drawer where it is handy.

This is what their web site says about it.

#60609 - 7-in-1 Precision Pocket Screwdriver
Specifications:
•Rugged Aluminum Pen-Style Housing with Pocket Clip and Knurled Finger Grip
•Quick-Change Magnetic Bit Holder
•Convenient Bit Storage in Handle

Contents:
•4-pc. Screwdriver Bits (Flat): 1/16", 5/64", 3/32", 1/8"
•3-pc. Screwdriver Bits (Phillips): #000, #00, #0

Flurries 1-2-12

2012-01-04T22:08:00.000-06:00

View out the front door at work about 8:15 am.

Got some flurries. Did not amount to a whole lot. Melted in the afternoon.

Rockton Williamson Parkway Bike Trail

2012-01-01T18:36:00.001-06:00

I stumbled on this one when I was looking for information on bike paths in the area. It turns out there is a paved path just about a mile long along Williamson Parkway in Rockton. Google Earth shows it stretching the full length of Williamson Parkway from Freeport Road (route 75) to Wagon Wheel Road.

Leland Path - Roscoe

2012-01-01T10:34:00.017-06:00

I have seen this referred to as the Roscoe Main Street Bike Path. I ran across it while hiking the Stone Bridge Trail so I checked it out using Google Earth. It is a very useful tool. The path starts at Main Street and Elevator Road in Roscoe, goes thru Roscoe and connects up to the Stone Bridge Trail just south of the Burr Oak Road trail head. Google Earth says it is 1.36 miles long. That does not count some of the little spurs that run off it that I did not look into.

Updated 1-8-12: There is another path that continues to the northeast from Elevator Road/Main St that connects up with the Stone Bridge Trail. It is called the Kinstone Path.

It is a paved trail the whole way except for a very short chunk that uses the access road to the water tower to go a couple hundred feet to get to the foot bridge that connects to the Stone Bridge Trail.

They tend to wind around a lot but you could conceivably start at the Rock River on the Hononegah Path and go all the way to the eastern edge of Boone County by stitching together these existing trails. It would be a long walk.

I copied this from a document I found online at the Roscoe Chmaber of Commerce. So it might be that the official name of this path is the Leland Path. I would link to the document at the Chamber website but my browser claims it is a damaged file and won't open it directly. I had to open it from the archive at Google.

Leland Path
This path links Hononegah Trail and Kin-Wood Path with the Stone Bridge Trail. The path begins south of Elevator Rd. down Main Street through Roscoe then east past Leland Park to the Stone Bridge Trail.

I have never heard of the Kin-Wood path, and a Google search finds no other relevant references to it. I sent an email to the chamber asking about it. Based on my luck with sending inquiries via web forms I would say my chances of getting any reply at all are not very good, but you never know.

ETA 1-8-12
I took this picture of the sign where the trail starts. It is indeed the Leland Path so I changed the title of this post.

I have not gotten a response back from the Roscoe Chamber. No surprise there. The other path that heads north and east from where this path starts has a sign that says it is the Kinstone trail. Maybe that is what they meant instead of Kinwood.

OSF Rock Cut Bike Path

2012-01-01T09:29:00.003-06:00

I had forgotten about this one. It is located on the campus of OSF Rock Cut Health Care on the corner of Perryville Road and IL 173 in Machesney Park. It is across the street from Rock Cut State Park and may well connect into the new bike path planned to be added along route 173 next summer.

I traced them out in Google Earth and the shorter loop around the pond appears to be 1/3 of a mile and the longer loop around the building is 1/2 a mile.

Rover Run Dog Park

2011-12-31T21:15:00.003-06:00

Wilma and I have not been here in a long time, so it seemed like a good time to come here, being the last day of the year and all. We stopped here after we walked the Harlem Township Bike Path. When we first got here, there were no other dogs present, but shortly after we got there three dogs came by and brought their human Barb with them. Barb said she lives next to the park and has been coming to the dog park since it opened.

Rover Run is located in Schoonmaker Park, on Ventura Blvd in NW Machesney Park.

For some reason there is a double fence along part of the north side of the dog park.

Wilma made 4 poops while walking (I picked them all up), so we did not need these handy bags the park provides.

I seem to recall this shelter was built as an Eagle Scout project a year or two ago. There is no water in the dog park, and the water is shut off in the park for the winter so people bring water in for the dogs.

Which is good because when Dolly (a short haired St. Bernard) came in, she was thirsty and promptly drank the half a bowl of water that was in the community water dish. Then she barked at me until I filled it up again for her. She drank the bowl half empty. Must have been really thirsty. Then she came over and nuzzled up against me for some affection. A very nice and friendly dog.

This is Cracker Jacks, a Pomeranian mix.

Here Cracker Jacks and Lacey (a 15 YO Rottweiler mix) and Wilma sniff each other out.

Barb said all three dogs are rescue dogs. Wilma is a rescue dog too. She came from the pound. It will be five years we have had her come February 10.

As we were leaving, we saw another dog come to the dog park with his human.

Schoonmaker Park and Harlem Township Bike Path

2011-12-31T20:54:00.011-06:00

Google Earth view.

Wilma and I went to Schoonmaker Park (Harlem Township) today for a nice walk on the Harlem Township Bike Path. It consists of a lower (SW) and an upper (NE) loop inside Schoonmaker Park on Ventura Blvd in NW Machesney Park and some connecting segments, and a few short segments for access to neighborhood streets. I traced it out in Google Earth and the total length of the paths is about 1.6 miles. We walked some of the segments twice going back and forth and the path we took traced out to about 2.25 miles.

The park also contains Rover Run Off Leash Dog Park, which we visited after our walk on the bike path. I have no idea why I took so many pictures or spent so much time on this review of a nice, but run-of-the-mill type park. Bored, I guess.

We only saw a few other people on the path - one jogger, and a dog walking his two humans.

I snapped some cell phone pictures along the way. It is not an unusual park. A couple of fields, two baseball diamonds, basketball court, tennis courts, picnic areas, grills, and benches. It also has bathroom facilities that are padlocked. They have been this way as long as I have been coming here with Wilma to the dog park. There used to be a port-a-potty. Maybe it has been removed for the winter. The water fountain has been shut off as well. So no toilet or water, at least right now.

This is the view of the parking lot after you come in off of Ventura Blvd. The path is to the right, the tennis courts in back to the left, and the picnic shelter in back to the right. You can see the playground between them in the far background.

The path is asphalt and has been recently sealed.

The field to the south of the parking area. It does not seem to be dedicated to any particular activity. I have seen people flying kites and flying RC aircraft here, among other things.

There are some concrete mile markers along the path. I don't know where they index from.

There are a number of memorial benches scattered along the lower path loop.

View of the south field from the SW corner of the park.

The entrance off Ventura Blvd. You can see both ball diamonds and a tornado siren. Both diamonds have benches for the teams playing and small bleachers for fans.

Besides the concrete markers along side the path, there are painted markers on the path. Again, no idea what they reference from.

View of the playground. The picnic shelter is in the back to the left, and the tennis courts in the back to the right.

This is the Lansdowne Drive trail head.

For some reason at this entrance they have made this maze. There is barely enough room to squeeze by to get in. Someone has made clear what they think of the rule about motor vehicles.

Continuing on the path we see a view of the small dog part on the left and the main dog park on the right.

The smaller, upper loop circles this empty field, I don't recall ever seeing it used for anything except once they were burning debris there.

The path to the Miller Lane trail head.

The view looking in from the trail head. For whatever reason when they made the path they put an asphalt path on the right side of the chain across the path. But, the right side is very close to a fence, so predictably people have gone to the left instead to avoid the fence.

Going north from the Miller Lane access segment, there are wooded areas to the west. They appear to be private and most are signed as such. There are several prairie type fields, some hardwood, and a couple of areas with pines. To the east of this segment is the backyards of homes.

This gate looks to have been blocked by the tree for some time. There are a number of paths that lead into the various wooded areas from the bike path.

This might have been a garden at one time.

Rivercove Court trail head.

There is a brushy patch at Riverhill Court. Someone has put a lantern of some sort inside the brushy area.

It is not on the map, but there is access to the bike path from the street here as well.

There is a parking lot at the end of this segment at Ventura Blvd (Ventura curves around the park and heads east from here.

For some reason they installed a sign behind a post here.

One of the backyards on the east side of this segment. There is a woodpile to the right out of the picture.

The main dog park as seen from the upper loop.

The picnic shelter as we went back to the car. There are grills at the shelter and on the other side of the path from the shelter.

Bathrooms have been padlocked since we have been coming here for 3 or 4 years.

The basketball court is to your right here, and the padlocked toilets in the back to the left in this view from the parking area.

The sign out at Ralston Road and Ventura Blvd.

It really is a nice park. It is well maintained. I have seen the former Harlem Township Supervisor Doug Aurand locking up the place at night a couple of times when Wilma and I visited the dog park on previous occasions.

Armour potted meat

2011-12-31T18:38:00.001-06:00

I ate this for supper.

Ingredients:
Mechanically separated chicken, beef tripe, water, salt. Contains less then 2% of: mustard, natural flavors, garlic powder,vinegar, dextrose, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrate.

A 3 ounce serving has 0 grams of carbs per the label, but as it has dextrose in it, I will be claiming it as 1/2 gram per serving.

It has a seal on the front of the package that says it is inspected by the USDA for wholesomeness so it must be good for you.

It is low carb for sure. It sort of looks like cat food and has an odd texture to it. I doubt I will buy it very often.

It does come in a can with a lid that pulls off so it is pretty handy. I think the can was 99 cents. Not that inexpensive for 3 ounces of mechanically seperated chicken and beef tripe.

Wright Bacon Ends and Pieces

2011-12-31T07:44:00.000-06:00

Another find at WalMart that I first looked at because of the price. It has gone up since I first bought it but I think now it is $7.99 for 3 pounds. I especially appreciate the low sugar content compared with other bacons. The label says 2 ounce servings are 0 carbs. Because there is some sugar in bacon I automatically assume a 0 carb serving is really 0.5 grams of carbs (the FDA allows food manufacturers to round down the amount of carbs per serving so if it is less then 0.5 grams they label it as 0).

It ends up being 0.25 grams of carbs per ounce which is pretty low for bacon.

The pieces are irregular. I find that they cook up very well in the microwave. Sometimes I nuke them first, followed by a short stint in the frying pan.

Often there are large chunks of meat to be found in a package that are quite good.

I like the flavor of this bacon, and the irregularity does not bother me any, although it does present somewhat of a challenge if you want to fry it. It fries up fine but the irregular sizes mean you have to watch it and turn the pieces at different intervals, and some pieces get done a lot sooner than others.

Pampa Instant Coffee

2011-12-30T12:41:00.001-06:00

Another product I was enticed into buying by the low price. WalMart $0.99 for 2.82 ounces.

I don't use a whole lot of instant coffee. Once in a while I want a cup of coffee and don't want to wait for it to brew. And sometimes I use it as a flavoring in recipes.

I didn't know what to expect from it, being as I had not heard of it or tasted it before. It turned out to be pretty good as instant coffees go. No bitterness. It dissolves well without any clumping.

I have to give it good marks as an instant coffee. And the price can't be beat.

Farmland Original Pork Sausage

2011-12-30T12:33:00.001-06:00

I have been eating this almost daily for several years for breakfast. I ran across it at WalMart one day and was intrigued by the low price ($1.69 for the one pound package) so I bought a package. I really liked it and it has now become my normal breakfast meat. It usually gets a couple dashes of Valentina hot sauce.

The label says there are 4.5 servings per package at 1 carb per serving. I usually cut it into 8 chunks for frying so each chunk is about 0.6 grams of net carbs. Pretty good for sausage.

Not too long ago the price went up but I still get it because I like it. It is the only flavor of Farmland sausage I have seen at WalMart.

Jimmy Dean Maple Premium Pork Sausage

2011-12-30T12:13:00.001-06:00

We normally reserve this for weekends for some reason. All of us like it. It has a mild maple flavor, not too sweet. Just about right.

Like virtually all sausage, it has some sugar in it. It is part of the curing process and is all but unavoidable.

The label says 2 ounces cooked is a serving with 1 gram of carbs and there are 6 servings in this one pound package. I usually cut the one pound package into 8 pieces for frying. Each piece is about 2 ounces pre-cooked. I figure each of the 8 chunks is about 3/4 of a gram of carbs, mostly sugar. Not too bad for a low carb diet. But would limit it to a few times a week anyway.

We get it at WalMart. I think lately it has been about $2.69 a package. We have it just about every weekend, and have for a couple of years.

Crucial memory upgrade

2011-12-29T21:42:00.002-06:00

I bought a 1 GByte memory upgrade for my wife's Dell Inspiron 1150 that has been pretty slow of late. The Crucial web site says the computer supports 2 GB of RAM, 1 GB in each slot. Dell says it supports a total of 1 GB. Someone asked in their tech support forum about this and Crucial replied that the PC actually does support upto 2 GB, and that they tried it. Maybe it works with two 1 GB modules, and not a 1 GB module in one slot and a 256MB module in the other.

I bought a single 1 Gb module, thinking to leave one of the existing 256MB modules in place for a total of 1.25 GB.

Well, no such luck. Just will not boot that way. Boots fine with a single 1 GB module.

I have to rate the tech support as moderately sucky, but the RAM seems to work OK.

ETA 12-30-11
I put the two 256 MByte modules that I pulled out of the computer up for sale on eBay. We shall see if they sell or not.

WalMart

2011-12-29T21:32:00.000-06:00

If WalMart is selling it, QuikClot has gone mainstream.

A few weeks ago my wife told me something about WalMart. She has been hobbled by ankle and foot injuries since last April. Once she was able to get around it was tough for her. She has a handicap parking tag, so she can park close, but she still cannot get around well without an electric cart inside a store.

So, basically she only goes to stores that have electric carts available.

A few weeks ago I took her there. I usually park in the handicap spot and go get an electric cart for her. I suggested dropping her off at the door. She said go park in a handicap spot and bring her a cart. I asked what she did when she was by herself. She said WalMart gave her a phone number to call when she gets to the store. They send an employee out to the parking lot with an electric cart for her.

When she leaves, an employee goes out to her car with her, helps her load, and then takes the cart back in for her.

She said if she has too much stuff to shop for and it won't fit in the basket on the electric cart, WalMart sends an employee around with her to push a regular cart for her.

Somehow I do not think WalMart makes all that much money on us with all the extra attention she gets.

More road construction

2011-12-29T21:02:00.001-06:00

12-29-11
I noticed recently that the side roads are short a layer of asphalt. I guess that will get done next spring too. Note that the blacktop does not come up to the level of the concrete gutter.

Fran's foot

2011-12-29T20:07:00.000-06:00

I took Fran to the doctor today to get the pin removed.

American Legion memorial service

2011-12-28T23:16:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I attended a memorial service at an American Legion hall. Dick was a guy I did not know real well, but instantly liked the first time I met him. His daughter has been a friend of my wife for many years. We have been to visit Dick and his wife a number of times. I always felt welcome there.

My wife tells many stories of the fun they had there back when she and her friend were a "little" younger.

One time when we were there Dick taught Wilma how to go up and down the basement stairs. For some reason Wilma just did not like stairs, and Dick apparently decided she should learn to use stairs, and so he taught her. Did not take him long.

Dick served in the USAF back in the 50s, and joined the American Legion post in the mid 80s. His wife once served as the president of the ladies auxiliary there.

I did not know quite what to expect, as I had never been to a legion service before. The service was simple, and I appreciated the deep respect shown by the other legionnaires for a comrade who had passed on.

Later, I wondered around the hall. Lots of memorabilia. I think part of the legion is about remembering, and the memorabilia helps us remember.

I never served in the military. But I appreciate the service of those who did. Veterans are our fellow citizens who put their lives on hold and on the line for the rest of us. Some went voluntarily, others got drafted. I am not sure it matters much how they came to join the military. They answered the call when it came and some paid an awful price.

It somehow seems fitting that when they are gone, their fellow veterans should gather together to send them on their way to their next post.

SEWARD BLUFFS FOREST PRESERVE 12-28-11

2011-12-28T21:29:00.053-06:00

A return to a sentimental favorite hiking spot. Lots of up and down, so it went kind of slow. 5.1 miles in just over 3 hours and 10 minutes. All very nice and well marked horse trails. A mixture of forest and prairie, with plenty of creek access for the beagle. Very nice scenery too. A really great place to hike. And it is not real far away either.

We ran across only two other people on the trails. They had a dog with them and were on the snow mobile access trail at the west end of the park. I did see a truck parked next to us outside the front gate, and saw a couple cars in the park as well.

I uploaded a new map from the district website. It now has the trail markers on the map. I added the snowmobile access trail I noticed, the foot bridge, and the path from the horse parking area.
Note that the map shows north to the right.

GPS track.

I got some pretty decent pictures.

These two are from the bluff above the creek on the east end of the park.

The view from the scenic overlook really is scenic.

A good looking beagle in the forest.

I parked outside the front gate. I did not know exactly when I would get back and did not want to get locked in. We ended up getting back about 4 pm and the park does not close until around 5 this time of year (1/2 hour after sunset). Sunset times are posted by the main gate. I guess to forestall any arguments about when the park closes. It was a good spot to park anyway as I wanted to start on the east side of the park that we missed the last time we were here, and there is a trail that heads that way right inside the campground gate that is adjacent to where we parked.

After our hike was over we drove west on Comly Road to take a look at the horse parking area.

This cut path looks like the one that goes down to the creek at marker 4 on the trail map.

Then we headed west to Klinger Road and went north on Klinger. We came across the snowmobile trail.

On our way home we went east on route 20 from Klinger Road. It appears there is a trail that goes along route 20 from Klinger Road to the bridge over the creek. It seems to stop right at the creek. Maybe a snow mobile trail. I was unable to slow down to take a closer look.

Wilma was pretty quiet on the way home.

Road construction miscellany

2011-12-28T00:15:00.001-06:00

12-25-11
For some reason they have put landscape fabric under the grates for the storm sewers.

Lost at Loglis

2011-12-28T00:13:00.000-06:00

12-23-11
Someone lost their pacifier.

Mel Anderson Path 12-27-11

2011-12-28T00:03:00.000-06:00

The Park District claims the path is 3 miles long. We walked it both directions with a couple slight additions and the GPS software called it 5.6 miles. It took us just under 3 hours. I traced it in BaseCamp and it came out to about 2.7 miles each way, which makes me believe the 5.6 mile number.

The Mel Anderson Path stretches from Searls Park to Page-Talcott Park. We started at Searls Park, walked to Page-Talcott and then back. It is not a bad hike. Most of the route is a tree lined path, although the final segment goes thru a somewhat seedy commercial and industrial area before ending at Talcott-Page Park. It passes by NW Community Center where it starts to follow along Kent Creek for the rest of the path, and another park called Bressler Park.

There are some picnic tables and benches in the parks, and several benches along the way, along with parking at both ends (and probably at the community center as well). There are bathrooms at both ends, predictably they were locked. The Rockford Park District seems to have a practice of mostly relying on Port-A-Potties that get collected when it gets cold, and they pretty much close everything up in the winter.

Personally, I would not be parking at the Page-Talcott end or the community center. They are not the worst neighborhoods, but why take chances.

We only ran across maybe half a dozen walkers, 3 dogs, 3 bikes, and two joggers the whole way there and back.

Wilma had a good time playing in and drinking from the creek.

One oddity, at the Searls end there was a mile marker that said 4.5. The last marker I saw said 2-3/8 before the Auburn Street bridge underpass. I have no idea what they refer to given the path is just 3 miles (or maybe a little less) long. I am going to email the park district and ask.

After we got back, we drove thru Searls Park and exited on the east side. There is a dog park there (you have to pay to use it). There were 4 or 5 cars there and I saw a number of people and dogs inside the fenced in area.

I could not find a map of it so made my own from Google.

The sign at the Safford Road entrance to Searls Park.

Northwest Community Center.

I got some nice pictures of ducks on the creek.

Totes LED headlamp

2011-12-26T19:24:00.001-06:00

A stocking stuffer from my mom. The price tag says $4.95. It is powered by 3 AAA batteries accessed by unscrewing one of the rubber armored caps. The other cap does not seem to come off but has the on-off switch.

Two modes, on and blinking. Reasonably bright. What do you want for $5?

I found it worked OK both on my forehead and over top of my Elmer Fudd hat, at least in just playing with it some. Not had a chance to use it extensively yet.

The box it came in.

I am a little nervous about how sturdy this articulated and ratcheted head is.

The switch.

Battery cap.

Indoor test. Not completely dark yet.

Outdoor test.

Bike Paths Around Rockford

2011-12-26T18:50:00.015-06:00

I ran across this map of the bike paths in the Rockford area after having the agency that puts it out mentioned in an email from the community development director of the Village of Machesney Park. I found it at Rockford Metropolitan Planning Agency. Another set of bureaucrats I did not even know existed. I took this map of existing paths and trails out of their bicycle and pedestrian plan. I could not find a date anywhere on it but it appears to be ca. summer of 2007.

I skimmed thru the whole thing. It is a good read, if only to help one understand how we managed to get into such a fiscal mess in this country. This plan is a mishmash of every pipe dream imaginable. It even attempts to claim that bike paths are a viable transportation system, and not just recreational in nature. Given that a lot of the paths are not even plowed in the winter, and very few people ride bikes after it gets cold, the idea of bike paths as anything other than primarily recreational in nature is laughable to all but a few bureaucrats.

I extracted the map and sent it to Traillink so they can add the trails to their database. Most of the comments I make here are comments I made in the accompanying emails to them. Some of these trails I knew about, and others I never heard of before. I had to use Google earth and satellite view to verify that some actually existed. Sadly, a lot of money was spent on bike paths that don't see any significant use as they either go nowhere, or go somewhere no one is going to walk or ride a bike to.

If nothing else, the map provides some ideas for walking opportunities for us.

The following paths appear to exist about as indicated and are paths and trails I knew about already.
Hononegah Recreation Path
Stone Bridge Trail We hiked it 12-12-11
Long Prairie Trail We hiked a section 12-24-11
Willow Creek Path 9-7-10
Perryville Path (We have been on a short segment a couple times)
Rock River Recreation Path 9-17-11
Rock Valley College Paths
Midway Village Loops off the Perryville Path
Pecatonica Prairie Path

What the map refers to as the Victory Lane Path is part of the Bauer Path that starts at the river and ends down the street from me on Roosevelt Road. It is basically a feeder trail to the Rock River Recreation Path to/from Machesney Park. This map does not show the recent additions to the path coming east along Roosevelt Road to the Harlem Community Center. Wilma and I walked it on Christmas Day.

The Perryville/Bell School connection does not seem to exist, despite the map claiming it is existing. It might just be a series of signs along a regular street.

The Spencer Park trails exist, and connect into the Belvidere City Park system trails along the Kishwaukee River. I think they are collectively called the Kishwaukee Riverfront Path. I have not been able to find a comprehensive map for it, but Google maps show some of it, and the satellite view shows more. It seems to start at BELVIDERE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL. 9393 Beloit Road, Belvidere, IL, and proceeds SE along Beloit Road to N. Appleton Road where it turns south, going through Spencer Park and then thru the city park(s) going east along the river. The Belvidere Park District web site says it is 5.6 miles of asphalt trails. Some place I saw a mention of a connection to the trail at Prairie Fields but Google shows no evidence of it. Maybe another bike path that is just some signs along a regular road.

The square trail that is shown to the NE of Spencer on the map is in a Belvidere City park called Prairie Fields. Google shows it extending for a short distance out of the SE corner of the park back toward the city.

No idea what the Roscoe Riverside Path is. Can't find it in Google Earth or satellite view.

What they call the Cherry Valley path is mostly in Baumann Park.

What they refer to as the Blackhawk Springs trail is really the Kishwaukee Recreational Path. It runs thru the Kishwaukee River and Blackhawk Springs forest preserves.

The Mel Anderson Path looks about right. I had not heard of it before. I could not find a map of it so made my own from Google.

Wilma and I walked it both ways 12-27-11

I had not known of the Charles St. Path before either, but it appears to exist as well. It does not seem to go anywhere either, but from the map looks like it might be extended to connect with the Perryville Path eventually.

As many times as I have been on Harrison Avenue, I never noticed the bike paths there. I guess if there were no bikes on them when I went by, they were not real noticeable. Google shows them to be about where they are depicted. They don't appear to actually go anywhere anyone would bike or walk to, so I am not surprised I never noticed any bike traffic on them. It also appears there might be some long term intention to connect it with the Perryville Path.

The route along Spring Brook seems to exist as unmarked and unsigned lanes on both sides of the road. Another apparent waste as it goes from Rock Valley College to a busy intersection with no way to get anywhere else.

I don't believe the Davis-Pec path was ever actually built that is shown connecting downtown Rockford to the Pecatonica Prairie Path, although I think they started on it. It seems to be hung up over getting funding to clean up some polluted ground in the way based on some newspaper articles I Googled.

I don't know much about the short segments of trails that are shown on the map. I have seen some of them, but have no idea if they go anywhere. There are also a bunch of short paths that I have run across not on this map or any other map I have seen, but viewable in Google Earth or Satellite view, although I don't know just how short they are as I never actually checked them out.

I have seen the one that crosses Perryville Road Road south of Harrison a number of times. Google maps calls it Swanson Lane, but that appears to be because it starts at Swanson Parkway. I have no idea what the park is they show abutting it to the south is. It does not appear on any park map I have seen, although Google maps also shows it as an unnamed park. The satellite view shows it as a field of the same size and shape. I sent an email to a guy at the Forest Preserve District who might know asking about both it and the path that is shown. My GPS map shows a park of a somewhat different shape there as well, but it also does not name it.

There is a paved trail inside Rock Cut State Park that is on the park map, but not shown on this map. They refer to it as the Puri Path. It starts near the rt 173 entrance on the north side of the park and heads toward the east edge of the park and then due south toward the Puri Crest picnic area. Wilma and I have walked on it a number of times. It actually extends outside the park under I39 and just stops on the east side of I39. Supposedly next summer a paved path will be constructed along route 173 that will connect the Puri path to IL251 to the west.

There is also a trail not shown on the map up in Schoonmaker park in NW Machesney Park along the east side of the river. It consists of a couple of loops in the park, and it heads north out of the park according to Google. Google maps refers to it as the Harlem Township bike path. I have never been on the part outside the park. I know the two loops inside the park exist as the dog park is there so I have seen both of the loops. Never walked on them.

I had a noon dentist appointment today. The street the dentist is located on (Morsay Drive) has bike lanes on both sides and sidewalks. I don't know if the sidewalks extent the full length of the street. The lanes appear to extend from Alpine Road to Fairview Blvd, just under 3/4 of a mile. At Fairview there is a "bike route" sign going north, and there are bike route signs along Fairview Blvd, but no actual bike lanes or anything. Just signs.

I also recall there is a trail that crosses S. Mulford Road that goes along a RR track. It goes more or less east-west between a set of RR tracks just north of Sandy Hollow Road. Google shows it goes over toward I39 to the east and past Alpine Road to the west. No idea what it is. I asked the guy at the FP district about that one as well. The mystery trail looks to be more than 2 and a half miles long and it appears to continue west past Alpine Road as what may be snow mobile trails. Hard to tell from the overhead images.

(Google Earth image added 1-1-12)

ETA 12-27-11:
It occurred to me that all parcels in the county are in the WINGIS database so I looked it up. The mystery park is a property tax exempt park owned by the Village of Cherry Valley, so I emailed the village about the two paths (there is nothing on their web site about either the path or the park). I also emailed a friend who owns a business in the area. The friend replied:

Yes I do know of and what you are talking about. The land was all owned by Dr. Armour Swanson. He donated the land for the park and the bike path to Cherry Valley for theirs and the publics use. It's a very nice walking area well kept. It's used by the residents a lot but the park is rarely used itself, mainly walkers. they are named Swanson Park, and Swanson Walking path.

ETA 12-30-11:
I got a reply back from the FP district guy about the mystery path. He said "That one is a head scratcher. I don't know". He also suggested I address the question to the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning and gave me an actual person's email address to send the question to there. So I sent that guy the question. I don't expect an answer until at least January 3, 2012, due to the holidays.

ETA 12-31-11:
It has been suggested to me by the president of a local bike club that it may be an unofficial ATV trail. My first thought was that it seemed a bit elaborate for an unofficial trail, but after thinking about it some, I guess a few loads of gravel is not all that elaborate for someone with a dump truck.

ETA 1-13-12:
No response as of yet from Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning to the email I sent them. Not a big surprise. I did get a response a few days ago from the Village of Cherry Valley.

Good morning. Sorry for the delay time in my response. The path labled Swanson Lane is The Village of Cherry Valley's path. It is probably labled that way by Google because of its origin starting at the intersection of Swanson Pkwy and Swanson Lane. We refer to it as Swanson Park Bike Path. This path, starting at Swanson Pkwy, can be utilized all the way to Baumann Park in Cherry Valley. As for the other path you have labled mystery path, I believe it is just a "four-wheeler" trail that has been used over the years by ATV's and snowmolbiles. I would assume that being between the two railroads that this is probably railroad ROW. Hopefully I have helped you in answering your questions. Have a good day.

Bauer Path Machesney Park 12-25-11

2011-12-25T20:59:00.004-06:00

ETA 1-4-12 Moved this paragraph here from my path and trail page.
This 2 mile long path runs from Harlem Road at the Rock River where it connects to the Rock River Recreation Trail and goes east along Harlem Road to Victory Lane. It goes along Victory Lane as marked bike lanes on the street north to Machesney Road (Roosevelt Road) where it changes back to a paved bike path going east to Harlem Community Center. There is some kind of plan to connect it to the Willow Creek Bike Path eventually. It is best used as a connector between Machesney Park and the Rock River Recreation Trail. Wilma and I have walked the part between route 251 (N. Second St.) and HCC many times, as part of our daily walk. We have also walked the segment from route 251 to Victory Lane that goes along the south side of Machesney Park Mall several times.

This was sort of an experiment to see if I could create a track in the format used by Traillink. Wilma and I walked over to where the Bauer path starts not far from where we live and walked it to the other end. This is the route we followed along the path, going east and north to west and south. Base Camp says it is 2.0 miles long.

We have been on the part along Roosevelt Road many times, and the part along Machesney Road several times, but none of the rest, so it was something new for us.

Bauer path is named for Frank G. Bauer, a politician who helped create the village. They also named the village hall for him, and Harlem Road west of the bridge is called Frank G. Bauer Parkway. I guess no one else in the village has ever done anything meritorious enough to have anything named for them.

The path starts here at Harlem Community Center at 900 Roosevelt Road. It is a 10 foot wide concrete path with about a 2 feet concrete paver border between it and the curb. The street has a parking lane along the curb that is done in red pavers.

The community center parking lot might be a place you could park. They might even let you use the bathrooms inside, but it has irregular hours.

The path continues west along Roosevelt Road past the Harlem School District bus barn and the administration building next door (more parking there possibly) and then crosses N. Second Street (route 251), where the street changes names to Machesney Road. A Burger King is right on the corner. A good place for grub and bathrooms if needed.

Continuing west it goes past Machesney park Mall, and the village hall, which doubles as the police station. This crosswalk appears to go no where at first but a careful look will show there is a fenced area that leads off to the west and south away from the street.

The mall.

Village hall.

Just past village hall the path goes south along Victory Lane where it is bike lanes along the traffic lanes. There is a narrow sidewalk on both sides as well. The bike lane is both signed and marked.

An unusual house on Victory lane.

The path turns west at Harlem Road and goes across the bridge. I would not be surprised if it was also named the Bauer Bridge.

The path goes under the bridge on the east side.

There is a pedestrian/bike lane on the edge of the bridge.

On the west side of the bridge it meets up with the Rock River Recreation Path going south. There is a path under the bridge on the west side that goes up into the Forest Preserve District HQ going north. There are both pit toilets, a well, and parking at the FP HQ area. To the south is Sportscore and there are facilities there as well.

I ran out of light and my cell phone camera just would not take usable pictures, but this is the other end of the path anyway. There were a few things along the way that I tried to take pictures of but it was just too dark.

This is basically a connector trail from Machesney Park to the Rock River Recreation Path, and by itself is not all that interesting. But, it was worth walking at least once, since it is so close to where we live.

Long Prairie Trail 12-24-11

2011-12-25T09:45:00.008-06:00

ETA 1-7-12 (this paragraph moved here from trail page)
The Long Prairie Trail goes east-west across Boone County and it is one of the Boone County Conservation District properties. It is a paved 14+ mile bike trail. Maybe sometime Wilma and I will give the whole trail a try. It roughly follows route 173 through Boone County and connects to the Stone Bridge Trail in Winnebago County to the west, and dead ends at the Boone County line to the east.

We walked this on Christmas Eve. Started at Roland Olson Forest Preserve, took the Stone Bridge Trail to where it meets up with the Long Prairie Trail, and followed the LPT until it got to Brown Conservation Park at Caledonia Road. Then we turned around and went back.

Base Camp says it was 5.4 miles. That sounds about right. Took us almost exactly 2.5 hours and it is a nice level and easy surface to walk and that is about the typical pace I walk at. The creek shown in the GPS map actually exists, but the steep walls along the trail would make it difficult to access.

This Google map shows our start and end points.

This is the district's map of the trail. I added Brown Park to it.

We parked at Roland Olson FP.

I read about this in the local newspaper blog that follows county government. They are actually paying some contractor to come in and cut down the pine trees. To me it is a forest PRESERVE district, they should be preserving the forest, not cutting it down. I suspect some eco nuts got in the loop. Couple that with the bureaucratic mindset about spending every nickle they can, and some enterprising contractors, and this is what you get.

Maybe this is how they pay for cutting down the trees. Closing the gates and not plowing it for the winter. I am not necessarily opposed to this as a cost saving measure, but IMO if they have money enough to pay some connected contractor to come in and cut down trees, they should be using that money to keep the preserves open during the winter.

A herd of chickens along the Stone Bridge Trail that abuts the south side of the preserve. Wilma wanted nothing to do with the chickens. Must have been at least a dozen of them.

Odd erosion pattern in the blacktop around the yellow stripes.

A horse we ran across.

The trail is blacktop, about 10 feet wide. It is the same old RR bed as the Stone Bridge Trail, constructed similarly. Much of the trail has steep drops offs along side it, some times 40 or 50 feet, and a few places it is level to the adjacent land. There are even a few places where it has been dug out and there are 5 to 10 foot high berms along side it. Like the SBT, there is a mostly wooded buffer of 30-50 feet on either side of the trail. The trail section we were on was well maintained.

The scenery is a lot different than the SBT though. It is mostly farm lands, so I did not feel like I was walking thru people's back yards so much. There are several stone culverts that go under the trail. I don't know if they are for drainage or once provided access to the farm fields, or both. The steep sides along the trail would make it difficult to explore them, except at one spot where it might have been possible. Probably would have been a nice picture but it was on our way back and I did not have the time to spend. There are a number of places where farmers cross the trail to get to their fields. Some are marked with signs and stripes on the trail, a couple are not marked at all. Some have pavement adjacent to the trail for the farmers, others don't.

We ran across some joggers, walkers, and bikers. Maybe a total of 8 to 10 people and 2 dogs. We even ran across an older couple with the two dogs. The man was pushing the woman in a wheel chair. They had two dogs with them. One dog was an older golden retriever who I ran across sleeping at the trail head at McMichael Road. They said he was too old to walk but wanted to come out with them so he slept there and waited for them to come back. I am not normally a fan of loose and/or unleashed dogs but both dogs were friendly and well behaved. They pointed to a house near the trail head where they live.

The chickens are at 1:45. Wilma wanted to go the other way, and I had to really nudge her to go toward the chickens. She has seen all manner of other birds including turkeys, ducks, and geese, along with deer, and never showed any inclination at all to head off in the other direction. I wonder why she is chicken of chickens.

Parking, toilets, and water at both Roland Olson FP and Brown Conservation Park although Brown Conservation Park where we turned around seemed to be semi-closed. The parking area was blocked off, but the well worked, and the toilets were open. I am going to email the district and ask about it, as I kind of had in mind parking there next week one day and walking another section toward the east and back.

ETA 12-27-11:
I got a reply back from the conservation district.

Yes the Brown Conservation Park is closed for the season. We currently plow two access points for the Long Prairie Trail. We plow the lot at Caledonia and the County Line Road access points.

King Size Direct Hooded Jacket

2011-12-24T10:31:00.004-06:00

This would be this jacket's 3rd or maybe 4th season. My wife bought it for me as a Xmas present. I wore it once it got too chilly for just a windbreaker. Typically from about September through May. So it got lots of use. Overall, I would say I got good service from it. I happened to look on the King Size Direct web site recently, and noticed they no longer offer it for sale. But I have gotten a lot smaller then it and the main zipper is starting to fail. Given all the mods and repairs I would need to make, I think it is time for a new jacket. So, I laundered it and bagged it up for a trip to the Goodwill store later today.

One might ask why I would bother to write a review about a jacket that is no longer available. Well, a lot of what I learned wearing it applies to any jacket worn for outdoor purposes. I also started the review last year and just never finished it so it never got posted.

It has held up quite well to our many treks through the brambles and briers in the various forests Wilma and I hike through. It does not seem to snag on them and I have not had any burrs catch on it.

The tag says the shell is 100% Nylon with polyurethane coating, and that the liner, lining, and filling is 100% polyester.

It came with a snap in liner vest. I wore it with the vest a few times, and the vest does give it a lot more warmth, but I ended up hanging the vest up in the closet and not using it. I found that it was more comfortable to wear the vest with the vest not snapped in. The thing is while it does have insulated sleeves, the vest it came with does not have sleeves and if it is cold enough to need the vest, I need more sleeve insulation than the jacket has. So I have gravitated to wearing a hooded jacket or my fleece undershirt under the jacket, and just do not use the liner vest. I suppose if it was really cold I might add it along with the other stuff, but if it is that cold, I am going to stay inside where it is warm.

The hood it came with has some insulation, and can be rolled up in a velcroed pocket if not needed. It did not come with a draw string and that was a major issue. If I was walking into a wind, the hood was like a wind scoop and it just would not stay in place. It turned out there was a place where a draw string could be added, and my wife added one for me made out of a piece of paracord. It makes a huge difference.

The sleeves have elastic Velcro adjustable cuffs that work quite well at keeping wind from coming up the sleeves.

The waist does not have elastic and did not come with a drawstring. It was not a big deal the first season I wore it as my waist was big enough that the thing barely zipped closed. I have since lost considerable weight and the looseness around the waist became a problem. There is also a place around the waist where a drawstring could go and my wife added one there. However, it has not turned out to be as useful as the hood drawstring. The jacket is so much larger than I am now that my fanny pack with two water bottles fits under it and zips up around it easily. I am not sure what if anything could be done about it. It is just larger than I am now. It is somewhat of a problem in the wind as wind blows up the loose waist area. Not as much of an issue when I have my fanny pack on, as I wear it on the outside of the coat, which seals out the wind quite handily.

It has two outer zip up pockets. I mostly leave the zippers open (down). They are pretty good sized. The vest has a bunch of pockets as well, but since I don't use it they are not much good to me. There is also a small outside pocket on the left side, and one about the same spot on the inside. I don't use the inner pocket, and the only thing I have ever used the outer pocket for was a spare memory card for the camera.

The front zipper has a storm flap secured by Velcro, but the jacket itself is not all that wind proof. A stiff breeze will send air through the nylon fabric. A few times I have worn a nylon windbreaker over top of it to reduce wind infiltration. The front zipper actually has two zippers so it can be partially open at both the top and bottom. I just don't use that feature. Lately the plastic zipper has started having issues.

The nylon fabric is not water proof at all. It holds up OK to a light drizzle for a while, but a heavier rain soaks it pretty quickly. I have had the misfortune to catch some fairly heavy rain a few times in it and it soaked through in a few minutes the time I tried to make it back home in a driving rain. I should have just stopped and put my poncho on, but I was only a couple blocks from home. Good lesson in how fast one can get soaked. OTOH, in lighter rain and drizzle, it did not do too badly at keeping me warm and dry for an hour or more. I just put it in the dryer for a short time and it dries pretty quickly. Even damp it does not do a bad job of keeping me warm, but the one time it got water logged it was unpleasant for the short time it took me to get out of the rain.

One time I wore a poncho over it when it rained on us. The poncho worked pretty good, but the sleeves of the jacket got pretty wet because they were outside of the poncho.

It has one other problem related to my weight loss. The neck area is not adjustable, so it is now much larger than me, so I needed to find a way to get rid of the excess fabric there. Otherwise it is open to the wind and acts like a big wind scoop. I had some success last year using the drawstring on the hood to tighten up around the neck, but now I find that keeps my head at an odd angle and is not real comfy. I would have to see if I can do something to tighten it up around the neck area if I held on to it, but since it is going away, I won't need to do anything. I think the neck area could be sewed up and made smaller to tighten it up some. Maybe I could have sewn in some Velcro or something.

One thing that has occurred to me is that the color is not ideal for my use. The jacket is black and often during the winter it is quite dark while Wilma and I are walking in our neighborhood. It might make sense to have a color that shows up better in the dark as a safety measure. I kind of like the color, but it would be safer for me if the next one was a color that showed up better in the dark.

It is plenty big enough for me to add layers under it when it is colder out. I usually start by adding a fleece long sleeve undershirt under it and if it is even colder, I add a hooded jacket over the fleece undershirt. The layers work quite well at keeping me warm and give me something to take off if I end up not needing them and do not want to sweat while hiking.

All in all, it has worked out OK. It makes for a nice outer layer when it is colder, and an adequate jacket by itself when it is not so cold. The color, wind and water issues will need to be addressed when I get a new jacket.

A few observations.

Wind infiltration is a big deal. A jacket used in the winter needs to have some provision to seal out the wind at all the openings. A hood works good for keeping wind off the back of my neck. Not sure it needs to be an insulated hood, but some kind of hood. The hood needs some way to keep it in place, or it does not do much good. Elastic and/or other adjustments around the cuffs and waists helps greatly in keeping out the cold wind. The throat area also needs some kind of way to keep out the wind.

Layering is a big deal. A heavy coat just does not work for hiking. It is fine for sitting in the cold, or walking to and from the car, but just won't work if I am doing any exercise. I have to have some way to shed layers to let the heat out or I will sweat under the coat. A very bad thing.

Water and wind proofing would have been nice, but I have managed to live without it. Many wind and waterproof jackets don't breath and so I would sweat under them. Mostly I do not go out in heavy rains or winds so it is not much of an issue. The poncho can be layered on top of the jacket if it rains on me, and the windbreaker can be used if it is windy. I did not have the windbreaker with me the time it rained on us, so did not get a chance to see how well it might have worked at keeping my sleeves dryer where they poke out from under the poncho.

Plastic AA battery cases

2011-12-22T22:42:00.003-06:00

An eBay find. 99 cents each delivered. I had my rechargeable batteries in a plastic bag, and it was not real convenient. This is a little more organized. They snap together side by side, if that were to be convenient. The lid latches on. Seems pretty secure. The eBay listing said they would fit AAA and AA batteries. of course the AAA batteries fit in them, but they rattle around. I got them as AA holders so they are fine for me. Seller name au.discount7.

ETA 12-30-11
It was pointed out in this post AR15 that to use them as an AAA battery holder you just rotate the batteries 90 degrees. Pretty clever.

Christmas 2011 (12-21-11)

2011-12-21T22:03:00.001-06:00

Festival of Lights at Sinissippi Park.

Woodward Tree.

WalMart brought back the 100% Arabica coffee I liked

2011-12-21T06:47:00.000-06:00

I have not seen it there for quite some time. Fran said all they had were these 11.3 ounce cans. She got me these four. I made some this morning. Good stuff.

Previous post on this coffee

Great Clips at Logli Opening Dec 24

2011-12-21T06:43:00.002-06:00

An advantage to having power at your shooting point

2011-12-20T21:13:00.001-06:00

Yes, that is an electric heating pad.

Kingston PC Memory

2011-12-20T21:09:00.001-06:00

I ordered the two 1GB modules on 12/11. They arrived yesterday 12/19. They promised 5-7 day delivery.

They were fast and easy to install and upgrading my Dell computer from half a GB to 2 GB made a world of difference. Well worth the $30.

Thomas Gourmet Coffee 100% Arabica

2011-12-20T06:33:00.000-06:00

I saw this at Logli a few months ago and needed some coffee so I bought it. 26 ounces was about $10 IIRC.

It is good coffee, not unusually so, but good.

Never heard of the brand before.

Rock Cut State Park NW Horse Trails 12-19-11

2011-12-19T21:40:00.002-06:00

5.1 miles. Just about 2 and a half hours. We parked at the route 173 parking lot, and wandered around on the horse trails in the NW corner of the park. Under normal circumstance I would have stayed longer but I had an eye doctor appointment. These trails and the ones we were on yesterday will soon be closed to hikers, once there is enough snow for skiing. So, we might as well hike them while we still can. Nice day. Mid 40s. A bit windy out in the open.

Deer prints.

At first I thought these were walnuts, but they seem too big, and don't look like any walnuts I have ever seen before. Much greener and larger. But, I think that is what they are. There was a bunch of them. The toe of my boot is there to provide scale.

Probably coyote. Note the long toe nails. Might be a dog with long toe nails though.

Deer scat?

An old trail marker.

Duck Tape

2011-12-18T22:11:00.000-06:00

Interesting patterns. An early Christmas gift from some friends.

I am convinced duct tape is like ammo. No matter how much you have, it is not too much.

12-18-11 Rock Cut State Park Hike

2011-12-18T18:45:00.003-06:00

3.4 miles. Just under 2 hours. I walk slower in the snow. We parked at the route 173 parking lot, went in on the horse trail to the east towards Puri Crest. Then along the campground and over to the main park road. Then up the road to where we went under the utility lines and up a horse trail back to the parking lot.

The park has a nice new map! It has all the trail markers on the map now. It can be downloaded from the DNR web site, or from here. My version has the electric lines shown on it that bisect the park.It does have at least one error in it. The orange line signifying a paved trail that comes from Perryville Road along Hart Road (B1 to B13) does not actually exist. Hart Road is the trail, although I have noticed some work that might indicate they are adding a trail along the south side of Hart Road, but it did not actually exist the last time I was in that area. Where it turns south along the n-s park road (B13/E29 going south), it is there but is dirt.

A downed tree on the trail.

Rabbit tracks.

Another downed tree.

Interesting dead tree.

I emailed the park super about both downed trees. Not a real long video today. Still a nice early winter hike in the forest.

12-18-11 Roosevelt Road Construction Update

2011-12-18T17:20:00.001-06:00

I think they are about done for the season. There is still some work to do, but I doubt much of it will be getting done until spring. They probably will come and get the empty pallets and the leftover pallets of pavers.

This might be the last post on the construction till next spring when they come back to finish.

Let it snow!

2011-12-17T14:49:00.001-06:00

View from the front porch this morning.

Farm and Fleet Ruff and Tuff Gloves Update

2011-12-16T17:07:00.000-06:00

Update to

These gloves are now starting their 3rd season. They have gotten a little dirty, but no holes or other damage to them, and they still keep my hands warm.

It has occurred to me that the elastic cuff band is pretty important in keeping one's hands warm as it seals out cold air.

Broner (Farm and Fleet) Hat Update

2011-12-16T17:06:00.000-06:00

Update to
Starting its 3rd season, it is holding up well. No problems with it at all. Still keeps my head and ears warm.

Black Flagged

2011-12-15T22:07:00.007-06:00

I bought an ebook on Amazon. I mostly liked it but there were some minor issues I mentioned in my Amazon review. The author contacted me and we had an email exchange on his book. He sent me a signed copy.

The sequel is coming.

A previous, unrelated book was pretty good as well. I bought it as an ebook too. You can read my Amazon reviews on both books if you are interested. I post as "Bob" there.

My Amazon Reviews

Logli's "L" is back

2011-12-15T22:04:00.001-06:00

12-15-11
The "L" that has been gone for quite some time has been replaced. It is a different style than the rest of the letters now.

I noticed it was missing 6-3-11

Valentina Hot Sauce

2011-12-15T22:04:00.000-06:00

This has become my preferred hot sauce. I had never heard of the brand before but saw it on the shelf at WalMart maybe a year ago and bought a small bottle to try. I really like it so it is now what I use mostly as hot sauce, several times a day usually. It comes in regular and extra hot. I have tried both and prefer the extra hot, although it is not that hot. It is about right for me. I go through a bottle or 2 a month.

Ingredients: Water, Chili Peppers, Vinegar, Salt, Spices, 0.1% sodium benzoate as a preservative.

As an added bonus, the 1 liter bottles are <$2. Made in Mexico. it comes in a smaller bottle as well, but I get the 1 liter size. I have one at work and one at home.

recent stuff

2011-12-14T23:24:00.001-06:00

12-8-11
The Great clips store at logli gets closer to opening. Now they have a lit sign.

12-9-11
Left by Loglis.

12-14-11
Look who is on the BB at work!

12-12-11 Stone Bridge Trail 11.7 Mile Hike

2011-12-14T06:31:00.012-06:00

This was a longish hike for us. 11.7 miles per the GPS track. Just under 6 hours. We had nice cool weather. It started out in the low 30s and edged up into the low 40s. We passed by Stone Bridge and Roland Olson FPs, and turned around when we got to the Long Prairie Trail.

It is an easy walk, not much grade change. It is an old RR right of way and trains don't like much in the way of grade change. The surface is an easy walking crushed stone.

It was a Monday morning. I did not expect much traffic. We ran across maybe a dozen people on foot, most with dogs, and another half dozen or so on bikes.

The trail surface is about 10 feet wide, with 20-50 feet of buffer on either side. Much of it is hardwood, some is prairie. Much of the trail abuts residential areas so it is sort of like walking through people's back yards. The trail often has deep gullies along side it, sometimes exhibiting a 50 foot drop or more, and in one section there are 10-30 foot high berms on either side.

I did not notice much in the way of facilities along the way. A bench at Elevator Road, and a well and outhouses at Roland Olson FP were about it. There were also benches at the observation deck at Stone Bridge. There are 19 parking spots at the Rockton Road access point. About the same at Roland Olson FP. You probably could park in the Roscoe Township offices at Elevator Road as well. None of the other access points had any parking.

Access points going NW to SE.
Rockton Road (NW end)
McCurry Road
Elevator Road
Burr Oak Road (the Stone Bridge is about 1/2 mile south of this access point)
Atwood Road (Roland Olson FP)
McMichael Road (SE end)

We passed over 4 or 5 creeks. Wilma wanted to visit them, but there was not any real convenient access. Maybe next time.

The trail passes adjacent to the south side of Stone Bridge FP. The observation deck provides a nice view of the bridge. I think one could get down to the creek there for a closer look without a lot of trouble. There is indication others do so on a pretty regular basis.

I took more photos than usual. Mostly of signs that have some interesting information on them. They are posted in chronological order as we hiked it. This first two are at the Rockton Road access point.

I think this was at McCurry Road.

I know this was at McCurry Road.

Someone has put somne dubious directions on this sign along the trail. The trail does not go anywhere near Durand or Winnebago, or Clinton, WI for that matter. It may be there is some connection to get to those places, but it is none are on this trail.

I think this was near Elevator Road.

This is at Elevator Road near the Roscoe Township offices. I needed a break on the way back so this bench turned out to be han dy. Thanks to the Harlem-Roscoe firefighters who supplied it!

No idea why the snowmobilers put up this sign. Maybe the VFW is a place they go to warm up or something.

The observation platform is down the side of the hill, maybe 100+ feet down a series of switchbacks.

Views from the observation deck.

The bridge is pretty impressive.

I think this is a camera.

This is near the end. Roland Olson FP is across the street at Atwood Road.

End of the line. The trail becomes the Long Prairie Trail and heads into Boone County on the other side of McMichael Road. It is paved.

The sign announcing the start of the Long Prairie Trail. I am pretty sure it is still Winnebago County at this point. This is where we turned around and went back.

A uility pole with some kind of metal sign on it that appears to have been shot full of holes. It was the only pole I noticed along the trail. Probably a leftover from when the trains still ran down this line.

At the gate to Stone Bridge FP along the trail. Despite what the sign says, the property is FP property. I hope the dog haters and eco wackos of the Natural Land Institute don't get their paws on this one and ban dogs like at Severson Dells. I will send an email to the district and ask.

I got a response back saying the NLI gave the property to the FPD, and they may have forgotten to take down the NLI sign.

We saw this fire truck while I was taking a break on the bench kindly provided by the Harlem-Roscoe firefighters at Elevator Road near the Roscoe Township offices.

Paw prints I took pictures of on the way back. Maybe someone can help me ID them. Pretty distinctive print here. 4 claws. Almost looks like a bird. Note the boot print next to it. It is not a small print. I tried to ID them from Internet sources. Maybe a woodchuck?

ETA 12-15-11: A guy I work with says beaver. it does have webbed feet but I always thought beavers had 4 claws.

No idea.
ETA 12-15-11: Guy at work says "coyote".

I think this is the same critter as the previous picture.

I think this is Dry Creek. This is to the east side of the trail.

View to the west.

More tracks. Looks like deer in the lower left. Don't know what it is center right.

More deer.

Long video. Some highlights.
8:35 Stone Bridge
9:20,10:22,22:30 Stone Bridge FP
15:50 Roland Olson FP
17:25 Long Prairie Trail

Kishwaukee River Forest Preserve 12-11-11

2011-12-11T21:29:00.001-06:00

We drove from Rotary FP to this location by heading north on Mulford Road. This entrance is on Mulford Road. It appears to be the driveway shown on the park map as the SE Area maintanance shop. I don't know if the sign means you cannot hike in this area, or just not drive up the driveway. My guess is you are allowed to hike there, as they do not seem to ban hiking anywhere. They probably don't want people around the shop area, but I suspect out in the forest they don't care.

This is the sign at the Mulford Road entrance to the part of the preserve on the east side of the river. The preserve straddles both sides of the river.

These geese were next to an island out in the river.

We did not see much in the way of hiking opportunities on this side of the preserve. Not much shown on the park map in the way of hiking on the east side of the river other than the maintanance trail. It seems to be the only way to access some of the area in the preserve to the south along the east side of the river. It looks like forest so one might well be able to get around in there even if there are no trails.

Rockford Rotary Forest Preserve 12-11-11

2011-12-11T20:51:00.006-06:00

This was a relatively short, but nice hike. I forgot to turn on the GPS until I was on the trail a while, so the very beginning of the path was not recorded. We started at the same place we ended. About 1.8 miles. We had a nice chat by the river with Bert (a very friendly boxer) and his human Mike. Lots of grade change.

The forest is pretty open here, so there is a lot of opportunity for off trail exploration. We stayed on the trail this time. It might be neat to see how far one can get along the river heading west. Mike said you could only go a short distance from where we met by the river before it got hard to traverse. A glance down river seemed to confirm this.

The FP extends across the river but there is no obvious way to get to the FP property across the river, except by crossing the river somehow.

This is the trail map posted by the entrance. The gate was locked and a sign was up saying closed by the gate, but I am pretty sure it only applied to the horse trails being closed to horses. This map shows a trail along the river not shown on the map I downloaded. I wonder if the trail is actually there. Perhaps they want to discourage use of it for some reason. Maybe it is steeper than they think is safe.

This structure is along the river. The remains of something. The pack and other stuff sitting on it was Mike's.

This brickwork is near the entrance gate. I think it is maybe a foundation for a sign that has been removed.

The GPS track.

The park map from their web site.

I thought the preserve map showed the trail in the wrong spot. I think what it is that the map actually shows the open area that is the youth camping area farther north than it really is.

ETA 12-12-11:
It appears it would be possible to walk along the river east from this preserve into Kishwaukee River FP, however it is posted as private on the ground. The maps of both preserves show it as outside the preserves, but the county wide map show they are connected by a triangular sliver of FPD property. I sent them an email to ask about it.

I got this response back to my email. "The county wide map is wrong. At present there is no connection between Rotary and Kishwaukee River Preserve."

WalMart Great Value 100% Ground Columbian Coffee

2011-12-11T19:56:00.000-06:00

I switched to this coffee after WalMart discontinued the stuff I was using before. I have been going thru a can or so a month. Good stuff. I drink it just about every day.

What's in my Outdoor Products fanny pack? 12-7-11

2011-12-08T06:40:00.006-06:00

I don't pretend this is anything special, but over time this is what ended up in my fanny pack.

I left the house on our morning walk without my hanky this morning, so the spare in the outer pocket came in handy.

I know this is not the greatest fanny pack, and the torn stitches show that. However, I wanted a fanny pack that would carry two 1 quart or 1 liter water bottles, and this is what I have been able to find.

I had to replace the ibuprofen yesterday as my wife used them a few months ago when she ran out, and I had forgotten to replace them.

I also noticed that my little bottle of DEET is missing. Wonder where it went off to?

The OTC meds in my FAK

ETA: 12-9-11
I realized this morning that the super glue I used to have in there is gone as well. I had an extra tube so I replaced it. I put the sunscreen, super glue, and Carmex into a small ziplock style bag just in case one of them opens up. Less mess if it is inside a bag.

Something I wrote elsewhere.

I have been thinking of adding some stuff. maybe a small multi-tool - Gerber Clutch size. But I am not a huge fan of the pilers on them. They look a little flimsy. But maybe in that size just about anything is going to be a little flimsy.

I am not real worried about DEET this time of year but I need to get another bottle for when it is handy.

The stitching failure aggravated me some but the repairs have held up well.

Virtually everything in there is stuff that got put in because of experience. Except the fire kit. That is mostly just because it is cool. I cannot recall that I have ever found the need to start a fire while on the trail or walking the dog.

Something else that I just realized is missing. A tube of super glue. I think I used it and forgot to replace it.

Experience has made me afraid of three things - the dark and the rain, and getting lost.

I keep a small flashlight on my keychain in my pocket, and a backup in the pack. One time I had to use the backlight on my cell phone to get out of the woods when I stayed too long.

I have gotten wet and quite cold a few times so I refuse to go anywhere near the woods without a poncho. The one I have in this pack is basically a one time use item, but it will get me back to the car a lot less wet than if I did not have it.

I am not a compass fanatic, but a couple of button compasses like the zipper pull and the one on the whistle are adequate to get me straightened out when I can't see the sun and get turned around. I didn't show it because I don't keep it in the pack but I bring a printed map with me when I go in the woods that is kept inside a 1 gallon zip lock bag. It amazes me how fast a map can become a soggy mess if it is unprotected. Just sweating on it can make it all but unusable.

I am rarely more than a few miles from civilization where I go hiking, so this kind of kit seems adequate to me.

I have a folding knife and cell phone seperate from the pack that also goes with me.

Stone Bridge Forest Preserve 12-7-11

2011-12-07T19:31:00.002-06:00

This is the address for the preserve. Not much to see yet. There is not even a sign indictaing what the name of the preserve is. The district web site indicates it is undeveloped and there is no public access. There is not much there yet.

We stopped by because we were not far away and I was curious how it was coming along. I am guessing it has quite a ways to go before it opens to the public.

The only evidence I could see that it is a FP are these boundary signs.

Roland Olson Forest Preserve 12-7-11

2011-12-07T19:20:00.025-06:00

A nice easy hike. Not much grade change. Level trails. 2.9 miles in about an hour and 40 minutes. A fairly typical leisurely pace for us. It was cold enough when we left the house that I wore my long johns.

No idea what the "No music" rule mentioned on the preserve map is about.

The GPS map shows an "intermittant" stream in the far NE corner of the preserve. I did not see any easy way to get there so we did not look for it. Maybe next time.

Note that north is to the left on this sign. I think CC is cross country. It appears the local high school uses it for that purpose. This sign is near the entrance.

The Stone Bridge and Long Praire Trails converge at the far SE corner of this preserve. Unfortunately, the short chunk of video I shot of the LPT did not come out well enough to post.
Stone Bridge Trail Entry

ETA 12-12-11:
This is one of the preserves with numbered trail markers that are not shown on the trail map. It appears the trail markers have been added for the benefit of the high school cross country runners, which may explain why they are not on the park map.

Stone Bridge Trail

2011-12-07T18:17:00.005-06:00

During our visit to Roland Olson FP today, we came across the conjunction of the Stone Bridge Trail and the Long Prairie Trail at the far SE corner of the FP. SBT belongs to Roscoe Township and LPT belongs to Boone County Conservation District. It appears LPT goes a short distance (maybe 1/2 a mile) from the county line outside of Boone County into Winnebago County.

The SBT is crushed rock, and the LPT is paved. SBT goes from Roland Olson FP NW to the corner of Rockton Avenue and route 251 where it stops. LPT goes east from the preserve about 14 miles to the eastern edge of Boone County where it just dead ends. They follow a no longer used RR right of way.

Several internet sites claim it is 5.8 miles long. But one of them says it only goes to McCurry Road and it actually extends all the way upto Rockton Road. Someday Wilma and I will walk it and find out.

I shot some footage of SBT at the preserve.

Then some at the Rockton Avenue trail head.

ETA 12-8-11:
I used the measure function in Base Camp. It says that it is about 0.5 miles from the county line to McMichael Road. and 4.7 more miles to McCurry Road, and about 5.7 to Rockton Road, so it appears the 5.8 miles figure is accurate. Not sure if that is all the way from the county line or from McMicheal Road. Either seems reasonable.

SS Thermos water bottle

2011-12-06T16:06:00.003-06:00

I don't think it is an actual Thermos brand.

My wife got this as a gift. She was not using it so "loaned" it to me. I have been using it for coffee. At first it was a little odd to drink hot coffee from a straw, but I got used to it pretty quick.

It does not have a brand name on it. It is a 24 ounce bottle. Don't know where it was purchased or how much it cost.

I have not used it for anything cold, but it does seem to work pretty well at keeping hot coffee at least warm enough to drink. I bring it with me in the car when we go hiking, and 2 or 3 hours later the coffee is still drinkable. I may even try bringing it on the trail with me when I am using my day pack. Much more convenient than a conventional Thermos with a screw on cup, as it can be used one handed.

I have only used it perhaps a dozen times. No leaks.

I doubt it can keep coffee hot for 12 hours as the label claims. Six hours it did pretty good though, and that was sitting in the back of the Jeep while Wilma and I hiked with a low 40s temperature.

ETA 12-12-11:
I took it with us yesterday. It sat in the car for about 6.5 hours while we hiked. Outside temperature ranged from low 30s to low 40s. Coffee was warm but not hot. Still drinkable though. I might have gotten better performance out of it by filling it with boiling water first to pre-warm it. I will have to try that sometime and see if it makes that much difference. It was laying on its side the whole time. No leaks.

Cabelas wool blend sock update

2011-12-06T15:58:00.001-06:00

Update to

I don't wear these as much in the summer. They can be a little warmer than I need. I did wear them pretty regularly last winter and into the early spring and have started wearing them on a regular basis agin now that it is cooler. I have not noticed any unusual wear on them. They are still warm and comfy.

Outdoor Products SS Water Bottle

2011-12-06T15:45:00.004-06:00

I won this in a raffle over a year ago. At first I did not use it much, but over time have come to appreciate it. It is a 24 ounce bottle that can be used one handed. I mostly use it in the house as a water bottle. I prefer it to bottles I have to unscrew.

To use, I just flip the drinking spout up and suck on the spout. There is an air inlet next to the spout that when the spout is fully open allows air to enter the bottle as water is sucked thru the straw inside out thru the spout.

I used to use some recycled polycarbonate pop and juice bottles but over time they all developed holes so I started looking for something better. I did not get this one except by chance. I like it. The only thing that would make it better is if it were 32 ounces instead of 24. But, it was a prize, so I got what I got. In any case, I have not found any 32 ounce SS bottles I like.

As I got it in a fraffle, I don't know where it was purchased or how much it cost. It is the same brand as some of WalMart's outdoor products so it may have come from there. I have seen some plastic water bottles of this brand there, but don't recall seeing any in SS.

I have had no trouble with leaks, or anything else for that matter.

Fran surgery today

2011-12-06T15:26:00.002-06:00

The Patient Adjustable Warming System. Sort of like a hair dryer. It has a long flexible hose that actually connects directly to the disposable hospital gowns they use in the outpatient surgery area.

Dr. Bush wrote this on Fran's foot. I guess he wanted to make sure he got the correct left foot.

He also initialed her toes.

Afterward.

Fran is OK and presently resting at home.

12-4-11 Rock Cut State Park Rt173 to Horse Camp

2011-12-05T06:59:00.008-06:00

We ran across a tree that had fallen over a trail. I sent an email to the park super about it and included this map I took a picture of that I marked showing where the tree was. this neat new map was posted in the horce camp. It has all the trail marker numbers on it. I asked for a copy of the new map as well. I might be able to use the photo but a nice clean copy would be nice.

GPS said 4.05 miles. Sounds about right - 2 hours and 8 minutes. It was mid 40s and pretty windy in the open areas. Glad I brought my gloves. We have hiked this area a number of times. Plenty of different routes to take. Nice trails. It is about 2.5 miles from the route 173 parking lot to the horse camp and back by the most direct route. But we were in no hurry so took a less direct route.

I also noted the bathrooms were locked at the horse camp. I asked the park super in the email about that as well. I have emailed him before with questions and he is pretty good about responding promptly. I will update the blog entry when he replies.

ETA 12-6-11: I got a reply back today. He indicated "we will get the tree soon, sorry the privies will stay closed until the skiers get in there". He did not elaborate as to why the outhouses are presently closed.

He added "With the state of the state I would be surprised that we would print the new maps, the new trend is to have them available on the web, you can download the maps on the DNR web site and go to recreation areas and look for Rock Cut. Sorry you need to print your own".

I pointed out the new map is not on the website to download. I can use the photo if I can't get a clean copy.

I would add that they do a good job of keeping the park up, even with the tight budgets the state has had of late.

Wilma's breakfast

2011-12-05T06:53:00.000-06:00

12-4-11
This picture of the part of Fran's breakfast that she shared with Wilma was taken almost 2 hours after she set it out for her. I have never known any dog before that will just leave people food sit there. But Wilma is not your average dog. It is not unusual for her to leave morsels like this sitting there for 4 or 5 hours, even more, before getting around to eating it.

Road construction continues

2011-12-05T06:47:00.003-06:00

12-1-11
I noticed yesterday when I came home and again this morning that several driveways have been fixed. I think the purple lines indictate where blacktop will be put in today. Across the street where there is a driveway ramp but no driveway, it is spray painted in the same color "DO NOT PAVE".

12-3-11
Fran got this picture of the "DO NOT PAVE" markings.

12-4-11
Our new driveway entrance.

ETA: 12-8-11
Note the recycling trash. The trash company did not pick up our recycling trash on the 26th of November, or the following week on the 2nd of Dec. Fran called to complain both times. Nothing seemed to happen after the first week. I just left it all out by the street. It was picked up on the 6th of Dec while we were at the hospital. I don't know why they did not pick up the recycling. They came and got the regular trash both times.

3W Police Lights LED Flashlight

2011-12-04T09:23:00.007-06:00

I am kind of a sucker for a "bargain". I figure for a couple bucks I can't really get hurt too much. I bought these two flashlights from two different Chinese sellers on eBay recently. Both came with free shipping. One was $1.25 (seller = teewin) and the other $1.97 (seller=suncn2010).

I have no idea how they can ship a product to the US (with confirmation number no less) for that, much less include any product in a padded envelope.

The $1.25 unit confirmation info shows:
Delivered
Dec-02-11, 12:18 PM
Processed Through Sort Facility
Nov-22-11, 14:24 PM, SHENZHEN

The $1.97 unit confirmation info shows:
Delivered Nov-30-11, 13:34 PM
Processed Through Sort Facility
Nov-22-11, 16:23 PM, BEIJING

The eBay listing description for these things are pretty consistent. I copied one of them here.

Qty: 1 pcs
Weight: about 50g
Size: 9.5cm x 2cm x 2cm
Material: metal aluminum
Powered by 1 x AA battery ( not included )
High tech, ultra-bright LED, operation life up to 100,000 hours, never need replace
Ultra portable, ideal companion for hunting, camping, fishing, hiking, traveling, climbing etc
Extensive LED lifetime, high intensity 1LED 3 Watt white bright light the latest generation
Less wattage and high light output
With the black strap and keychain , you can take with it anywhere easily
Waterproof and shock proof
Notice: please don't put it in the water for a long time.

I do not believe for a second that they are 3 Watts of anything. 3 Watts on a AA cell would be 2 amps, and that would be 24 AH of battery capacity needed to run this thing for the 12 hours of run time claimed. That is 5-10X the typical capacity of most AA cells, but might conceivably be within the capacity of a lithium battery. It is pretty bright for an AA powered flashlight. None of the listings I saw mentioned any lumen figure.

I have seen a bunch of these for sale on eBay and the price dropped over time. When they got to $2 I figured it was time to grab a couple.

The first one to show up exhibits noticeable flicker. The second one does not.

Both are marked "POLICE 3W" on them. The one with the marking perpendicular to the end is the one that exhibits the flicker.

Both sellers offer returns, but you have to ship them back on your dime according to the listing. Hardly worth it for an item that is <$2. I am going to email the seller and see what he says about it. Sometimes these guys are pretty good about this kind of problem and other times not. We will see. I will update later.

They actually look to be pretty well made. I am not sure I trust the lanyards they came with though. They are attached to the flashlight body with nylon cord that will eventually fail.

ETA: 12-5-11
Shortly after I wrote this post I emailed the seller of the defective unit. He agreed to a full refund without me having to ship back the defective unit. The transaction was subsequently cancelled and I did indeed get a full Paypal refund. Cannot ask for any more than that.

ETA: 12-7-11
A guy on this thread asked for a video

Chain-o-lakes State Park 12-3-11

2011-12-03T20:47:00.000-06:00

We were driving by so thought we would stop in on our way back from visiting some of Fran's relatives.

We went in first to the Oak Point picnic area accessed off route 173. It appears to be a boat launch, fishing and picnic area.

We saw a big pheasant by the side of the park road but did not get a picture of him.

Then we drove a little west on 173 and south on Wilmot Road to the main park entrance only to find it is closed for hunting.

Rock Cut State Park Coyote 12-3-11

2011-12-03T20:33:00.002-06:00

Seen from park road not far from where we saw one before. Sorry the pictures are not real good, but he did not stick around long, so Fran had to take them in a hurry.

Update on King Size Direct Fleece Long Johns

2011-12-02T19:27:00.001-06:00

Update to

/

As you can see a couple holes developed last season along the left ankle. They can be sewed back together and should be good for another season. A little bit of fuzz in the thigh area where they rub together.

I wore these just about everyday for an hour or so for 3 or 4 months last season while walking the dog each day and during our hikes during the cold times.

I started wearing them on occassion lately as it got down into the low 20s in the mornings when we walk.

Dr. Jim's sign

2011-11-30T07:05:00.002-06:00

11-29-11
I noticed recently that Dr. Jim's sign has his phone number on one side but not the other. Maybe he ran out of "4"s. Or perhaps he does not want people coming from the west to call him.

RayOVac Platinum Rechargeable NiMH Batteries and Charger

2011-11-27T19:12:00.005-06:00

I got tired of buying the expensive lithium batteries for the camera so bought these a few months ago at WalMart.

The charger came with 2 AA and 2 AAA batteries. It was <$15. I bought two packs of 4 AA batteries as well. Each pack was $7 or $8.

This is what the WalMart website says about these batteries.
•Low Self Discharge technology
•Batteries hold their charge 3x longer than standard rechargeable batteries
•Platinum batteries are pre-charged and ready to use right out of the package
•Batteries can be used in any device and in any charger
•Ideal for high-drain devices

I did not try to use them out of the box. I recharged them all first. I think the package claimed 60% of the charge remains after a year on the shelf and can be recharged 300 times.

I have been using them in my digital camera. I replace the used batteries with freshly charged ones after each use so the batteries are always fresh. Recently I started using them in my Garmin GPS. Also gets replaced after each use, although since I have only 10 AA batteries I don't have a set to rotate through both devices and have to recharge some before replacing the 2 in the GPS. I think next time I am at WalMart I will get another pack.

I numbered the base of the batteries to make sure I rotate them in pairs and even out the use.

So far so good. They only take a few hours to recharge. You have to recharge them in pairs but being as they are always used by me in pairs, that does not bother me any.

There is a red light for each pair that comes on while it is charging that pair. The red light goes off when it is done charging. One time one pair the red light turned off and the other pair the red light was blinking when I checked it. The instructions do not cover what a blinking light means. I just unplugged the charger and plugged it back in and it seemed to charge normally.

They are not the expensive Eneloops, nor is the charger one of the expensive chargers that are out there, but for my needs, these seem to be working fine.

The instructions claim the charger works with both NiMH and Ni-Cad style batteries.

I am not currently using the AAA batteries for anything.

ETA 12-1-11
I posted a link to my review on an AR15.com forum. there was some discussion about these batteries that may be useful. I don't know how long the link will work. AR15.com has a goofy system of storing older posts.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_18/652377_RayOVac_Platinum_NiMH_Rechargable_Batteries.html

ETA 12-3-11
I was going to try some Duracell white tops that are purported to be Eneloops but WalMart did not have any today. They only had black top Duracell NiMH batteries that are not of the low self discharge style, so I bought another pack of the RayOVacs to use with my GPS, as the Li batteries in them gave up the ghost recently. $10. Don't know if they went up in price or if my memory of what I paid before was faulty.

ETA 12-13-11:
In addition to using them in my camera, I am now using them in my GPS. My GPS has a setting to select what kind of batteries are being used, so I selected NiMH. I have not had any problems since switching from disposable Li batteries. I change them out after every use, just like I do with the camera. Yesterday the GPS was on for over 6 hours. Still had 2 bars left. Don't know quite what that means. But it had not discharged to the point where the device refused to turn on the backlight, which is when I was changing out the Li batteries previously. I rotate the batteries in pairs through the devices in whatever order I happen to change them, so I am not using any particular set with either the camera or the GPS.

Recent stuff including Wilma's Xmas Picture

2011-11-27T18:53:00.001-06:00

11-25-11
I took this photo of the new door at Logli's. I have been wondering what they are going to put there. Now I know.

11-27-11
Wilma in her Christmas costume. She is not anywhere near as tolerant of being dressed up as Woofie was.

Belleville ICW Boots Update

2011-11-26T23:10:00.000-06:00

Update to

No complaints about them. They are comfy, warm, and held up well, and are waterproof. A bit heavy maybe, but they are cold weather boots.

Walmart Faded Glory Boot Socks Update

2011-11-26T23:08:00.002-06:00

Update to

I have to rate them as pretty good. They have held up to daily wear. They are warm enough when it is cold, but my feet don't sweat excessively when it is warm out. I have found them comfortable. One sock shows some wear.

Update on Columbia Trail Meister Hiking Boots

2011-11-26T23:04:00.001-06:00

update to

I rate them as pretty good. They held up well to a lot of use since July of 2010. The soles show a lot of wear. Maybe they are worth having resoled.

Atwood Park 11-26-11

2011-11-26T20:52:00.014-06:00

I emailed the Rockford Park District not long ago and asked if there were any hiking opportunities in any of their parks, and if so if there were maps available. I got this response back from someone that works at Atwood Park.

"There are 334 acres of hiking trails out here at Atwood Park, 2685 New Milford School Rd. We have trail maps (see attached) and the park is open to the public. We have a north and south side to our park, separated by the Kishwaukee River. There is oak/hickory forest, a restored prairie, marsh area and a quarry. It is also quite historic, as Atwood Park was the site of the Camp Grant rifle range during WWI and WWII. There are still remnants from that area (target pit, bunkers, trenches) as well as several structures built by the CCC. An additional attraction is our Birds of Prey area that is housed just down from the main lodge. We have a bald eagle, owls, kestrel and a turkey vulture!"

I don't know if that means there are no other places with any trails in the RPD or not. In any case, this is a place well worth going to for an afternoon or morning hike.

I got my chance today. I missed the quarry and marsh, and the remnants of Camp Grant the email mentions. Maybe next time. It was precipitating the whole time, either light rain or drizzle, but neither Wilma nor I melted. We both got pretty damp. My jacket is not waterproof, not really even rain resistant.

The birds of prey exhibit is OK, but I think I would prefer to see the birds of prey flying about instead of caged up. Perhaps they are birds that have been injured. The red tailed hawk we saw looked like he might have been injured. I especially liked the turkey vulture.

This is the site that was once an army camp - Camp Grant. There are signs about every ten feet it seems warning of possible unexploded ordinance.

There is an obstacle course up by the lodge. They don't call it that. Something more PC like "challenge course". Don't recall for sure.

The trail system is pretty extensive. Mostly well groomed and pretty well marked. If you have a trail map and pay attention (like I didn't) you can't really get lost. There are some trails not on the map, along with what I now realize are firebreaks through the prairie areas.

There are some informational signs out on the trails but a number of them have faired poorly in the weather, and are not readable anymore.

We did 4.5 miles (per Mr. GPS) in just about 2.5 hours. A nice leisurely pace. We could have probably gone another 4 or 5 miles without repeating trails (except at the river crossing). A fair amount of grade change along the way as well.

I saw few people in the park. Possibly due to the weather. We ran across a single hiker along the trail and saw one car moving along the park road at the entrance we unintentionally went to. A couple of people at the birds of prey exhibit, along with someone I took to be a bird keeper.

I kind of had in mind walking around the perimeter of both sides of the park but as you can see I got sidetracked a few times. I made a wrong turn onto a trail and headed in the wrong direction and was not paying enough attention to even notice until it was real obvious. This is in a park with marked trails and a trail map. The other day I was in a place with no trails and no map of any consequence, and managed to not get lost. Got to pay better attention to what direction the trails are going.

I was getting pretty wet so I cut short our excursion in favor of going back to the car and breaking out the thermos of coffee I brought with us.

I don't recall seeing any bathrooms there. I will have to email them and ask them. Maybe there are some at the lodge but it was closed today.

ETA 11-28-11: I got this reply back from the Park District.
"No bathrooms this time of year - only during summer months."

Menards Guidesman SS Water Bottles 2 pack

2011-11-26T09:16:00.004-06:00

Not all that much to say about these. I have seen them there before right by the entrance. <$4. I don't think they were reduced for Black Friday.

They came with split rings and carabiners attached to the cap. I did not like the noise they made flopping around and are pretty useless IMO so I removed them. There was a warning that came with them that stated the carabiners should not be used for climbing.

I washed them out after we got home yesterday from the Black Friday festivities and tried one as a normal water bottle. Worked OK. My only gripes are the size and that you can't use them one handed since the lid has to be unscrewed to use. I really wanted some 32 ounce SS bottles, but have not been able to find any I really like. These are only 24 ounces, but they will do for now until I find exactly what I really want.

The plastic screw in lid comes with a gasket. No leaks, and it looks pretty substantial so I expect leaks will not be an issue.

For the price, they are a great value IMO.

ETA: 12-6-11
I used to use some recycled polycarbonate pop and juice bottles but over time they all developed holes so I started looking for something better. I have started using these to take with me to work. I freeze a small amount of water in them to keep my water and lunch cold. I wish they were one hand use and 32 ounces, but they work Ok as is.

11-23-11 Sugar River Alder Forest Preserve and Avon Bottoms

2011-11-25T12:19:00.008-06:00

Today, we hiked from Sugar River Alder FP with a brief excursion into Avon Bottoms, a WIDNR property across the state line. It was a nice hike. Lots of water. We flushed a turkey, just about scared the crap out of me when it took off about 10 feet directly behind me.

We did get to explore a little north of the ox bow pond shown on the preserve map, and the NW corner of the preserve.

I had hoped that it would be possible to get farther north in the bottoms, but there is a channel of water that is 10-20 feet wide north of the state line that stretches from the Sugar River on the west all the way to the east edge of the WIDNR property and connects to the ox bow pond, and then back to the state line. The channel starts about 400 yards north of the border at the river and heads generally SE.

Our first attempt to cross into WI was at the SE corner of the WIDNR land. There is a 5 or 6 foot high perm going north along the east edge between the ox bow pond and a channel of water to the east that is next to a corn field. I am guessing the channel to the east and corn field are private. Hard to tell about the berm although being as there are two old electric fences on the west side of the berm, my guess is maybe the berm is private as well. In any case, the berm is overgrown with brambles and not really passable without a machete.

I managed to get around the ox bow pond by heading west but discovered the channel that blocked me from going farther north of the state line. The GPS trek appears to show I never got more than about 1000 ft into WI, and that was over along the river.

I sort of thought I could see it in the satellite images from google, but where I thought I saw it on the image was farther to the south. As you can see from the GPS trek, we just sort of meandered around in there. It is not real hard to get around, but since you can't go more then short distances in a straight line and there really are few landmarks it is easy to get turned around. I had a satellite image, map, and a GPS, but none showed the water feature that blocked me.

The GPS was the only way I could really tell I had crossed into WI. I encountered no one wearing cheese on their head. The ox bow pond and the Sugar River are the only things you can use to navigate in there, and the ox bow pond is not on my GPS map. It appears to me that the ox bow pond shown on the preserve map may actually be slightly farther north than the preserve map depicts.

I managed to get three deer ticks on my chest. As best I can tell Wilma escaped without any ticks, although they are small enough that I could have missed them when I checked her. We had fun. 5.6 miles according to GPS. Took 5 hours and 20 minutes. Very slow going in there.

I got some guidance from a fellow at the WIDNR. I contacted him via their website.

There is a lot of this up there.

Interesting fungi all over the place.

Wilma in her safety vest (it is gun deer season in WI).

A hunter we saw from the preserve side sitting in a tree stand across the state line, maybe 20 feet away.

A nicer map of the preserve is posted at various spots along the trail than what can be downloaded.

Some interesting bits in the video.
10:50 Wilma and I scare up a turkey.
12:55 Wilma goes in a hollow tree.
13:05 we find the remnents of a deer camp(?).

ETA: I was even able to use my GPS I got for Xmas last year for more than keeping track of where I went for after I get back. I must admit I did most of my navigating using the sun ,the zipper pull compass I bought last week, and a forest preserve map I printed off their web site. Hard to get lost in the small area I had to work with, and I really have not come to terms with the GPS yet in lieu of a map and compass. Although up there it was kind of handy since I was often not real sure where I was with any great degree of certainty as far as what state I was in.

Recent road construction stuff

2011-11-24T11:43:00.002-06:00

11-18-11
Forms were set out this morning to make the sidewalk where our driveway is.

These three were taken by Fran later in the day.

11-19-11
We now have a sidewalk where our driveway is. No driveway yet, but they are making progress.

The pavers they are using instead of concrete or blacktop to make our road.

Empty paver pallets.

A tag I saw on the ground. Probably came from one of the pallets of pavers.

11-21-11
Fran took this picture of the end of our driveway. They removed the sidewalk forms and put in the gravel bed to prepare for the blacktop.

11-22-11

11-23-11

11-24-11
Pictures taken on our walk this morning. They blocked the road right next to pur driveway.

Just up the road, maybe 200 feet.

In case the road crew gets thirsty I guess.

A wonderful piece of technology.

I have noticed several places where pavers that are chipped have been installed. I wonder if they will replace them or not.

The machine they use to set a whole layer of pavers at one time. It is hydraulically operated and appears to just squeeze the pavers together as it sets them in place. I took a look at a couple of th open pallets and there is no mesh holding them together as I suspected there might be.

Empty paver pallets stacked up at the west end of the construction zone.

Hinchcliff Memorial Forest Preserve 11-22-11

2011-11-24T10:33:00.001-06:00

We were not far away from this tiny FP, so thought we would drop in for a look. It turned out the bridge it is next to is being worked on. It looked like there might be access to the FP via a dirt road but it was raining and I was uninterested in getting stuck in the mud.

No pics.

Recent Stuff Wilma and squirrels

2011-11-24T10:28:00.002-06:00

11-13-11
The guy kitty corner from us put up his Xmas decorations this weekend.

11-22-11
Wilma in the car on the way back from our excursion to Kilbuck Bluffs FP.

11-23-11
Squirrels.

Wilma in the car on the way home from Sugar River Alder FP.

11-24-11
Taken on our walk this morning.
Zoysia grass lawn. It goes dormant when it gets cold. The lawn owner told me that sometimes it does this in August if it gets hot and dry.

I wonder if this is also Zoysia.

J. Norman Jensen Forest Preserve 2-27-11

2011-11-23T21:26:00.002-06:00

I realized I did not post these. We passed by here on our way back from Sugar River Alder FP the first time we went there. Better late then never I guess.

The district web site says it is under development. It is just off Rockton Road so when we go to any of the three FPs along the Sugar River, it is just a few blocks north of Rockton Road.

I saw the sign on our way back and forth today. It reminded me we had stopped there once in the past. It was already dark today when we went by or we might have taken another look.

11-22-11 Kilbuck Bluffs Forest Preserve

2011-11-23T10:05:00.002-06:00

Note the park map is oriented with north to the right.

It was drizzling thoughout our visit here. Not much in the way of mapped trails here but a great view of the creek from the top of the bluffs. It is worth coming to see just for that.

The park map does not show them but there are outhouses near each of the shelters. The one next to the Edgewood shelter looks to be like the fancy new one like we saw at Countyline FP the previous day.

The trail shown on the downloaded map is not shown on the map posted at the park. It basically goes down the side of a hill near each shelter to the creek, and then back up the hill to the other shelter a few hundred yards away. About 25-30 steps is involved at each end. We went up and down twice, so got 100+ steps in. The trail has a large tree that has fallen over it. But it is possible to walk around it.

Downstream a ways is a picnic table out on a rocky outcropping along the creek edge, but there is a large tree fallen in front of it that impedes access.

Given the nature of this property, it would be quite possible to bush whack around if I had not been tied to a beagle with her own ideas of how to get around inside the forest. I may come back sometime without her and explore some.

We drove through the park and went to the other side of the road to visit the rest of the park to the west. The park map says there is an outhouse and well there. The outhouse is about where the map shows the well, but we never saw a well on that end of the park, despite driving the road loop twice.

I never saw either well the map claims are on the east side of the park, although the outhouse shown on the map is there next to a baseball field that you can see if you look real close on the park map, but I think the outhouse is actually on the other side of the baseball field. I did not look real close for either of these wells so they may be there. One is shown in an odd spot off the road so it might not be readily visible from the road. The other is shown near one of the shelters and I did not see it, if it is there, even though I would have been within 20 feet of where the map shows it. But I really was not looking for ether of them. They may be there and I just did not see them.

Fox River Liner Socks

2011-11-22T08:39:00.004-06:00

I got these at Farm and Fleet. $3.49 a pair. I bought several pairs last year as well, and one or two pair in black of another brand from some place else. I find they make a huge difference in comfort when worn under a boot sock while hiking. I typically don't wear them except on longer hikes. The boot socks I wear every day.

If I had a complaint about these type of socks, it would be that they don't seem to last long. They develop holes and runs pretty quickly by comparison with any of the brands of boot socks I have purchased and wear everyday. It would not surprise me if I get less than a dozen uses of a pair before they develop holes and runs in them.

ETA 11-29-11:
A poster on another forum stated that one common reason for getting holes in these kind of socks is toe nails that have rough edges. I have noticed that to be true. He also stated that even rough skin like on calluses can be problematic as well. I have not had that problem. Thread on AR-15

11-21-11 County Line Forest Preserve

2011-11-21T22:28:00.002-06:00

We did about 4.5 miles in about 2.25 hours. Flat terrain and easy trails made for a quick hike. We took a detour that is not shown on the map coming back. There was a mowed path that kind of follows the tree line to the east of the river that we took back to a gate at Newburg Road. Then we walked along Newburg and Ipsen Roads back to the trail head.
The trail on the map is pretty close except that the loop at the south end is much smaller than depicted.

Lots of deer tracks and scat on the trail, both on the Boone County and Winnebago County sides.

11-22-11 ETA:
I sent an email to the operations director at BCCD. Like many places, the key to getting an email reply seems to be to get an actual person's email address.

I asked if there was a plan to extend the mowed path that goes along the tree line back to the trail head. He said they were planning to extend it under the bridge into the area north of Mulford and extend to the trail system at LIB. He said they were scouting the area currently and it was possible they might extend it back to the trail head. He said there is lots of work to be done there.

I had mentioned in my email about the fancy outhouse. He said it was part of some kind of insurance settlement and said "We were extremely
lucky to get that outhouse". Apparently someone ran into a WCFPD outhouse and this was the replacement but they could not get the old one out, and the old one was what was going to be moved to this place.

Coleman Zipper Pull Compass and Thermometer

2011-11-20T22:33:00.003-06:00

$2 at Farm and Fleet yesterday. Seems to work OK when I tried it on our short hike today. Kind of handy to have it readily available.

Has a wind chill chart on the back, for whatever that may be worth.

Can't beat the price.

ETA 11-29-11:
During our excursion to Atwood park Saturday, my jacket got pretty wet so after we got home I put it in the dryer to dry. The jacket came out fine but the zipper pull did not survive the experience. :)

I will have to get another one the next time I am somewhere they have them. I really liked having the compass readily available.

ETA 12-10-11:
I went back to Farm and Fleet recently and got two more of these items. I really like them. I added a small snap ring to my zipper on my jacket. I will be removing the zipper pull when it is not in use so as to keep it from getting destroyed again. I got one for my day pack and one for my fanny pack.