This One's for You, Owen.

The past two weeks have been spent in the Northwoods, and this probably won't change any time soon since we're still going strong in Siren/Burnett County. I started off in Siren last week, got shipped four hours east to the Eagle River area, and came back to Siren on Monday. I felt like a trucker, logging over 800 miles last week alone! The scenery is worth it though, the drive from northern Burnett County to Eagle River, mainly on Hwy 77, ran through large sections of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. If only it wasn't all work and no play! No time for photos or exploring the lakes we drove by, but it was definitely enough of a taste to make me want to return on my off-time. Our work took us north of Eagle River to Phelps, just miles short of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It really looks like Finland in this area, and now I want property here! It almost seemed like punishment to have so much work to do and so little time to explore, but I'm glad I got to see it. Here are the few photos I took, from a great little Italian place, Nero's, and from my hotel window.






We stayed at the Settle Inn, which is -- by far -- my favorite hotel I've been in for work. AMAZING beds, like a cloud, you won't know what hit you. And a complimentary hot breakfast, served up by Gloria. Homemade french toast and all, but don't forget your breakfast coupon, she won't serve you and she don't play!

On the drive from Eagle River back to Madison, I finally got to stop in Rhinelander. Last year, we excavated the boyhood home of Eugene Shepard near New London, WI. Eugene Shepard went down in Wisconsin and Folklore history with his infamous HODAG hoax. The city of Rhinelander has since adopted the Hodag as their mascot, and there are sculptures all around town to prove it. I have to say, I feel much more like a true Wisconsinite now that I've been to Rhinelander to see a Hodag!


Back in Siren, we've been hitting lots of artifact clusters. Yay for real archaeology! Projectile points, rim sherds, debitage and all, it's a nice change of pace! Some really great property owners allowed us to expand search beyond the project area to define our site boundaries. One in particular was Owen. He's a retiree from the Twin Cities and has been coming to his cottage on the lake for years. I explained to him what we were looking for, and even though the project didn't extend onto his property, he was more than willing to let us have a look. He asked if I like Native American art, and my answer was, of course! He said he'd like to show me some of his own collection and invited me into his lakeside cabin to have a look. I was in absolute awe of his collection, he's obviously spent years on it. Carvings, paintings, masks, dolls, bead work, quivers, prints - WOW! It was really, really touching to be shown this stuff. His favorite artist is a man called Norvel Morriseau, a Canadian Ojibwe. This man's paintings are unearthly and stunning, definitely something I never expected to encounter during a 'normal day on the job'. Do a Google image search of him, seriously. Or check out more of his work here. To see these paintings real and up close was an absolute treat. It is obvious that Owen appreciates, reveres, and has an emotional investment in the objects he collects.

Right before lunch, I decide to place a couple of shovel tests along the very southern edge of Owen's property and call it quits for that part of the site area. What do you know, there's a small arrowhead in one of the holes! A chalcedony Madison Triangular, yippee!! Owen immediately says that the museum can have it, even though I explain to him that the property owners can have them sent back after analysis. All of the other property owners want to keep everything, but he wants to give it to the museum. Of course, he's the sweetest man ever. Later that day, the neighbor came up to me and asked if I would talk to Owen again and emphasize that he can keep the arrowhead. He said that Owen is a giver, who would never ask, but it is something he would definitely be touched to have. He's spent a lot of his life collecting Native American art, and he doesn't think twice about giving away something found in his own lawn. As if he needed to convince me further (never was necessary, I whole-heartedly agreed Owen should keep it), he said that Owen had cancer and would likely donate the arrowhead back to the museum after his passing, because he's just that kind of a nice guy. Talk about tugging on my heart strings! One of the best parts of my job is getting to talk to great property owners like these guys by the lake. They have great stories, great insight, and great interest. They don't make many like Owen anymore. I'm definitely gonna make sure he gets that arrowhead.

And now for some scenery. Lovely, lovely Burnett County.

Blowing the Horn About Siren

Siren, Wisconsin was half wiped out by a bad ass tornado back in 2001. On my birthday, and even more particularly, the first day I began professional work as an Archaeologist. I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good or bad coincidence.

I've been working in Siren on and off since 2006. I'm pretty fond of this project, the sites, the roads, the middle-of-nowhere bar-n-grills... However, I'm not getting to "live-up" Siren as fully as I'd like to. Siren's a long drive from Madison, and we've yet to spend a whole week here. On top of that, I got nailed with the flu. Fuck the Swine Flu, what was with that media hype? This flu hit a lot of people hard, and I gotta say, it was NO FUN.

So, this is an entry using a post-flu, partially post-Memorial Day memory.

Any trip to Northwestern Wisconsin warrants a trip to the Norske Nook for PIE, yeah, OLE!! That's "Oh-lee" not "Oh-lay" for you non-Scandinavian heritage folks). We're fond of the Osseo location. Just stop in. I-94, Exit 88, follow the signs. Eat pie. It's award-winning gooooooood. I have to remember to get the Root Beer Float pie next time I see it on the menu, nothing has topped that yet! Here's some White Chocolate Strawberry pie for you to drool over.



There's a place in Siren called Yah Butz that we've had our eyes on for the past few field seasons, but the darn place never seemed to be open. The shop reads 'BBQ and ice cream', has to be good, right? Well, turns out they're open Thursday-Sunday (don't quote me on that). We finally made it in, only there's no cooked food! They sell "take and heat" ribs and their homemade BBQ sauce, amongst some other things including delicious, delicious ice cream. You can sample the sauce. I bought some, only I don't usually grill on my own, so who's up for grilling with some Big Butz?


By the way, what IS that thing?

When in Siren, we usually stay at the Lodge at Crooked Lake. It's very lodgey. Big rooms, lots of taxidermy, some nice common areas to hang out in, a bonfire pit and BBQ, and a great view of the marsh from the north-facing rooms. The rooms have fun names. The first week, I was in "Lumberjack". Last week, it was "Bear Paw". There's also "Dancing Wolf", "Ruffed Grouse"... you get the picture.

Tuesday was Chelsea's first day back for the field season. Our crew may now possibly be at full capacity for the field season. After dinner and having enough of the desserts, we girls took a walk on the Gandy Dancer State Trail that hooks up behind the hotel. We didn't get too far because of mosquitoes, twilight, and the front desk clerk's warning of bears, but it was cool. The beavers love this trail. Check it out, they're trying to impale bikers who fly over the handles...






There was a CD on the beaver lodge. I wonder what album it was?

And finally, this his how we rock it. With a game of LIFE, missing half the pieces.

Herman Rusch Deserves His Own Post, Part 2

Before leaving Buffalo County, we stopped by a Weird Wisconsin destination, the Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden, just off of Hwy 35 near Cochrane. Herman Rusch, in his idle retirement, rented and then bought this property and began to create large sculptures out of concrete and other random materials. I had seen some of his stuff at a folk art exhibit at the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan a couple of years ago (stop by if you're in the area, it's pretty spectacular!). It was cool to finally get to Prairie Moon.
















Not to be a bore, but I've typed a lot tonight! Tuesday night was spent in Menomonie, WI, after a long and winding drive through the country highways and rolling hills of western Wisconsin. Not a bad place, but nothing exciting. Wednesday brought us to Siren, WI, in Burnett County. There are a few adventures to be had up in this part of the Northwoods, but I'll be back here next week. Until then...

Oh, I just noticed that my weekly tallies have fallen by the wayside. Maybe I'll have more energy and more to tally next week? This week was just one big whirlwind!

Whirlwind tours of Western Wisconsin: 1

The First Two Days of an Incredibly Eventful Week, Part 1

I'm discovering fairly quickly that my ability to detach myself from work, after work hours, decreases the likelihood that I will spend an evening writing about my field adventures and reliving the work day! But I've got a lot to write about this week, so suck it up, Reetzie!!

Monday was eventful, to say the least. I was all mentally set for a sojourn in the Northwoods in Eagle River, Vilas County. I was FINALLY going to explore a bit of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the land of expansive woods and Finnish heritage -- YOOP! Well, that didn't happen, the construction schedule changed, and a last minute scramble sent me hopping around Western Wisconsin to some old stomping grounds.

Buffalo County was first on the agenda. This is one of my favorite places in Wisconsin, so I was happy to head that way. En route, we stopped at Ginny's Cupboard in Sparta for lunch. I'll rarely miss an opportunity to stop at Ginny's when I'm going through the area or at home visiting friends and family. Milkshakes = phenomenal; coffee = supreme; cheddar potatoe soup = the best!! Ginny's has also become a crew favorite over the past three years when we've been in the area. Sparta, represent!

In Buffalo County, we spent the afternoon doing our research and tried to catch some of the shops in the town of Alma before they closed. We weren't too successful, with it being 5pm on a Monday and all, but the weather was gorgeous, and it was great to walk around accompanied by the scents of lilacs, fresh cut grass, and charcoal grills. Alma was definitely a cool place to explore... scenic, historic, Mississippi, bluffs, and streets that are actually stairways. I imagine the residents of Alma get plenty of exercise...










There weren't any rooms at the hotels in Alma, so we ventured back to Fountain City for a stay at the Hawk's View cottages. I'd stayed in one of the lodges in 2006 and have been waiting for an excuse to get back ever since. They didn't disappoint! After checking in and having dinner and a caramelly pint of Fountain City Irish Valley Spring Bock at the Monarch Public House, we headed up the zig zagging Fountain City streets to the cottage parking area. Our cottage was Cooper's Hawk, which required a 117-stair climb up the bluff to the highest cottage. That definitely got the heart pumping, but it was well worth it! Bluff top trees, birds, sun, porches, sky lights, and a bottle of wine from their vineyard. I conquered the stairs twice more, for exploring, and then the sunset and a sauna.












A Finnish-style wood sauna, ahhhhhhh. It made me miss Finland. Why don't all Americans have saunas? It should be a required part of culture in the northern states; it just seems fitting.

I nearly blew this off tonight, but decided that this blog shouldn't fall to the wayside like my Twitter account. It's been a while since I logged onto that, I wonder who Steve Buscemi is pissing off now??

Waushara County is still offering some of the best -- and worst -- aspects of living on the road and doing archaeology. There are still places to discover. Milty Wilty is open! Stay posted for photos (I barely have the energy to nonsensically babble, let alone upload photos). Milty Wilty, "since 1947" is a classic Midwest drive-in diner. YUM. I continue to be floored by how cheap the food is in this area of Wisconsin. Homemade frozen custard shake, a burger and fries for $5. Such good food... I'm drooling thinking about it, and it's been a couple days since we ate there. Go there. Not only do they have good food, they have creepy and fascinating things to look at. And there's a jumping castle!




Susan and I returned to Billy B's tonight for a beer to take the edge off our poison ivy woes. I didn't get it as bad as last year, therefore no steroids, and no 'roid rage! But getting some poison ivy is bad enough. Losing immunity to poison ivy makes archaeology so much less enjoyable. I envy those with immunity. Wish I could steal their idol.

Enough of this tangent, we went to Billy B's. The patrons were quirky again, but that's to be expected. I was telling Wheels about working in this morning's rain and getting soaked, and an ODB across the bar chimes in, "Did you melt? Because sugar melts..." Seriously! How does one respond to something like that, besides smiling and saying, "Yeah, man..." Some severe storms rolled in, and the patrons brainstormed going down to the basement for shelter. For some reason, the ODB declared that there would be ping pong tables down there. So Susan and I should go play ping pong with him... and drink booze. He was still talking about it when we walked out of the bar.

Wheels must have decided that we had enough of his $2.50 bottles of Spotted Cow, so he tapped a Coors Light for Susan and I, on the house. What a nice fella! We sat there, sipping our free brew while Wheels got inspired to tell us some stories about road tripping back in '66-67. He and some friends used to drive cars for people, cross-country, when they needed them delivered for moves, etc. That would never happen today. "Hey, strange college kid, here's my Cadillac and credit card, have this car in California in 2 weeks!" No way. Apparently, it was pretty common and a good 'in-between' job. He and his friends would drive cars from Chicago to the Florida or California beaches... sweet rides, lemons, some of every kind. They would live it up on the beaches before returning home, and he reminisced about inspiring a bunch of straight-edged, hard working kids in Hermosa Beach to see the light and party, wine and beach volleyball style. I really can't do his stories justice. Stop in at Billy B's and have a chat with Wheels sometime.


Oh, and another reason he's cool... because he knows that all the fiberglass statues around Wisconsin and the Midwest are made in Sparta. Damn right, they are. I need to go photograph this place more this summer. This guy has some great photos. This place is a must-see on any Wisconsin adventure. Home sweet home, Sparta!