Trout Lake, I'll be back next year!

Thursday morning brought a cloudy day. We had a nice walk back to an abandoned homesite deep in the woods where the chimney of a three story house remains. We took a ride to see some of the other lakes in the area, Louie told us there are 109 lakes in a 9 mile radius! This is wild, beautiful country. Louie also told us about a woman who had her car torn apart by a bear who was after a small package of gummy bears she had left on the seat!

Part of the reason we were in the car is we went into the library to bid on the kayak, then took a long ride hoping for a response when we circled back through town. And we got one! I now own a yellow Dagger Axis 10.5 which is being shipped to St. Louis.

The wind was really up and much too rough for the inflatable kayak so we weren't on the water.

I really don't know where the day went, we visited other campers, walked, had a great fire.

Friday morning brought rain, wind and cold. I had on my long underwear all day long. It was just one of those days, but we made the best of it. Luanne knows I like history so she took me to see "The World's Largest Penny" which was oh so cool (ahem) but the story behind it was wonderful.

The penny was erected to commemorate the debt-free opening of a badly needed hospital here in 1954. That feat is credited to a beloved physician named Kate Pelham Newcomb. Known as the “angel on snowshoes” and also as “Doctor Kate,” she frequently trekked through impassable roads to make emergency house calls. Dr. Newcomb covered 250 square miles around Boulder Junction and delivered over 4,000 babies during the years she practiced.

Born in Kansas in 1886 and raised in upstate New York, Kate Pelham enjoyed a comfortable life as her father was president of the Gillette razor company. He initially refused to allow Kate to attend medical school, so she became a teacher instead. Her father later relented, and Kate graduated from medical school at age 31.

Dr. Kate is credited with inspiring a penny drive to fund the hospital. Word of Dr. Kate and her accomplishments spread and she was surprised by an appearance on "This Is Your Life" with Ralph Edwards.

During the program, Edwards mentioned Dr. Kate's dream of building a hospital and the fact that a local high school class was in the process of collecting a million pennies to help defray the cost. Edwards asked viewers to send pennies to Dr. Kate Newcomb in Woodruff, Wisconsin.

“Pennies came here by the tons— $105,000 worth of pennies"

She died at the age of 71 after surgery for a broken hip. We saw her grave in the tiny Boulder Junction cemetery where she and her husband lie between two soaring pine trees.

Saturday, no rain so we started a fire early in the morning and kept it going all day. We got the washers out and played with the kids of the camp host. Several other people joined in the fun and were drawing plans to build their own games. When Luanne heads north next spring there will no doubt be at least two more washer games. Just think, I have single handedly spread this game from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Superior!

This was really a fast week. I love being on the Lake and am hoping to go back again next year.

We left Trout Lake Sunday morning, driving as far as Madison with Luanne and Tucker. We stopped at the Camping World store with great anticipation, but it was a small store and didn't keep much of our money. After goodbye's, Teddy and I went on to the KOA we stopped at on the way up, Luanne made her way home.

We pulled into our driveway middle afternoon Monday to gusty warm winds after a bit more than 1300 miles this trip. I really enjoyed wandering through Iowa, it was a much prettier drive than coming home through northern Illinois. Now to pay the piper for two weeks of having fun, lots of wash and cleaning up Saffire to get ready to leave in three weeks for the Big South Fork National Recreation Area in Tennessee just south of the Kentucky border.

See you on September 30!