The candle light ski at Lake Kegonsa State park was a loop trail around a meadow so it was really pretty when you were about half way and could look back across at all the glowing lights marking the trail. I still don't have a tripod...so these are pretty blurry, but they capture the mood of the event pretty well. On the way home we got to stop by Devil's Lake where we had been canoeing last fall - now the lake is scattered with ice fishing huts.

The fog came in and it started to snow lightly on Saturday night before the Amery Candle Light Ski, which made the 2 mile trail through the woods especially cozy and a little spooky.

It was fun driving around lake Pepin, seeing the cute towns and views of the Mississippi, but my favorite part was having dinner up in the bluffs above Nelson at an old stone barn that serves wood fired pizza on weekend evenings.

Mosquitoes, clouds of mosquitoes, some really pretty canoeing, mosquitoes, trying to relax by lake while being bitten by mosquitoes, escaping to the tent, hunting down all mosquitoes in the the tent, listening to mosquitoes, oh, and ticks too! Lots of them!  Our first Midwest camping trip was a lot more challenging than I expected...maybe we won't be camping at any inland lakes for a while, and next time I'm going to check the park's current updates page so as not to miss the warning that was clearly posted at the top of the page saying THE MOSQUITOES HAVE HATCHED. Still, it was very pretty, and Matt and I are glad we went. We do both feel pretty tough at the moment. We're camping on Lake Superior next weekend, and I'm trying to believe the ranger who when I called to inquire, told me he had only seen one mosquito at the park...

Old buildings, extensive bike lanes and paths, cute cafes with patio seating, and a movie theater that is almost as fun as Oakland's Parkway were just a few of my favorite things about Milwaukee. I can't wait to go back.

Yesterday we drove to Menomonie WI for their annual candle light ski event, which was just as much fun as I hoped it'd be. Sadly all my ski photos are too dark. The only ones I have from the trip are the ones I took from the car window on the drive there. Now I have to research the best way to take good night shots so I can document the next candle light event.

I was feeling a little sad that I didn't have any fun trips to look forward to, so I was researching things to do in the area and discovered the Candle Light Events hosted by the Minnesota and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. You can ski, snowshoe, or hike along a candle lit trail, and there's usually a fire and hot chocolate to warm you up. Matt and I are going to our first candle light event in Menomonie WI tomorrow, where I'll be taking my own pictures, but here's a few pics of other candle light events I found on flickr, by these flickr photographers: y entonces, Bl@ck Coffee , rkupbens.