Four-wheelin' and Fishin' at Lake Eva!

The Four-Wheeling Clan of Lake Eva!

Me and Lyssa taking on the trails in a bandit scarf and massive flannel!

My week back to Wisconsin was full of fun activities including the many fun adventures at Lake Eva.  After our first evening - the reunion of family and friends - we woke up the next morning for a day of four-wheeling around the north woods.  Curty consulted George to find the local secrets for some great look out spots and hikes in the woods.  It was a cool day out and we were all geared up for a long ride and day trip.  Curty let me borrow his flannel which was quite large and served as a cape while we were cruising down the trails.

The whole gang - Curty in the lead with Debbie in the Buggie... frantically navigating with the GPS!

I also forgot to mention that it had rained fairly recently, leaving some nice mud puddles/lakes for us to romp through and spin out in!  I knew Westerhoff wasn't going to allow Lyssa and I to get home without a face full of mud water - Chris and Kate came after us right outta the gate and Lyssa and I were drenched...

Our first destination was the hike to an overlook bluff.  We hiked the back way up a bunch of stairs and through a wooded and rocky trail.  Apparently its much more terrifying in the winter when the massive quantity of stairs simply turns into a large "man-slide" for boys in large snowmobile boots.  We hiked up to the top and were able to see the view - although slightly crowded with the new greenery of the summer season.  Westerhoff had the right idea and climbed a tree to get the best view.  It was a great hike and a fun place to visit!

Lyssa at the bluff with the stormy Kromer!

Westerhoff getting the Eagle's view of the bluff!

We jumped back on the four wheelers and went to another secret local overlook to have a small campfire to roast some hot dogs and have a lunch fit for kings.  I even ate two turkey dogs - I mean, can you blame me??... the atmosphere was epic, but I was burbing up processed turkey dog for the next 4-7 hours.  Mmmeeh, worth it.

Stay strong BIG ROOTS! The view of the river was perfection...

...can't beat a good northwoods view..

Kate grilling some dogs - thank you Matt for the finely crafted sticks!

I mean... what can I say? Lunch is served.

The view at our lunch place was absolutely amazing.  We were looking over the edge of a bluff, and we were definitely at the edge.  I kept laughing thinking of when Joel and I would watch the movie Black Sheep with Chris Farley and he took that massive tumble down the side of a hill... and about halfway down grabs on to the little roots - HAHA, classic Farley.  Well, this hill was about the same size, and I wouldn't doubt it if some man with a large artillery arsenal was living down in the gorge by the Sturgeon River.

Sensual.  Curty taming the land in the background...

After we stuffed ourselves we jumped back on the wheelers to visit the quiet, family owned establishment which marked close to our halfway point.  There was an older lady manning the pub and she was adorable, yet slightly terrifying.  She was making her own ice cubes from freezer trays - which gives you a sense of just how family owned this pub was.  Lyssa and I put a few dollars in the Jukebox and were able to choose about 16 songs (if only they were still that cheap everywhere!)

Lyssa and I in the Cadillac - might as well drive the Hyundai down the trails!

We finished off the day of perfect weather with some fishing at Lake Eva, but on the way back Curty let us drive the Cadillac!  Lyssa and I jumped at the chance to drive the "side by each" and followed the pack back to Eva.  Chris and Kate had no mercy now that we were driving the Cadillac... they found an opportunity to cover us with mud and then took it to the extreme!  Hahah, Lyssa and I drank a mud puddle for and afternoon snack.  A ways down the trail we found Haus sitting idle in a mud puddle, so Lyssa and I laid on the gas to give them a taste of their own muddy medicine!  Suckers! 

Matt and I catching some Eagle Bait!

After we went up the trail a ways laughing at our success we realized that we didn't see anybody behind us... hmmm.  So we stopped, and  shortly after Matt came flying up on his four-wheeler.  Apparently Haus had run out of gas in the middle of a mud puddle... on the four wheeler that Lyssa and I just handed off to him.  This then afforded Haus the nickname "Mr. NoGas" for the rest of the evening...
 

Lyssa doing some Eric Church "and tomorrow I'm taking me fishin'"

Our loyal captain and trail blazer for the day... Curty!

We had a wonderful day four-wheeling and capped it off with some rock bass fishing, which we like to call "eagle bait".  I couldn't have asked for a better adventure with any better company! We caught some nice fish and made many more memories!  Lake Eva is definitely the place for memory makin' and I can't wait to get back up there on the trails and on the lake!

Lyssa caught a nice fish while I'm still trying to put out my shark bait... classic roomie competition!