Ahhh today is such a lovely spring day, and we decided to take a mini road test. About five miles! LOL There is a nice little park by the dam upriver, so we drove there to set and relax for the day. Had to see how those new solar panels rode on the roof, right?
OH oh …. no parking???
Just kidding!
That sign was out by the road and we were legally parked in the area near the dam. There is a larger parking area with a boat ramp a bit further up the road, but we like going here instead. Not dealing with pickup trucks and boat trailers in and out of the water all day.
This is a small dam on the Oconto river, just up river a few miles from our home, and it has a hydro electric generator inside. Actually, we are shareholders in the dam and get a tiny dividend check each year too. So when Steveio would holler at the teens “Who left these lights on?? Do you think I own stock in the electric company???” The would say: “YES!”
We took the dogs and went for a walk along the riverbank. The folks are gathered along the shore line for fishing and watching the spawning… mostly suckers, (like carp) and walleye are spawning right now. Not allowed to catch walleye till the first Sunday in May.
This is the top side of the dam building and the reservoir backwaters which is called The Machickanee Flowage. We sometimes launch our boat here and piddle around fishing in the backwaters of the dam.
It was a gorgeous blue sky day! Wow, compared to 8 inches of snow on Thursday? The birch trees are just beginning to leaf out and the hardwoods are tiny buds yet.
Some other folks were playing with their two dogs by the water, in and out with a ball –—Duke was very jealous and wanted to join right in!
The dam is roped off with big orange warning floats and bouys for safety
Now we walked down the road aways back towards the highway. This bridge is maintained by the local snowmobile club and the landing next to it is a place to launch canoes and kayaks. We can float from here all the way to our house, about five miles, or go another five miles beyond right into Oconto. A few miles past that and you will find yourself in the waters of Green Bay. Keep floating and you are into Lake Michigan!
We walked along on top to see the fish spawning from above (can you see the fish? they are about 2 feet long--- there are about 10 of them in this picture)
Here is a shot from alongside the bridge as we walked along the shoreline.
It sure was a lovely day for a walk… this little bridge was alongside the river over a tiny creek on the way back. The dogs sure enjoyed their first real outing of the year.
Everything seemed so green against the blue sky 
I had simmered up a pot of homemade chicken veg soup before we went out for the walk (no, I didn’t leave it on while we were gone, I had turned it off)
We came back and I finished up the soup with a bunch of noodles and soon it was ready. Yummmmmm!
After that nice lunch, we curled up for a while and took a nap, listening to the red winged blackbirds and robins outside. What a nice way to spend a Sunday in spring! Steve snoozed in his new Euro Chair and I relaxed on the couch. Now I woke up first and decided to get the pics out of the camera while he is still dozing…. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
And we are happy to report that the solar panels are working just fine and we are already charged up to the top end of the batteries.
(this blog was posted by a solar powered computer)
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