Wild West Days in Viroqua

Wild West Days will feature a rodeo, cattle drive, country music concert, and a parade that features more than 100 horses. Many of the Wild West Days events take place at the county fairgrounds in Viroqua, but the music event will be held in the beautifully restored Temple Theater in downtown Viroqua.   

The Crowd at Larryfest 2008

Larryfest is an exceptionally good bluegrass festival that takes place on a rural property near LaFarge, smack dab in the middle of the beautiful Kickapoo Valley. This will be the 12th annual Larryfest event, and they just keep getting better. Somehow bluegrass music and the Kickapoo Valley seem to be a perfect match.

Giddup and Dance

Over the past few years many area visitors who have attended these events have stayed at a rural B&B just south of Soldiers Grove, WI – the Inn at Lonesome Hollow (www.lonesomehollow.com). Rooms are still available for these nights.

Here are some suggested events:

July 4: experience small town Fourth of July in LaFarge or Ontario - both small towns on the Kickapoo River; just a short distance from the Kickapoo lie Hillsboro and Westby which also have interesting July 4 celebrations.

Mississippi Cruise Tour to Effigy Mounds

July 4: board the Mississippi Explorer Cruise boat for a five hour Mississippi River cruise guided by a ranger from Effigy Mounds National Monument. Call 1-877-647-7397 for information.

July 10-12: enjoy the Eighth Annual Gospel and Bluegrass Festival in Viroqua; check out the Viroqua city website at www.viroqua-wisconsin.com.

July 11-12: The War of 1812 in Wisconsin – an interpretive living history camp at Villa Louis Historic Site in Prairie du Chien. Call 1-608-326-2721.

Stiltwalkers at the Country Fair

July 25 and 26: Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic food cooperatrive presents the Kickapoo Country Fair at the beautiful Organic Valley headquarters building on the edge of LaFarge. Enjoy great food, music, dancing, and artisan vendors. For info go to www.organicvalley.coop/kickapoo. 

July 31-Aug 1: Prairie Dog Blues Festival. Regional, national, and international blues bands perform on St. Feriole Island in Prairie du Chien. Visit www.prairiedogblues.com for info.

Colleen Baldrica

About the Retreat Directors:   Colleen Baldrica (Moran) began her spiritual journey as a child.  Inspired by the teachings of her Native American grandmother, she carried that wisdom forth into her career as an adult.  With a Masters degree in Counseling  and a PhD in the Philosophy of Education, she worked in public education for 28 years. As the author of “Tree Spirited Woman” (Beaver’s Pond Press 2006) she has begun a new quest – to share with others what experience has taught her about those simple truths she learned as a child.  Colleen continues to enjoy the path she has discovered by taking long walks in the woods, sharing meaningful conversations with friends and family, and taking time to curl up with a good book. Colleen lives in Stillwater, Minnestoa.  Her website: www.colleenbaldrica.com.

Jeanne Penton

Jeanne Penton, B.S., ACSM has 15 years of experience in the health and wellness industry.  She is nationally certified through the Amerian College of Sports Medicine, and is a yoga instructor and public speaker.  She has worked with many populations including children, seniors, physically disabled, post-cardiac, diabetics, pre-post natal, cancer survivors, athletes, and general population fitness enthusiasts.   Jeanne has shared her knowledge and passion for wellness with many groups, having worked with corporations, schools, churches, fire departments, and served on faculty for the Department of Health and Human Performance at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, IL.  Self-acceptance, mind/body awareness, and stress management serve as the foundations of her teachings.  Jeanne lives in Sycamore, IL.

On the weekend of January 17th and 18th fourteen people attended a fantastic cheesemaking workshop at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow conducted by The Cheesemaker, Steve Shapson, from Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  The weekend started with a visit to Mount Sterling Co-op Creamery to see the cutting, milling, and pressing of the cheese made in the early hours.

Making Cheese

After a hearty brunch, The Cheesemaker, Steve, began the intensive workshop, where the participants learned the craft of cheesemaking.  They learned to make Camembert/Brie, Chevre and Feta cheeses, which they each took home to finish aging and to enjoy at home.

Steve and MJ Shapson

After the workshop, a wine and cheese social was held sampling various local, homemade, and imported gourmet hard, soft and rind ripened cheeses on French baquettes, served with other hors d’oervres.

Because this workshop was very successful and fun, the Inn at Lonesome Hollow is hosting a Spring Cheesemaking Workshop.  Sign up now, as space is already limited.

Inn at Lonesome Hollow Cheesemakers

First Snowfall of 2008

Last year we had the most winter snow of any winter in recent memory. Showshoeing opportunities were obviously better than ever at Lonesome Hollow and a good number of our guests took advantage of our offer for free use of snowshoes and ventured onto our valley and ridge fields and trails to experience the beautiful winter snowscapes of the Driftless Area and the Kickapoo Valley. We have modern, Cabelas’ aluminum frame snowshoes and traditional rawhide web snowshoes that guests may use.

Our first winter snow of ’08-’09 came on November 30. This snow was followed by abnormally cold weather, setting a good amount of frost into the ground. Several smaller snows followed that initial snow, and then on December 8/9 a major storm dumped about 10 inches of new snow on us. Here we are in the first half of December and we already have ideal snowshoeing conditions.

Guests are welcome to explore four miles of our own private trails at Lonesome Hollow. Almost 100 of our 160 acres are wooded. We maintain these trails throughout the warmer months to keep briar and tree branches from encroaching on the trails. There are 20-30 acre fields both in our valley and on our ridge that offer more open snowshoeing with great panoramas of our Driftless Area hills.

On a Trail at Lonesome Hollow

Take advantage of our special holiday and winter pricing, and come to Lonesome Hollow for snowshoe fun and exercise. Guests are also encouraged to use our snowshoes at any of the five state parks that are within a 45 minute drive. You can finish a day of winter trail exercise with a thermos of hot chocolate sipped at a warm winter bonfire, or soaking in one of our two person whirlpools!

Pete & Nora