Black River Falls Trip 9/9/14-9/11/14

Trails: Jackson & Clark County

Accommodations:  Best Western Arrowhead Lodge

Weather: Rainy & Quite Chilly

Last weekend Austin and I went on an Outlander Adventure to Black River Falls, WI.. (Is it too cheesy to call our quad trips Outlander Adventures? Probably. Doesn't mean I'm not going to do it anyway.) I was extremely nervous about going. I don't think Austin and I have been overnight anywhere in literally years.

We arrived in Black River Falls in the early afternoon to beautiful sunny weather. We rode for a few hours and then checked into our hotel.  Since we left immediately after Austin got home from work, we decided to have an early night. (I mean, he hadn't slept in probably 20 hours. He needed some rest.) We did, however, order pizza from Rozarios. (I think that is how it is spelled anyway.) It is a local joint, I think, and they actually had some really delicious pizza.

We woke up the next morning to a downpour. So we headed into town for breakfast, instead of taking advantage of the continental breakfast that they have at the Arrowhead. That is when our adventuring started.

Austin works for Union Pacific Railroad, and loves trains. We were sitting down to breakfast when I saw an old steam engine parked. Ya know we had to check it out.

I think it and the three accompanying cars belong to a local construction company, but Austin thought it was pretty neat. He was ready to climb all over it.

After throughly investigating the steam engine, we headed back to the hotel to gear up and head out to ride. The rain had cleared off, but we still put on all of our rain gear, and I was very glad we did. Although rain coats aren't notoriously warm, they did help keep the wind off. As the temperatures steadily declined the more and more I regretted that I hadn't packed gloves. It was 55 degrees when we stopped for dinner at Mug's bar, and I was a frozen popsicle. Austin decided that we should just head back for the hotel, even though we hadn't hit our 100 mile goal for the day. It was just a little too cold for the both of us.

We did decide to head out and ride just a little bit more the next day after we checked out of the hotel. I was really glad we did. That was definitely my favorite part of the trip. I believe that section of trail is called the Wildcat loop, and it is truly beautiful. You really feel like you are in the middle of nowhere back there. Be sure to check it out.

So now you know my favorite part of the trip, but what about my least fave?
Jackson County trails are infamous (at least in our family) for all the stinkin' whoops. That area of Wisconsin is very sandy, and the sandy trails wear into little bumps that can just be absolute hell. Lucky for us, those little bumps didn't bother us on our new quad. Ya know what did bother us? THE GIANT ROLLING WHOOPS.
Seriously. I about died. I have never really felt that much in danger before, but Austin hit one of those whoops just a little too quickly, and I about came off the quad. (I don't come off the quads. Or the snowmobiles. Or anything like that.) It was really scary, and we were very careful to slow down to practically a stop whenever we came across them.

A really crappy picture of the Arrowhead Lodge. They are also known for their Orange Moose Bar and Grill.
There are Orange Mooses everywhere. Mooses. Is that even a word?

I would also be extremely remiss if I did not mention how lovely our hotel was. It was great the last time we stayed there, so I wanted to stay there again. I brought an extra blanket with me (I always want to ensure that I am warm at the hotel.) Room service actually came back to our room after they cleaned it to make sure that the way they put my blanket on our bed was satisfactory. A+ room service!

What kinda irritated me this time? Apparently the hotel is getting some remodeling done. In the lobby. Like, ripping the floor out, everything is taped and tarped off, remodeling. And we weren't told about it when we checked in. It really wouldn't have affected our choice to stay there, since it didn't affect our sleeping. It would have just been a nice heads up, instead of walking into it in our bathing suits on our way to the pool.

Overall, we had a really good time on our trip. Such a good time, in fact, that Austin wants to go back in two more weeks.  I can't wait!

My First Post

So here it is! My first post on my new blog. I've been thinking about starting a blog specifically devoted to ATV's, but never really had a very good reason.

Recently, my boyfriend Austin bought a Can-Am Outlander Max 1000 Limited. (Go big or go home, am I right?) We were both sick of getting all ready to go on a trip really excited to have a great time, and end up coming home in a bad mood from all the arguing we did on the trip. It just isn't comfortable doubling up on a race quad no matter how you do it.

The brand new quad, still in the parking lot at the dealer.

Now, you might be asking yourself,"Why don't you ride by yourself?" You're probably right. I should be riding by myself. I'm just not really comfortable with foot shifting a quad. I ride the farm quad, a Honda Rancher, all the time, but it is quite hard to turn and super uncomfortable on the trails. I did give it an honest go in Black River Falls, WI., but it just didn't work out.

Anyway, now that we have a quad we can both ride comfortably, we are both determined to ride more often, and go on crazy adventures, even if it is just the two of us. We've already taken it to Monroe, WI., a few times to ride the Cheese Trails and get used to the machine, and I have to say, I'm really excited about what is in store.

A photo from behind Austin as we rode down the trail.

We have a trip planned in two weeks to Black River Falls, WI. to ride the trails there for a couple days over Austin's weekend. (I say Austin's weekend, because his days off are in the middle of the week.  It's a little goofy.) I hope to be writing some posts in the mean time about how I'm preparing for the trip.

 I'm interested to know how other people out there prepare for their ATV trips. What do you think is necessary to take with you? What kind of gear do you use?