8.15 Around Town | Community

Read article : 8.15 Around Town | Community

All Stop Car Cruise and Music Night: 6 p.m. All Stop Travel Plaza, Highway 60/I-90/94, Lodi. Featuring The Classics. Free concert and car show, food and door prizes.

Bible study and worship service: Heritage House, 2685 Airport Road, Portage. The Portage United Methodist Church holds Bible study at 10 a.m. and worship service at 11 a.m. All are welcome to attend. Call Misty McMorrow, Education Director, at 742-2107 for more information.

Free summer meals for kids up to 18 years old: Served Monday through Friday each week during the summer at four locations in Portage: 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. at the Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St.; 11:20 to 11:50 a.m. at the Goodyear Park Splash Pad/Skate Park area between DeWitt Street and MacFarlane Road; 12:15 to 12:35 p.m. at Lincoln Park on East Carroll Street; and 12:45 to 1:05 p.m. near the new soccer fields at the corner of Thompson and Michigan streets.

Friesland Band Concert and Ice Cream Social: 7:30 p.m. Downtown Friesland Band Shelter, Highway EF, Friesland. Music, pie and ice cream.

Knitting and crocheting group: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgwater St., Portage. Bring your projects and share your progress with friends. We will also be doing “knit-alongs” where we work on a project together. A free pattern will be provided. Feel free to bring your lunch along with your knitting.

Biking: 6:30 p.m. Portage Pedalers Wednesday night ride. Wear a helmet, bring a water bottle and bikers under 18 must ride with a parent. Monthly ride leaders: August — Jon Steidinger/Gordon Dunn (meet at MacKenzie Environmental Center); September — Doug Cook (meet at 6 p.m. at Pat and Doug’s house, W7956 Douglas Center Road (East of Briggsville on Highway 23 North via 3rd Avenue).

Bingo: 5:30 p.m. Old Chicago, 147 N. Main St., Pardeeville. Bingo will be played every Wednesday, except the first one of the month.

Cambria Farmers Market: 4 to 7 p.m. Tarrant Park, East Edgewater Street, Cambria. Runs Wednesdays through October.

Clinic: 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door No. 4. Bring child’s immunization record. Visit co.columbia.wi.us for more information.

Concerts at the Portage: 6:30 p.m. VFW Hall, 215 W. Collins St., Portage. Featuring Swing Crew. Desserts and refreshments by ARC for Special Olympics.

Free blood pressure screenings: 1 to 5 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. No appointment necessary. Call 745-6405 for more information. Do not eat, smoke, drink caffeine or exercise for 30 minutes prior.

Free summer meals for kids up to 18 years old: Served Monday through Friday each week during the summer at four locations in Portage: 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. at the Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St.; 11:20 to 11:50 a.m. at the Goodyear Park Splash Pad/Skate Park area between DeWitt Street and MacFarlane Road; 12:15 to 12:35 p.m. at Lincoln Park on East Carroll Street; and 12:45 to 1:05 p.m. near the new soccer fields at the corner of Thompson and Michigan streets.

Gentle Yoga with Ellen Swan: 9 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Runs Wednesdays and Fridays through September. Bring a yoga mat or bath towel. All ages and skill levels welcome. Yoga is a relaxing way to become healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Because of the support of the Friends of the Library, this course is free to the public.

Historic Indian Agency House: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, 1490 Agency House Road, Portage. Open through Oct. 15. School tours are welcome by appointment, please call 608-742-6362. For more information, visit agencyhouse.org.

Lodi Pride Concert in the Park: 6:30 p.m. Habermann Park, Lodi. Free concert. Bring lawn chairs or blankets.

Open House at Madison College: 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Madison College-Portage campus, 330 W. Collins St., Portage. Explore the facilities and programs, participate in hands-on activities, apply for free with help from staff, and enjoy light refreshments. People interested in manufacturing, industrial maintenance and welding can visit the Portage Enterprise Center, 1800 Kutzke Road, Portage. There is no need to register, just drop in. Children are welcome. For more information, call 608-745-3100 or 800-322-6282.

Senior meal: 11:30 a.m. Portage Area Senior Citizens Group, Municipal Building, 115 W. Pleasant St., Portage. The meal will be provided by the Columbia County Nutrition Center. If you wish to have a meal, call Lois Williams at 697-5800 by noon Tuesday to register. The cost is a cash donation which will be directly put back into the nutrition program. The meeting will start at noon with cards to follow. 

St. Vincent de Paul free medical clinic: 9 a.m. to noon. Wilz Drugs lower level, 140 E. Cook St., Portage. No appointments needed. Information needed is name, date of birth and a contact number. A foot clinic is available every week. The clinic can do exams and prescribe medications. Physical therapist available. Discounted medications are available at Wilz and Walmart. Call Bonny Oestreich, RN, at 608-234-0159 for information.

Zumba: 5:30 p.m. 1208 Northport Road (the former Freedom Carpeting building). This is a $5 drop-in class. For more information, contact Deb at DJMACK00001@yahoo.com or Rena at 697-6713.

Bingo: 6:30 p.m. Endeavor Lions Club Bingo, Endeavor-Moundville Fire Department, Endeavor. 

Brats and burgers sale: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Elks Lodge veranda, West Conant Street, Portage. Runs every Thursday during the Portage Farmers Market.

Free summer meals for kids up to 18 years old: Served Monday through Friday each week during the summer at four locations in Portage: 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. at the Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St.; 11:20 to 11:50 a.m. at the Goodyear Park Splash Pad/Skate Park area between DeWitt Street and MacFarlane Road; 12:15 to 12:35 p.m. at Lincoln Park on East Carroll Street; and 12:45 to 1:05 p.m. near the new soccer fields at the corner of Thompson and Michigan streets.

Griefshare support group: 5 to 7 p.m. Portage United Methodist Church, 1804 New Pinery Road, Portage. For individuals suffering from the loss of loved one(s). Meetings held weekly from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 24. Call Laurie at 608-450-1081 or visit  griefshare.org  for more information. 

Making A Difference Study Group: 6 to 8 p.m. Portage Public Library, Bidwell Room, 253 W. Edgewater St. Portage. Guest speaker Marie Moe will talk about election laws, becoming a poll worker, voting equipment, voting equipment security, nursing home/community-based residential facility elections, running for office, write-in votes, absentee voting, how aldermanic district boundaries are determined, voter registration, MyVote and more.

Museum: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Portage World War II Museum, 119 E. Cook St., Portage. Free tours for veterans every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tours take 2½ hours. For information, call 608-697-3690.

Portage Farmers Market: noon to 6 p.m. Commerce Plaza, downtown Portage. The market is hosted every Thursday through October and features homegrown produce items, homemade items and handcrafted items.

Portage Lions Club "Stuff the Bus" event: 4 to 7 p.m. Walmart, New Pinery Road, Portage. All school supplies and books collected will benefit Portage Public School students. 

Portage Family Skate Park public meeting: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. All interested people are welcome to attend. Meetings will be held on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Cancellations will be announced on our Facebook page. Call 608-742-4959 for more information.

Mandela Rock Painting Workshop: 1 to 3 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Learn how to paint amazing rocks. Materials supplied, just bring your imagination. Call 742-4959 for more information.

TOPS weight loss group: 1 p.m. Grace Bible Church, county Highway CX, Portage. For information, call Patricia Figueroa at 608-742-4853.

VFW Post 1707 Social Night: Doors open at 5 p.m., meal at 6 p.m. Portage VFW Hall, 215 W. Collins St., Portage. Serving tacos. Cost is $7 per person. Cash bar. Public welcome. Please RSVP Jana Gocke at 608-617-2944. Social Nights are held on the third Thursday of each month.

Badger Steam and Gas Engine Club annual show: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sand Road, off Highway 33, three miles west of Baraboo. Admission is $8 for adults, children age 12 and younger are free. Event runs through Sunday. Free parking with shuttles to grounds. Food, music, flea market, parade daily at 2 p.m., church service at 8 a.m. Sunday, pedal tractor competition at 1 p.m. Sunday, demonstrations, displays and exhibits. 

Fort BP Customer Appreciation Day: Fort BP, Highways 33 and F, east of Portage. Free lunch beginning at 11 a.m. catered by North Shore; donations accepted for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Enter to win a big-screen TV; drawing at 2 p.m. Magician Ryan Martin will perform for the kids. Rotary raffle tickets will be on sale. 

Free summer meals for kids up to 18 years old: Served Monday through Friday each week during the summer at four locations in Portage: 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. at Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St.; 11:20 to 11:50 a.m. at Goodyear Park Splash Pad/Skate Park area between DeWitt Street and MacFarlane Road; 12:15 to 12:35 p.m. at Lincoln Park on East Carroll Street; and 12:45 to 1:05 p.m. near the new soccer fields at the corner of Thompson and Michigan streets.

Gentle Yoga with Ellen Swan: 9 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Runs Wednesdays and Fridays through September. Bring a yoga mat or bath towel. All ages and skill levels welcome. Yoga is a relaxing way to become healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Because of the support of the Friends of the Library, this course is free to the public.

Hope House support group: 1 to 2 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Has domestic violence touched your life in some way? Find connections with supportive individuals who have similar life experiences as you at Hope House’s newest support group. All are welcome. Held on the first and third Friday of the month. For more information, contact Katie Fluger, outreach advocate, at 608-356-9123.

Lodi Valley Farmers Market: 2 to 6 p.m. 902 N. Main St., Lodi.

Seniors Bowling Social: 1 p.m. Fireball Lanes, 817 E. Wisconsin St., Portage. Cost is $6 and includes three games of bowling and shoe rental. 

Zona Gale Young People's Theatre presents “Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook”: 7 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Directed by Dr. Tom McEvilly. Adults are $15, children age 12 and younger are $8 and the family rate is $35. A play by Allison Gregory, adapted from the book series by Barbara Park, produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. Theatre by children, for children, and for the young at heart.

Badger Steam and Gas Engine Club annual show: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sand Road, off Highway 33, three miles west of Baraboo. Admission is $8 for adults, children age 12 and younger are free. Event runs through Sunday. Free parking with shuttles to grounds. Food, music, flea market, parade daily at 2 p.m., church service at 8 a.m. Sunday, pedal tractor competition at 1 p.m. Sunday, demonstrations, displays and exhibits. 

Briggsville American Legion Men's Over 30 Slow Pitch Softball Tournament: 9 a.m. to dusk, Legion ball field, Briggsville. Raffles, food, soda and beer available on grounds. Runs through Sunday.

Community free meal: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 207 W. Pleasant St., Portage.

Friendship Village celebrates Portage Railroad History: Remembrance program followed by Portage Railroad History, 10 a.m. Museum at the Portage, 804 MacFarlane Road. The Portage Women's Civic League, 506 W. Edgewater St., will host a Pie and Ice Cream Social from 2 to 4 p.m. on the lawn by the Wisconsin River. Freewill donations are accepted.

Ice Age Trail Alliance Lodi Valley Chapter Trail Improvement event: 9 a.m. Meet at the Fern Glen (formerly Groves/Pertzborn) trailhead on Highway J near Lovering Road. For directions visit https://goo.gl/maps/12XwYkcVgnJ2. Help out for as little or as long as you like. This event is appropriate for all ages and capabilities. All tools will be provided. Bring work gloves and water, wear hefty shoes, long sleeves and pants. For more information, contact Bill at 843-3926 or billpatti@charter.net. 

Museum at the Portage: 804 MacFarlane Road, Portage. Open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday in June, July and August. New exhibition this season is "From Head to Toe: 100 Years of Portage Fashion." Vintage clothing from our collection. Admission is free.

Music at the Depot Park: 7 to 9 p.m. Depot Shelter, corner of Rio and Lincoln streets, Rio. Featuring the Hirt Alpert Brass Band. Free concert; free-will offering will be accepted with proceeds supporting music in the park. Food and refreshments available. Rain location is Rio Middle/High School.

Portage Boat Club Steak Fry: 5 p.m. Club grounds. Bring your own drinks as the bar is not open. Steak made to order with all the fixings is $15. There are hot dogs and chips available for children for $2.  Please RSVP to Jessica Beckett at 608-617-5400.

Portage Music Fest: 5 to 11 a.m. Columbia County Fairgrounds, Superior Street, Portage. Featuring Bardog Sitters from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and Reilly, an Irish rock band, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Food and beverages available. Rain or shine. 

Poynette Area Farmers Market: 8 to 11 a.m. Pauquette Park, Main Street, Poynette.

Tyke Hike: 10 a.m. Meet at the Robertson Trailhead parking lot on Riddle Road (look for yellow Ice Age Trail event signs). The group will hike the East Lodi Marsh segment of the Ice Age Trail. This hike is organized by the Ice Age Trail Alliance Lodi Valley Chapter. No fee and no registration required. This slow-paced, approximately 1-mile walk is designed for young children (accompanied by an adult) and focuses on exploration of nature. During this hike we will be doing a nature scavenger hunt to help us notice things in nature. Contact Patti Herman for more information at 608-843-3924 or billpatti@charter.net.

Zona Gale Young People's Theatre presents “Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook”: 7 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Directed by Dr. Tom McEvilly. Adults are $15, children age 12 and younger are $8 and the family rate is $35. A play by Allison Gregory, adapted from the book series by Barbara Park, produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. Theatre by children, for children, and for the young at heart.

Badger Steam and Gas Engine Club annual show: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sand Road, off Highway 33, three miles west of Baraboo. Admission is $8 for adults, children age 12 and younger are free. Free parking with shuttles to grounds. Food, music, flea market, parade daily at 2 p.m., church service at 8 a.m., pedal tractor competition at 1 p.m., demonstrations, displays and exhibits. 

Bingo: 5 to 7 p.m. VFW Hall, 215 W. Collins St., Portage. Doors open at 4:15 p.m. Hard cards are $1 and chips are available. All are welcome. Runs the first and third Sunday of each month.

Briggsville American Legion Men's Over 30 Slow Pitch Softball Tournament: 9 a.m. to dusk, Legion ball field, Briggsville. Raffles, food, soda and beer available on grounds. 

Zona Gale Young People's Theatre presents “Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook”: 2 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Directed by Dr. Tom McEvilly. Adults are $15, children age 12 and younger are $8 and the family rate is $35. A play by Allison Gregory, adapted from the book series by Barbara Park, produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. Theatre by children, for children, and for the young at heart.

Around Iceland in 4 days with Happy Campers

Read article : Around Iceland in 4 days with Happy Campers

As you may have noticed here on the blog, I’ve never been a big fan of campers in Iceland. It’s not that I was against campers per say, it was just the very specific and often hard-to-tackle camper problems that maybe got my knickers in a twist a bit.

There were two things in particular that I had issues with:

1) For some reason, when the campers first burst into the tourist scene here in Iceland they were advertised in a way that made people think they could just park them anywhere and everywhere to spend the night. This was never the case, although the laws were a bit muddy back then, but now it is specifically stated in the law that you are not allowed to camp in a camper outside of a designated campsite. But to save money, and maybe for bragging rights as well, a lot of people that rent campers still break this law. And to locals, that’s infuriating. For tons of good reasons.

2) The rough conditions in Iceland can make it downright dangerous to travel around in campers in the winter but people still insist on doing it. I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer here but it’s just not a good idea to stay in a camper in a crazy storm (which some winters occur every other week) with the wind blowing at 90 mph. Plus that most of the campsites are closed and then it becomes difficult to follow the aforementioned law.

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So when Happy Campers suggested for the first time that we’d borrow one of their campers to travel around Iceland I was skeptical. Did I really want to contribute to this problem by introducing more people to campers? I know it probably sounds ridiculous but sometimes I just take my job as a blogger very seriously and I get tangled up in my efforts in being a good role model.

I also have to be completely honest (airing out my dirty laundry here) and admit that I’ve become quite used to staying in nice hotels with big fluffy duvets and fancy toiletries and I just wasn’t super psyched about sleeping in a car and share a bathroom with a bunch of travelers with limited access to showers. I fear I’ve become an accommodation snob – the first step is acknowledging the problem, right?

So I kept putting it off. I just wanted to know how I felt about it before committing to anything and to be sure it was the right thing. And apparently, it takes me two years to make a decision because that’s how long it took me to take Happy Campers up on their offer. I almost backed out last minute but seeing how excited Hrannar was, I put on a brave face and powered through it. Because I love him. And I don’t want to be accused of being middle-aged.

Full disclosure: Happy Campers provided us with a car free of charge but we paid for the insurances ourselves. We paid additionally for the extra SCDW because like I’ve said many times before I never rent a car without it. Everything else on this road trip came out of our own pockets. Furthermore, this post contains affiliate links so if you book with Happy Campers through these links we earn a little bit of commission. They won’t charge you anything extra but by using the link you help us out keeping the blog alive. 

A little bit about Happy Campers

Happy Campers was one of the first camper rental companies in Iceland of its kind. It’s a small family owned company and the whole family still works there. The mom is the CFO, the dad the big boss and their three sons all work for the company in one way or another.

Talking to them we also learned that they seem to really care about what they do and their customers. For example, they share my view on it not being a good idea to travel in a camper in winter so they simply don’t rent them out during the coldest and darkest winter months. They also have a little booklet in all their campers where they remind people that camping outside of campsites is illegal and they give good tips on how to drive on gravel roads, how to replace a flat tire (with photos – good for car-idiots like myself) and all kinds of other important things.

Although I was still not completely convinced when we left Reykjavík I was at least happy to see the little details Happy Campers thought of to ensure a smoother ride for their customers and encourage a more responsible travel behavior. Because that kind of stuff actually matters to me.

Our experience with the camper

Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed traveling around in our camper. We got a Happy 3camper (because I announced to them that I  would not be sleeping in their smallest camper – the diva that I am), a converted Renault Master that sleeps up to 5 people. Realistically, I probably wouldn’t recommend it for 5 full grown adults but it’s ideal for families with kids or smaller group of friends.

Sleeping arrangements

There are two seats in the front and then three in the back that convert easily into a double bed. Above the three seats is a bunk bed of sorts where 2-3 people can sleep. We didn’t sleep up there since there were only the two of us but used it to store our stuff at night instead.

Although the double bed was more than big enough for us I can’t deny that it was a bit hard to sleep on. I’m not in the best shape (I have sensitive old lady hips) and am used to sleep in our fabulously comfortable Tempur bed so I didn’t get much sleep the first night and kept having to toss and turn. The second night was better, it was like my body was getting more used to it at that point but for the third night we bought a cheap eggshell mattress topper that made all the difference and I slept like a log. Hrannar did better but he also complained a little bit after the first night. So if you’re like me and you have any issues with your hips or your lower back I would recommend you buy/bring with you one of those self-inflatable air padsor something to make it a little softer.

The mattress on top is much softer than the lower bed so if you feel comfortable with sleeping up there then that might also be a good idea. From the photos I’ve seen of the smaller campers, they also seem to have softer mattresses so I doubt this would be a problem there.

The camper comes with duvets and pillows which we didn’t use because we brought our own but they seemed to be quite nice. If you’re worried about being cold there’s a heating system in the camper that you can put on at night before you go to bed (just remember to turn it back off) which we hardly used. We were wearing our woolen long underwear under the duvet, a standard fare for campers in Iceland, and woolen sock which probably helped but as the resident ice queen of our family that usually shakes and shivers in tents cold was not an issue for me.

Cooking facilities

The camper came with everything you need to make a simple meal, including cutlery and pots and pans for the gas stove. It’s really easy to replace the gas container if you run out and at least in our camper we had a couple of extras at hand, There’s also a sink in the camper that is connected to a water tank that is easy to fill but we didn’t use it at all. We just used the washing up facilities at the campsites we stayed at which seemed like it was easier and would cause less mess in the car. We used the sink mostly to store stuff we wanted to keep at hand while driving that we didn’t want to fly all over the place in case of a hard turn or a sudden stop.

We bought some pre-made pasta at Bónus which we warmed up the first night that was kind of great after a long day on the road. We also opted to get a BBQ, which you have to pay extra for, and used that to cook hot dogs and such for lunch along the way. Camping and BBQs go together like PB and Jelly in the minds of Icelanders so this was essential to us but it might not be for you. One thing we learned though is that if you use the BBQ to grill some lunch you have to factor in a bit of waiting time while the grill cools down after you finish your lunch.

The thing we used the most was the cooler. It’s great because it’s plugged into the electric system of the car so it keeps things constantly cool without you having to worry about a thing.

Finally, one thing we didn’t have but wished we had thought of were camping chairs. You can get them as extras with your camper but we just forgot to think about it. We talked about it at least once a day (usually in the evening when we wanted to sit down and enjoy a beer in the evening sun) how we wished we had them.

Campsites and such

We stayed at three campsites: At Höfn, Borgarfjörður Eystri and Hofsós. They were all clean (although Höfn was the least clean but also the busiest) and they all cost around 1100 – 1500 ISK per person. All of them had plenty of space available but we were, of course, traveling in May before the big tourist and camping season in Iceland. All of the campsites had shower facilities but the only ones I used were at Hofsós (very nice!).

Because we were traveling outside of the main season none of the campsites had personel on the grounds at all times. Instead, they relied on honesty boxes where you’re expected to pay for the facilities. So it’s good to keep a little cash on you so you don’t become the douche bag (get it?) that uses the facilities but doesn’t pay for it.

We visited the swimming pools in Fáskrúðsfjörður (which is tiny by the way) and Hofsós (one of my favorites) but visiting the pools is a great way to keep clean and get rejuvenated after a long day in the car.

Tjalda.is has a comprehensive list of campsites available and you can find info about most swimming pools in Icelandon sundlaugar.is.

Overall camper verdict

In the end, despite the problems we had with the hard mattress at first, we LOVED our time in the camper. It was so great not having to follow a specific plan and just go where the wind took us. The weather was amazing the whole time (close to 20°C and sunny one of the days) and the camper just made the camping experience some much more enjoyable and comfortable. My attitude towards campers took a U-turn and I feel much more comfortable recommending Happy Campers now.

And if you factor the cost of accommodation and everything, even if you include what you pay at campsites per night, it’s actually quite an affordable way to travel. Especially for families.

In fact, we liked it so much that Hrannar is now convinced that we need a camper of our own. We’ll see about that.