Aryn Henning Nichols

It’s summertime and the hiking is easy – even with kids! Each time you take a child outside to hike and explore, you nurture them toward a lifelong love and caring for nature and the outdoors. 

With a few preparations – sunscreen, insect repellent, and ability to identify plants to avoid, like poison ivy and nettles – you and the kids in your life can be ready to hit the trails.

When first introducing children to hiking outdoors, start small, like going for a walk at a nearby park or paved trail. From there, choose “wilder” short trails that get kids out of the neighborhood and into county and state parks and natural areas. Gradually add length to your hiking as the kids adapt and grow in their interest and eagerness to explore the diverse ecosystems of the Driftless. 

As you walk along, encourage exploration. What do you hear? Bird song? Frog calls? The buzz of insects? The wind? A few moments of listening can open up subtle learning opportunities and conversations as you speculate about nature’s soundtrack.

Ask kids to keep a sharp eye out as you hike as well. Look “large” for unusual tree shapes, bark patterns, rock formations, cloud patterns, cliffs, animals, birds, and other natural phenomena. Look “small” for ground-hugging flowers, nests, rocks, spiderwebs, mushrooms, fungi, leaves, moss, or other miniature objects that hold fascination. Both large and small sights can spark inspiration in little (and big) hikers. 

This can be a great opportunity to talk about “leave no trace,” a framework of seven principles that aim to help people reduce their personal footprint on nature (see sidebar for the list). Educate kids about taking everything out that they bring in with them. Bring a small bag for your trash and encourage young hikers to pick up any litter seen along trails. Preserving our natural resources for future children is a great way to instill early conservation knowledge for kids.

Be aware of rules at parks to help you understand whether it’s ok to pick up and keep a natural object or two along the trail. If yes, let your young hiker keep an object that intrigues them – a fallen leaf or stick, stone, pinecone, acorn, empty eggshell, or chrysalis  – to take home as a memory of the hike or as a basis for an art project. While picking flowers is a temptation, take pictures instead to preserve the resource and the memory. Print the pictures out at home and let kids hang them in their room or on the fridge.

Hiking with kids can help even the most experienced hiker see something from a new perspective. Check with nearby nature preserves, wildlife refuges, state parks, and other outdoor organizations for guided hikes and programs that can improve both your and a child’s nature knowledge. 

There are also amazing online resources. Phone apps like PictureThis, Merlin Bird ID, Seek, and BeeMachine can boost your identification mojo in the field. Check the June 1, 2026 post on my Hiking the Driftless Trails blog for a great list of websites and resources that can help enrich outdoor adventures for you and the kids in your life.

Some kid-friendly & family-friendly trails:

Norwegian Ridge Nature Trail (MN) – This trail features 1-, 2-, and 3-mile loops on dirt trails through woods, wetlands, near streams and ponds, prairies, and across a troll bridge or two. More than 50 trail signs identify birds and flowers abound. Park to the east of Red’s IGA, 500 E. Main St, Spring Grove, MN

Bluffside Park Wildwood West Trail (MN) – A 2-mile dirt trail at this city park winds along the bluff rim past ferns, city and bluff views, and small prairies. Sharp-eyed hikers who walk the trail counterclockwise may spot a large wood-sprite face high on a tree trunk. End of Wincrest Drive E, Winona, MN GPS: 44.03715, -91.67002

Fish Farm Mounds State Preserve (IA) – Climb stone steps to see conical burial mounds made by indigenous Woodlands people. Then do some out-and-back exploration of some of the unmarked rolling forested trails to the west and north sides of the mound group. 2692 IA-26, New Albin, IA

Trout Run Dug Road/Trollkor’s Trail segment (IA) – Towering algific talus limestone cliffs blow cold air out on this paved trail segment (known also as Dug Road) along the Upper Iowa River. Look for a riverside sculpture and bench on the way to the next trailhead. Intersect Trollkor’s dirt trail up to Phelps Park. Follow the CCC-built stonework to a forested bluffside trail with bridges on this 2.2-mile loop hike. Trailheads at end of Oneota Dr or W. Main St, Decorah, IA

La Crosse River Marsh Trails (WI) – A web of paved and graveled trails run through the marsh. Viewing platforms, bridges, and wide-open trails give glimpses of wetland wildlife. One of the main access points is Myrick Park’s The Nature Place Nature Center, 789 Myrick Park Dr, La Crosse, WI

Halfway Creek Park (WI) – This “urban forest” city park has a crushed rock trail that follows a beautiful creek under highway overpasses and over numerous bridges. While it’s 3 miles one way, go as far as you like before turning back. 300 W. Roberts Street, Holmen, WI

Marge Loch-Wouters

Marge Loch-Wouters is a Minnesota Master Naturalist living in La Crescent MN. Her Hiking the Driftless Trails blog encourages everyone to head out on the trails all year long, no matter your age or physical condition.

7 Principles of Leave No Trace

1. Know Before You Go: Check the weather, bring necessary gear, and plan activities within everyone’s ability.

2. Choose the Right Path: Stay on trails, walk single file, and avoid stepping on plants or flowers. If you’re leaving footprints, the ground is too soft for hiking; turn around and choose a paved path instead. 

3. Trash Your Trash: Take all trash out with you, including food scraps and toilet paper. 

4. Leave What You Find: Try to take only pictures. Follow the rules in place for the natural area you’re exploring with regards to small, natural keepsakes.

5. Be Careful with Fire: Use camp stoves for cooking, or keep fires small within designated rings.

6. Respect Wildlife: Watch animals from a distance; do not feed them or pick them up.

7. Be Kind to Other Visitors: Keep voices low, let nature’s sounds prevail, and yield to others on the trail.

See lnt.org for more information

T-Bock’s Sports Bar & Grill owners / husband-and-wife team Mike and Dominique Bockman have welcomed in folks for a drink and a homemade meal for more than 30 years, carrying on a tradition that was started at the former Bernadine’s High Life Inn…albeit with longer hours and a lot more menu options.

Situated right in the middle of downtown Decorah, Iowa, T-Bock’s serves up a wide range of delicious food – wings, salads, rice bowls, wraps, sandwiches, soups and homemade chili… and, of course, great burgers, all hand-pattied fresh, never frozen, like fan favorites the Peanut Butter Cheeseburger or the sauerkraut-stacked Wytowski Burger. (Note: Inspire(d)’s Aryn and Benji love to order the spicy Southwest Burger with sweet potato fries and a Greek salad with chicken, which we share!)

T-Bock’s also makes their own hand-breaded chicken and pork tenderloins as well as many of their sauces, plus daily specials, like homemade lasagna, or the famous chili, served seasonally from Labor Day to Memorial Day. 

Customers can add house-made potato salad, using Mike’s father’s original recipe, or a serving of their homemade coleslaw, to really get the full spectrum of T-Bock’s dedication to great food.

That dedication starts with supporting local producers as much as possible. They source cheese curds from WW Homestead Dairy, lettuce from Rolling Hills, tomatoes from Triple H Family Farm (seasonally), and homemade cheesecake from local baker Jane Bullerman. 

Their organic bone-in wings and organic eggs come from Larry Schultz Farms and their beef sticks are from Polashek’s Locker. Patrons can also find many local beers and beverages on offer, like Decorah’s Toppling Goliath and Pulpit Rock, and other local and regional breweries like Pivo, Tellurian, and Paha Cider.

In addition to the fun sports bar / dining area, the large, three-story building has two event spaces: T-Bock’s Underground, a downstairs space for smaller parties, and T-Bock’s Upstairs, for larger events. And during nice weather, they can open up the garage door in front and invite diners to their cozy, three-table, outdoor patio.

One of their biggest goals, Dom says, was to create a successful business that supported their family’s needs and put their three sons through school. With their youngest heading into his junior year in college next year, they are close to achieving that goal. Although their sons’ life goals don’t currently include taking over the family business, all three have helped out at T-Bock’s off and on since they were able to work. 

“It’s been invaluable to have our boys work at T-Bock’s. They have been exposed to a variety of people – staff and customers alike. They have learned so much about how to be flexible, get along with people, work in a team and independently, and work in a variety of jobs,” Dom says. “We always say that everyone should work in the service industry at some point in their life. It is a unique field and helps you understand and appreciate people from all walks of life.” 

Read on to learn about how Mike and Dominique have melded family, entrepreneurship, and community to make it all work for more than three decades.

The Basics:
Name: Mike and Dominique Bockman
Age: 59 and 55
Business: T-Bock’s Sports Bar & Grill
Year Business Established: 1994
Business address: 206 W. Water Street, Decorah, IA 
Website: www.tbocks.com

1. Tell us about the “leap” moment. When/how did you decide to jump in and become your own boss?

Mike: My brother, Tom (hence “T-Bock”), bought Bernadine’s High Life Inn from Bernadine Sampson in 1990. She owned it from 1936 until she sold it to him and his wife, Teresa. It was originally located next door to Vesterheim Museum, which is now the beautiful Vesterheim Commons. In 1994, my brother Mark and I were living in Cocoa Beach, FL, working as landscapers and living the free-spirited life of “beach bums.” We received a call asking if we would like to come home and take over T-Bock’s, because Tom and Teresa were becoming very busy raising four young children and didn’t want to run the bar anymore. We jumped at the opportunity, packed our bags, and returned home almost immediately! 

We ran the bar in that location until 2000, when the Oddfellows gave us an offer we couldn’t refuse. And that was to purchase the building and relocate to our current location in the heart of downtown Decorah. It was at that time that we realized we had made the move from running a simple mom-and-pop bar to running a potentially large, successful business. In the early days of that transition, we learned some hard financial lessons. 

Both Mark and I were starting families, and the business could best support only one of us. Amicable negotiations were made and the difficult decision to end our partnership resulted in me as the sole owner in 2004.

2. What’s the best thing about being your own boss?

Mike: My wife, Dominique, has a business management degree from Luther College (BA-1992). She began helping me with the bookkeeping duties, while I ran the main restaurant. It soon became evident that we made a great team, and we found a nice rhythm in each working our sides of the business. Eventually, she became a part-owner with me in the business.

The best part of being our own bosses is the freedom and independence we find in making our own decisions, individually and in conjunction with one another. We can banter with each other and use our joint creativity to come up with and implement new ideas. 

Some of the creativity we are talking about has been unleashed in the building renovations we have made over the years: updating the basement in 2007, renovating the second floor in 2013, remodeling and expanding the kitchen three different times over the years, adding an outdoor patio along with a garage door in the front of the main restaurant in 2016, and most recently, imbedding the Luther College gym floor into our back room and creating a community bar out of their bleacher seats!

Dom: Prior to joining Mike in the business, I was a Customer Service Rep. at Donaldson Co. in Cresco. I ravished in the idea of working for and with him at T-Bock’s, and enjoyed the flexibility of raising our young boys with the freedom and liberty to work a schedule that allowed me to care for and support them in their childhood and with all their activities through the years.

I always ran the financial side of our business with the mindset that I was working for someone higher up. I ran reports, balanced the books, and kept our finances in check. It helped in tougher times to keep us conservative in our spending and stay in touch when making decisions about general spending or making renovations.

3. How about the worst?

We find the most difficult thing about being our own boss is something almost everyone we talk with in this business can relate to. And that is managing personnel. Through the years, we have had our ups and downs in staffing. Long ago, we might have stacks of applications to sort through in order to choose who we want to interview. Then, those stacks turned into empty baskets, yet we were still trying to run the business on a skeleton crew (COVID times). And most recently, we have found an uptick in applicants, but with higher demands on their own personal freedoms and time. So we have had to juggle with an ever-changing environment in personnel: hiring, staffing, and people’s specific needs.

4. Was there ever a hurdle where you just thought, “I can’t do this?” How did you overcome it?

We have definitely had our struggles, but we are both adept at digging in and persevering through crisis. Mike says he’s never had a time where he thought “I can’t do this…” Dom has had those moments, but it usually required just digging in and learning more about whatever topic was causing concern, be it hiring, marketing, labor laws, event management, etc. 

We both have such a passion and love for our business, customers, and our community, that we are fulfilled daily in seeing happy people enjoy our food, our environment, and especially in what we do to serve our community.

5. You host events in T-Bock’s Underground and T-Bock’s Upstairs. What are the sizes of the smallest groups and largest groups you’ve hosted? How have events changed your business?

The Underground capacity is about 60 for a sit-down meal and 75-80 for a party. 

The Upstairs capacity is up to 200 guests. We have hosted a variety of events over the years, from business meetings, birthday parties, funerals, weddings, graduations, and everything in between. 

These venues are often used by non-profit organizations to host meetings and events, too. We host the Oneota Film Festival, WWO Comedy Night, and a variety of book talks and community speaking engagements. AV equipment, sound systems, and wireless mics are also available in each venue (Thanks, Benji!).

We have pivoted over the years to include catering for these private venues. We can cater groups of up to 100 guests, and offer a wide variety of items, including appetizers, entrees and desserts, all served buffet style. These venues also provide a fully stocked bar, with beer, wine and liquor, which is different than in our main restaurant, where we only serve beer, wine, and vodka drinks. Traditionally, this is part of T-Bock’s history when the business was purchased from Bernadine, and we never changed it (except we added vodka, because who doesn’t like a delicious Bloody Mary?). We have felt that because we are in a college town, it has kept our establishment more family friendly. We love seeing families with small children and grandparents come in to eat and feel comfortable here. When all three levels are open with events, it is certainly a lively, hopping place!

6. In the summer, T-Bock’s hosts diners who have taken an excursion off the Mississippi River Viking Cruise Ship. Can you tell us about that experience?

For us, the Viking Tours has created a wonderful partnership with Vesterheim Museum, the Decorah Chamber, and Winneshiek County Tourism. We host tour groups for lunch when they journey to Decorah from their boat dock in La Crosse. Their visit includes a 90-minute tour of the museum and its beautiful grounds, a lovely walk down Water Street, as well as lunch in a “good old midwestern traditional sports bar!” Some visitors are foreign, others from the south or east coast, and simply have never been to the Midwest. It is such a fun experience to host them, feed them and immerse them in our casual, comfortable environment.

7. Any mentors/role models you look to/have looked to?

Mike: Growing up, I worked for Ruby Olson, Manny and MaryAnn Madrigal, and Don and Mimi White. They were all solid restaurant owners in this community who taught me a great deal. I also worked for Dale McCormick and his partners at the Cafe Deluxe, and they were great mentors who taught me a lot about financial reporting and accountability in business. My family, specifically Tom and Teresa, and my brother, Mark, are still great role models for me, in business and in life.

Dom: I would have to say my biggest role model would be my father. He is loyal, honest, intelligent, and kind. He is a retired lawyer, and I often find myself asking him for advice and opinions. My mother and siblings are also incredibly important to me, who offer unconditional love and support all the time. 

8. What’s the one thing you wish you had known before you started?

We wish we would have known how much dedication and time commitment it would take to create this business to be a success. We often joke that we didn’t have three children…we actually had four! This business needs as much of our attention as one of our kids, if not more!

9. How do you manage your life/work balance?

WE ARE MARRIED TO THE RESTAURANT! Knowing that is part of the deal has helped us avoid many disputes. We know where our focus should be…it’s either on our family or our restaurant. We would have loved to go to dinner parties and a plethora of social engagements through the years, but we have had to make great compromises in order for our business to succeed. We tried very hard not to miss out on our kids’ events, and we negotiated with one another many times to make sure at least one of us could always be there for them, while the other one stayed back at the restaurant, if needed. 

But we make it a priority to take at least one vacation per year and get a complete break from work. And we are incredibly thankful that we have such great pillars to hold up the business when we aren’t there. We have to say a special thank you to Mitch, Bryce, and Coty for being our constant rock and support, and who have each been with us for over 15 years, as well as other staff who have had multiple years of service with us and work hard every day!

10. What keeps you inspired? Any quotes that keep you going?

Dom: “The Show Must Go On!”

Mike/Both: There are countless ways to continue to grow and evolve in our business, and to know that we have an outlet for our creativity continues to inspire us. Our customers are our number one inspiration! Our desire is to create an environment where our customers can feel relaxed, comfortable, and safe, enjoying good food, beer, and conversation. Seeing our customers satisfied, putting a smile on their faces, putting a little warmth in their hearts…that is what keeps us going.

One of the most common myths about success is that you must turn back at the first sign of failure. The destination of success is seen as perfection, but it is far from it. The path to accomplishment is a long, winding road. Those who travel down it with the idea that it would be a straight ride are the people who turn around at the first bend. However, achieving success is not defined by perfection, but by overcoming the hardships thrown at you. Learning to turn the wheel in a direction you didn’t expect is the truest form of achievement. The only way to truly fail is to give up. 

We created Future Focused, a new Inspire(d) column written by pre-teens and teens, to help give the next generation an opportunity to share their voices. Partnering with Dana Hogan, the Extended Learning Program teacher at Decorah Middle School, we offered prompts around progress, growth, success, and overcoming difficulties. Students submitted some really great work, and four were chosen for this Inspire(d). You can read all the Future Focused pieces published so far at iloveinspired.com/category/future-focused. Here’s to Listening to the Next Generation! – Aryn