Friday, June 27

Revisited the lighthouse this morning, in the morning mist.

Traveled through rolling hills, more farmland, cows.  Saw a wild turkey.
By 10AM it is 63 degrees and SUNNY!

We stop in Sheboygan at their library and Beth does some blogging while Greg goes and gets the oil changed in the Trek.  Then we grab a quick lunch in the Trek and head towards Milwauke.  Lots of traffic and at the first stop light we encounter beggars - don't see this in small towns.

We head for the Harley Davidson Museum.  Outside, they are giving test rides on their new electric (battery powered) bikes.

Inside, they have an example of every model ever built since 1903.  In 1903 Milwaukee was the Machine Shop of the World, lots of innovation. They trace the history, adding military bikes, bikes used by the US Post Office, Police Bikes, Evel Keneval's bikes, etc.  Quite extensive!

first Harley Davidson, 1903

In one area they have famous Harley's like the Captain America chopper from Easy Rider and the bike from Terminator.

We had to try out this photo op. 

There was also a lot of history of the company including several close calls with foreclosure, sale to AMF and then buy-back by 13 executives.

In another building there was an exhibit called The American Road about Americans' penchant for road trips.  They trace the Lincoln Highway route from NY City to San Francisco through photos, old rv's, bikes and cars, etc.

We travel a short way to Kenosha, had pizza for dinner and stayed at a Lowe's.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Today we start up the west side of the peninsula, which again has gorgeous

waterfront homes on Green Bay, most with woods to provide privacy.  Greg is surprised at the amount of undeveloped land still available.

First stop, Old Stone Quarry County Park which has the remains of a 1893 quarry which provided lots of material for homes and for roads in the area. Clouds are beginning to lift.

We notice a flock of white pelicans overhead and continue on to another County Park where we watch a man exercising his retriever. The dog seemed to be having such a good time!

We pass many cherry orchards along the way and buy some good-looking cherry salsa at one of the many roadside stands.  Of course this year's cherries won't be ripe till late July or August.

Just past Fish Creek, we come to Peninsula State Park, a popular, heavily wooded park featuring this lighthouse at Eagle Bluff.  Nice camp sites, bicycle trails and hiking trails.

The water is incredibly clear.

I overheard the ranger when we stopped to pay admission saying that the campground was full, but it seems to be nicely spaced rather than stacked atop one another.  I asked the rangers if they might know where we could watch the US World Cup game and another customer suggests the Bayside Tavern in Fish Creek because they were there last night and it was all about soccer.

When we find the Tavern it is 10:45AM and already open – someone asked them to open earlier than their usual 11:00!  We are able to score two excellent seats at the bar and in another 20 minutes the place is packed. We enjoy the comraderie and some excellent Reuben sandwiches but leave a little deflated with the loss – at least the US lives to play another day!

We continue up the coast to Egg Harbor where the décor, unsurprisingly, is eggs.

(I forgot to take a photo of the painted sturgeons in Sturgeon’s Bay – really.) This is a beautiful town, very neat and tidy.  Lots of quaint shops, restaurants, galleries, bed and breakfasts, etc.  Beautiful blue water in today's sunshine and a lovely harbor.

We next stop at an undeveloped park with a steep bank and ill defined trails.  We clamber down to the rocky coastline to explore. There are many stacked rocks here, which we have seen all over the country - even in Arizona and west in February.  They used to be used as trail markers, but so many people do them randomly now that they can't be used that way anymore.

We stop at Point  Beach State Forest to camp, a nice wooded campground with nearby beach and lighthouse. Good  hot showers, and then we walk the beach.  Lots of small dead fish – yuck.  Couldn’t find an official to ask what’s up but another camper tried to explain something about them being carried into the lake and they aren’t meant for fresh water and cold temps – don’t understand, but he said it is a yearly event for a week or two and we just "got lucky"! Saw a pretty doe in the dunes. Getting cold and windy so we call it a night.

June 24, 2014 Green Bay

 Wednesday, June 25, 2014

63 degrees this morning and foggy again – still.  We head for Green Bay and the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.

We are gradually seeing a little less forest and more farmlands, but still plenty of both.  The corn is about a foot tall here.  We see a few deer in the grassy land and a few resorts.  We pass a gorgeous bald eagle scavenging right next to the road, but he (or she, maybe, pretty big) takes off as soon as we stop. And these turkeys wandering near a barn.

We begin to see barn quilts again, and spot two single sand hill cranes within a mile or so. 

We reach Lambeau Field and find lots of construction going on – their 10^th renovation since 1957. 

The Hall of Fame is closed (moved to a downtown museum) but the stadium tours are still going on.  Our guide, Ron, has been doing this for 15 years and is quite good.  He asks if anyone is on the waiting list for season tickets – they have been sold out since 1960 and in a town of 104,000 people have over 100,000 people on the waiting list!  How they love their Packers!  With a seating capacity of 87,750 (seats) they are number 3 in the NFL (and he takes particular delight in the fact that this is more than Dallas.)

This is the oldest continuously used stadium in the NFL and still has quite a few aluminum bleacher seats, which they are in the process of power washing. When I commented that they must be cold, he said they are heated - in June, July and August.

We go to a suite on the sixth floor, then down to the team tunnel and onto the field.  Can’t do the locker room because unlike most teams, the Packers use it year-round and the NFL says you can’t tour an active locker room.  As we walk through the tunnel to the field they play a recording of the crowd cheers – what a trip that must be to come into the stadium!

They have various banners of retired numbers, hall of famers, etc. and of course have more world championships than anyone.  Of course we visit the “Pro Shop” too.

The field is Kentucky Bluegrass, never actually freezes because of an underground heated water system.

  They got the “frozen tundra” moniker during a game referred to as The Ice Bowl where the actual temperature was -13, with a windchill in the -40s  (1967 NFL Championship against Dallas). They take pride in being rated the #1 cleanest stadium per the NFL and work at it.   Several remarks about the Vikings and Bears, as their nearest and bitterest rivals.

We drive downtown to the Neville Museum to check out the Hall of Fame display. 

Lots of history, beginning in the early 1900’s.  Curly Lambeau worked for the Indian Packing Company and that is who sponsored the early teams – hence, Packers.  Quite a bit about Vince Lombardi who had a 75% win record over 9 years.  Not much about Brett Favre, though they did have his jersey and shoes on display.  Beth posed with Aaron Rogers.

Had lunch outside the museum, by the river, where a children’s day event was going on – very busy.

We headed next for Sturgeon Bay and Door County which is on a peninsula between green bay and Lake Michigan. The Sturgeon Bay visitor center had lots of info. Referred to by some as the “Cape Cod of the Midwest”.  It is a mix of quaint harbor towns with shops, galleries, etc., other small towns, and many many homes along the water, from small fish camps to huge estate homes.  Today we drive up the eastern (quieter) side.

We pass a few lighthouses and follow a rustic, windy road to Cave Point County Park for  a walk and some photos – and a rock for our growing collection!  

 We also stop later and buy some fresh strawberries at a roadside stand – yum.  There aren’t a lot of bookdocking opportunities, so we end up back at the Sturgeon Bay Walmart. What a desert!

 Tuesday, 6/24/2014

Campground at Sandy Bay

Rained and stormed last night and it is very foggy this morning.  We called the  excursion company and ask whether they will still go and get an affirmative.  They do say that if the fog doesn’t lift in the first hour, they will return to port and refund the fares.   So we head back to Bayfield.

We arrive a bit early, so we find a nice parking place and make coffee and tea, warm those donuts and enjoy breakfast in the Trek as it is pretty chilly outside – 45!  Quite a few people are arriving, so we go ahead and get tickets and hope for the best!

Town of Bayfield

Bayfield Harbor

Our ride for the day

We board the Island Princess, operated by Apostle Island Cruises, at 9:30 or so and leave the harbor at 10:00 for a three hour cruise,  a three hour cruise!  (Shades of Gilligan’s Island!).   No tropical islands here, though, and we have read that you have about 10 minutes to save yourself or be saved in this water, after which hypothermia sets in and you are dead within an hour!  Yikes!  The captain announces that the water temp today is 48 degrees.

Island Princess is a pretty big boat and the captain and narrator is very experienced.  He starts out by saying we are heading first to Basswood Island “You can’t see it, but I know it’s out there!" As he starts the safety instructions he says," and for those on the top deck….oh nevermind, there is no one on the top deck today.”  There were about 80 of us on the lower deck.

We pass by Basswood, Hermit, Stockton and Manitou Island, each of which has its associated stories.  By the time we reach Manitou the fog has lifted enough that we can see the old fish camp there with the net reels. 

Several of the islands were logged and several had quarries.  Now all but Madeleine Island are part of the National Lakeshore Park.

When we head for Devil’s Island, the furtherest one,  we get into a bit of Lake Superior and the ride is definitely more rough, with occasional big waves which we rode up and then dropped into the trough!  

After about 20 minutes of that we get into the lee of the island and it calmed down so that we could enjoy the lighthouse there and the many sea caves. 

The island is made mostly of sandstone and the waves have carved many caves and arches.  Hard to capture with a camera, but most impressive when you are there!

We head back toward Bayfield, going by Bear Island and then the lighthouse on Raspberry Island. 

Now that the fog has lifted a good bit, you can see many of the islands and realize how close together they are.  This fishing boat doubles as a cruise ship for sea gulls!

Back on dry land again, we climb in the trek, turn on the heat and warm up while I make some hot soup for  a late lunch.  This concludes our circle tour of Lake Superior, as we decide to skip the final 50 miles to Superior and Duluth, where we began.  Close enough for us!

We spend most of the afternoon driving south and a little east toward Wausau.  Passed by the Wisconsin Concrete Park – another of those “folk art” things, this one done by a retired lumberjack.

We gradually get back a bit more to farmland and dairies, some very large. See a beautiful but camera-shy bald eagle.  Beth enjoys a break with a root beer float at a tiny A&W!  Yum!  (The temperature is almost 70 by then!)  The barn quilts are back.

Our friends in Wausau are still on the road, (They are Roadtrekkers returning from Cape Cod) unfortunately, so we visit our local WallyWorld and had a good night there.