Doing Door County

If you ask us about what there is to do in Door County, both Don and I would answer, "Plenty"!  This part of Wisconsin is a popular tourist destination with plenty of quaint towns such as Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Sturgeon Bay, etc.  There is Peninsula State Park with miles of bike trails, boating, fishing,  5 lighthouses , lots of hotels and B & B's, and hundreds of tourist shops.  This is almost like a "one size fits all" type of dress!  

Char and Roy had the whole day planned for us.  We left in the morning and headed an hour north to our first stop, Door County Coffee and Tea Company.  The aroma in there is wonderful (if you like the smell of fresh coffee) and there is a huge selection of flavored coffee.  Boy, this is right up my alley.  I got some Chocolate Cherry coffee beans and also some Mocha Mint.  Don found some dark roast coffee that he liked and Char found some specialty teas.   We were all happy campers.

I had Roy and Char sit in the colorful Adirondack chairs outside on the lawn so I could get a picture of them.....and the chairs.  Both Don and Jerry (our brother-in-law) had built some of these comfortable chairs this year after seeing them in a store by Glacier National Park.  

Next stop was Peninsula State Park for a bike ride on one of the many trails.  This is a mighty popular place for people not only from Wisconsin, but people living in Milwaukee and Chicago.  This weekend, all 400 + camping spots were taken.   We set out to tackle the Sunset Bike Trail, which traverses through mostly shaded, woody areas, but at some points travels along the edge of Green Bay.

This was a short rest stop for us after we just came up a steep hill.  Everyone made it up the hill except me.  But I wasn't the only one who had to stop and push their bike the last 50 or 100 feet or so.  There were plenty of bikers out in packs on this trail, so we had to be sure and ride single file.

The clouds were building up, and then we heard lightening and thunder.  But that isn't what cut our nice bike ride short......

it was Don's back tire!  He heard a "pop" and sure enough, his back tire was flat.  We had only done 3 miles of the trail when this happened.  Rats!

Roy biked back to the entrance, where we had left our vehicles.  Don, Char and I had to be content with waiting by the kayak launch while he loaded up his bike and came back for Don's.   At least we had some nice big trees to keep us dry while the storm passed overhead.

On our way out of the park, we made sure to stop by and see the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, which was built in 1868.   It is aptly named Eagle Bluff since it sits atop a 40 foot bluff and cost $12,000 to build. The first lighthouse keeper was from Norway.  The 1000 pound anchor came from the schooner, Oak Leaf, which sank in Sturgeon Bay in 1926.

So, our bike ride was cut short, but it didn't us send us back to Algoma.  Our next stop was Not Licked Yet, my favorite frozen yogurt place.  Every time we get to Door County, I have to go here for some Butter Pecan frozen yogurt.  I am usually a chocolate type of gal, but here the Butter Pecan trumps the chocolate or vanilla flavors.

Don and Char head out after our supper that was topped off by our favorite waffle cones.

After some tourist browsing in popular Fish Creek shops, we headed over to the Peninsula Players theater.  Roy and Char had gotten tickets in the 5th row to see the play, "Murder on the Nile".

We had gotten there early to avoid the crowds, so we had time to sit in the beautiful courtyard outside.  It was cool enough for a sweater that evening.

Looking west, the glowing orange orb created a beautiful sunset over Green Bay.  There were a lot of people taking pictures!  The sunset was just about gone by the time we headed into the theater.  What a great day we had, in spite of rain and a flat tire.  By the time we got home, it was 11 PM,  past our normal bedtime.  At least we managed to stay awake for the hour's drive home, and didn't encounter any deer along the dark country road back to Algoma.

Access to the Ahnapee

There is always access to the Ahnapee in Algoma.  Agreed?  Or is it implied acquiesence and agreement or just plain aggravating?  Are you a bit addled with all of these awesome "a" words?

Okay, time to fess up and let you know what we did for our first full day in Algoma with Roy and Char.  They are not only our daughter-in-law's parents, but also good friends and fellow bikers....as in two wheel bikes!  We rode 2 miles just to get to this trail head.  This wonderful trail is used by hikers and bikers during the summer, while snowmobilers take over in wintertime.  This morning our 13.5 mile ride took us over 2 hours since we rode slowly and stopped several times to see the scenery.

Here we are at the start of the bike ride.  Most of the trail was shaded.  Don and Roy are up ahead while Char waited for me to take a picture.  This trail was a former railroad bed.  Ships would bring in supplies from Lake Michigan and unload in Algoma, and the goods were then brought up to Sturgeon Bay and other nearby towns via the Ahnapee and Western Railroad.  The A & W was incorporated in 1890 and the last train ran in 1986.  It had a good run before being "recycled" into the trail!

I wonder what Don and Roy were looking at as they gazed over the wood railing.  I couldn't see any fish in the water or even a lonesome duck nearby.

The bridge took us over the Ahnapee River which winds its way along the countryside and finally 

winds up flowing into Lake Michigan.

We came across some beautiful Goldenrod and Queen Ann's Lace as we rode along the path.  

Our destination today was this dam, which is south of Sturgeon Bay.  This is proof that we made it!

Roy is checking out the lake behind the dam, this may become another place for him to fish, even though he has a creek right behind his house.  

The berries were beautiful, but I "Googled" them, and they are highly poisonous!  They are called Red baneberry or Snakeberry.  Good thing I only took a picture of them and left them alone!

Heading home!  We even stopped on the way back and picked apples from a tree just off the trail.  Didn't pick enough for a pie, but there may be some sweet cinnamon apples on the dinner table this week! 

Midwest Meanderings

Willy Nelson was "On the Road Again" with me (at least in my mind) as we headed east and north on Sunday.   Our destination this time is Algoma, Wisconsin, which we plan to arrive on Wednesday, August 22nd.  It will take us 4 days to get there, since we travel between 300-350 miles a day.  Yes, I know it is considered "slow" by most of the people reading my blog, but at this stage of our life, we have lots of time!  That is one of the great aspects of being retired (besides not having to go to work).   Half of our traveling the past two days has been on Interstate 80, through all of Nebraska and most of Iowa.  We got to see a LOT of corn fields.

We stopped at the Windmill State Recreation Area on Sunday night.  It's located in Gibbon, Nebraska.  Even though it is just off on I-80, the traffic noise wasn't bad at all and we had our choice of sites in the campgrounds.

Don was registering while I hopped out of the truck to take pictures.  Taking pictures of the campgrounds and our sites helps us to remember where we were at a certain point in time.  I also keep a written journal of our travels.  At our age, we need all the help we can get! 

There was a nice little lake and beach at this state park.  I guess it was too late in the day, or maybe just too late in the season for anyone to be swimming here.

I expected to see lots of cornfields as we drove through the heartland of America, but was surprised to see an abundance of huge windmills.  There were a plethora of them along the Iowa highway.

Monday's stop was in Altoona, Iowa.  Altoona is a suburb east of Des Moines and the RV park was no where near the interstate.  We drove on some small, hilly county roads to finally get to Griff's Valley View park.  

No leveling needed here!  The cement pad made it a piece of cake to get the 5th wheel set up for the night.  Behind us is a huge grassy area, and beyond that is the huge area for the horses.

I stopped by the corral by the entrance and spotted 3 horses by the watering trough.  I just had to take their picture so I could send them to our two "horse crazy" granddaughters. 

Then, as I began taking pictures, one horse peeked around the enclosure.  That prompted both him and the other horse to start sauntering in my direction.

All of a sudden, another horse appeared!  I hadn't even said a word!  The only audible sound was coming from the shutter on the camera.

Two of them decided to get a much closer look as they hung their heads over the railing.  I guess I passed the "horse test" since they didn't put their ears back and snort at me!  After all, I was wearing new Sketchers on my feet and had on a clean pair of Levi capri pants!  I'm sure they were impressed!

The Hazards of a Casual Biker

Today we rode another part of the Poudre River Trail.  This time we biked through the Duran Family section in Greeley.  The land had been in the Duran family since the 1930's and was farmed for livestock, vegetables and alfalfa.  Some of that type of farming still remains today in this section of the trail.  We could see the dark green waters of the Poudre River at various places of the cement path.

Other parts of the ride brought us over a railroad trestle, past a huge rock quarry and along rows of ripening corn.

Around one of the curves was a herd of cattle.  Apparently, the barbed wire fence had little effect on this brown bovine, who was intent on reaching for the tall spiky grass on the other side.

I tried talking to her, but she was in no "moo-d" for a conversation.

Below you can see that the path travels through a huge open grassy field.  This would be a nice, flat place to ride a bike, right?  Well, it had its hazards.

This was open range and there were a lot of cow pies to dodge along the way!  I decided to keep my distance behind Don in case he ran over one of those babies!  No sense in getting "pie eyed" so to speak.  There was a lot of zig-zagging to do in order to miss them.  Our bikes have no fenders on them and I have wound up with mud on the back of my shirt when going through mud puddles.  Mud is one thing, fresh cow manure is quite another!

I was glad to get to a shadier part of the trail, away from the grazing herd of cattle.

No more cows, but this is not a place where you'd want to reach out and touch a leaf as you pass by.

About 5 feet from this sign was another:

Okay, now we have to watch out for other bikers/hikers coming around the blind corners in addition to falling rocks and poison ivy.  Isn't riding a a cruising bike supposed to be fun and worry free?  I just have to remind myself even the worst day of riding is 10 times better than having to go back to work again!

Lovely Leadville

Looking for old buildings or discovering a piece of history?  Well, "get the lead out" and head over to Leadville, Colorado!  I discovered that the famous Doc Holliday came to Leadville to live after the fight at OK Corral.  In those days, it was an awful long way between Tombstone, Arizona and this small Colorado mining town.  I wonder if he came to get away from the bunches of hooligans in Arizona or just wanted a cooler place to live in.   Anyway, we were certainly thankful for the cool temperature of just 73 degrees as we walked up and down the main street.

Here is a view of the main street.  The bright yellow building is the Golden Burro Cafe.  

One of the most famous buildings is the Tabor Opera House, built in 1879 by Horace Tabor.  It was the largest and grandest opera house west of the Mississippi River when it was built and hosted people like John Philips Sousa, boxer Jack Dempsey and even Houdini!

I loved the architectural detail on the old buildings.  Each one has its own personality.  One excellent example is the old Fearnley building adorned with 3 finials and meticulously painted in accent colors.

Now compare that to a large building down one of the side streets.   This is the type of property that is described as "full of potential" by real estate ads!

Then there is the one with a commanding view (of the junkyard)!  To say the least, it is interesting to look at, although I don't think I'd ever want to live in it!

There is a tourist train that leaves from Leadville, but unfortunately we didn't know that until we drove around a bit.  The train was gone, leaving behind bunches of wildflowers growing up between the railroad ties.

Along the way we came across an old rusty truck.  It blended in well with its surroundings.  Another photo opportunity for me!  This reminded me of one of the old trucks in the Cars 2 Disney movie.

South of Leadville, off Highway 24 we discovered more dilapitated buildings in various states of disrepair.

Looks like this building has a natural skylight!

The two story building below was actually the Red Rooster Tavern in a former life.  Now it is the visitor center for the tiny town of Twin Lakes.

Don agreed to stop along the highway for a minute so I could get a picture of this old schoolhouse, complete with outhouse.

The drive on Highway 24 between Leadville and Twin Lakes lent itself to plenty of photo opportunities for me. A ribbon of road winding its way among rolling hills of green grass and past falling fences is sure a lot more interesting than the miles of cement on Interstate 25!