2018 Great Lakes Trip - Wausau, Wisconsin

2018 Great Lakes Trip – Wausau, Wisconsin

Photo link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VZkFbV4yPDoTea9S8

Friday July 13^th – Tuesday, July 17^th

Marathon County Campground, Wausau, WI

Leaving Door County, we drove southwest towards central Wisconsin, headed to Wausau. Here we stayed at a really nice county park campground that was in the city. It sounds strange, but was nicely laid out and many trees for shade. Also, the location was convenient to everything we wanted to do.

Another nice surprise that weekend was a hot air balloon rally and rib fest that took place at the local airport. We attended this event and watched several balloons fly, ate great ribs and met some very nice local people. We also ate our first fried Wisconsin cheese curds, so yummy! We stayed for the evening event of the balloon glow. This is when the balloons line up and at dusk inflate the balloons for a spectacular show set to music. After dark, there were fireworks that were very well done. It was very entertaining and an all-around fun time.

One day we traveled east into the country to the county park, Dells of the Eau Claire. We took the dogs so they could also have a day of hiking, which they really enjoy when they can get in a river. The Eau Claire River flows through this park, which has several hiking trails and water activities. The rock formations in the river are the main attraction at this park. Also, part of the Ice Age Trail converges with the hiking trail along the river. The Ice Age Trail is over 1200 miles long, reaching from Sturgeon Bay in Door County, south through many multi-use trails, private lands, city parks, state parks, county forests and national forests. The trail heads northwest and ends in St. Croix Falls overlooking the St. Croix River. This trail follows the path of ancient glaciers.

On two other days, we went to Nine Mile Forest for great mountain biking trails. These were really fun trails, nicely designed and maintained. It was great to get back on some amazing trails.

Kurt decided to go on a hike at Rib Mountain State Park. He hiked to the top of the mountain and had great views of the valley and the city of Wausau. This park also has downhill skiing and cross country skiing for the winter, which is common for many mountain areas in Wisconsin.

Again, as we have experienced in this state, the people we have met are just hard-working, middle class, good people.  It’s so refreshing to see regular Americans living a good life.

Next, on to explore Chippewa Falls/Eau Claire area.

2018 Great Lakes Trip - Madison & Door County, WI

2018 Great Lakes Trip – Madison & Door County, WI

Photo link: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/asDMkgou73vmJkQv7

Monday July 2^nd – Thursday, July 5^th  

Lake Farm Campground, Madison, WI

Our next stop in Wisconsin was Madison, the Capital City. The campground I found was south of the city in a nice preserve area, Lake Farm. This campground is very nice and has great spacious campsites. This area has an amazing bike trail system, mostly paved but some areas are gravel. Bicycling is a major activity in the area. The only downside for us is the county requires a permit to ride these trails. Since we are not local residents, a daily pass costs $5 per bike, WOW! We also took the dogs to a nearby dog park, where the fee was $5 per dog, needless to say, we didn’t take them in.

When we arrived and setup our campsite, we were immediately assaulted with swarms of mosquitos! It was so crazy, we had to stay inside as much as possible. The poor dogs were covered with these beasts just trying to walk them. At least the weather was a little cooler here. 

Our plan was to spend the Fourth of July here celebrating, but it was a challenge to be outdoors. We did drive into downtown Madison to check it out and find where the fireworks were going to be. Apparently, the smaller communities around Lake Monona have their own displays, so they can be viewed from any location around the lake. 

The next day we drove into town to an outdoor sporting goods store and purchased an outdoor screened room. We were finally able to sit outside and enjoy our nice campsite. Kurt was able to ride some of the trails and he really enjoyed them. However, I caught some kind of 24 hour bug that kept me inside with a fever. Oh well, I didn’t want to sit outside anyway. Since I was not well enough to go to watch fireworks, Kurt went into the city. I watched the celebration on TV of the NYC/Macy’s fireworks and music extravaganza. That worked for me!

So this stop was pretty much a bummer for me mostly, and for July 4^th celebrations! We were ready to move on to our next location, north to Door County.

Friday July 6th – Thursday, July 12th  

Baileys Grove Campground, Door County, WI

Our drive north into Door County, the peninsula between Lake Michigan and Green Bay, was very pleasant. We immediately enjoyed the cooler temps and were amazed to view the lakeside from the highway. This peninsula is not more than 10 miles wide at the most. The shoreline is enormous, with many parks and harbors along the waterfront. Door County has many lighthouses, several of which date back to the 19th century. Near the town of Baileys Harbor, the Cana Island Lighthouse offers Lake Michigan and peninsula views. Lake Michigan is cold enough to moderate the temps along the peninsula. Door County is also famed for its cherry orchards, many of which offer cherry picking. 

We stayed at Baileys Grove campground and really liked the property and campsites. We got settled into our site, which had full hookups. The campground offered many amenities; pool, laundry, wifi, and free popcorn every evening! The campground was about 1 mile from Baileys Harbor, so we could ride our bikes into town and enjoy the views. 

We also drove to the west side of the peninsula to visit Peninsula State Park. While there we hiked with the dogs one day and another day we took our bikes and rode the trails in the park. We also visited some small harbor towns, with their marinas and lovely beaches; Fish Creek, Egg Harbor, Sister Bay, Ellison Bay, Gills Rock and Jacksonport. In various places there were lighthouses and sunken ships in the water.  We even got our kayaks in the water and paddled along the shore of Cave Point Park. This was a very interesting rocky shoreline with carved out caves. There was so much to see and do there, we really fell in love with this area.

We so much enjoyed our relaxed time here and we would love to return one summer, except to stay at least a month!

2018 Great Lake States Trip - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2018 Great Lakes Trip – Milwaukee, WI

Photo link: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HhqKx4ovnbqsfob38

Wednesday June 27th – Sunday, July 1st

Milwaukee Fairgrounds RV Park, Milwaukee, WI

We next headed due north to Milwaukee Wisconsin. Our dear friends Diana and Tom had really enjoyed it there and advised us not to miss it, especially with the German heritage influence. We camped at an RV Park in one of the suburbs of the city at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds. This RV park was nothing more than a parking lot setup, but we did have water and electric. It was suitable for our needs because we would spend most of our time in the city.

We decided to drive around the city and get our bearings. We took our bicycles down to the Lake Michigan water front and rode our bikes along the paved trail. From there we saw beautiful views of the city skyline and were amazed at what a modern city this is. There are several green space parks along the waterfront, marinas and beaches. The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed our time on the lakefront. We also stopped at a great beach side cafe and had a nice lunch.

The next day we drove to the north side of the city and checked out an area called North Point. We visited an historic lighthouse there and walked through a beautiful park. After that we headed down into the city to a tour of the Miller Brewery. We found out that Miller owns almost all the former American beer brands, including Kurt's favorite, Icehouse. The Miller Company was ultimately bought out by Molson from Canada. We were able to tour the brewery and check out the process and at the end we sampled several of the beers at a nice outdoor beer garden. Many of the buildings were original historic buildings that are still used for production and others were more for touring.

While in the city we found out about the traveling beer gardens, so of course we had to try those out. The traveling beer gardens were organized by the local craft breweries and the county. Beautiful, green County Parks were used as the event locations and local breweries would set up to sell their beer. There were food trucks and on certain nights live music. Each brewery would be at each location for a week. So on one evening we went to a traveling beer garden in McCarty Park and then a couple of nights later we went to another beer garden in Grant Park. This was so much fun as the beer gardens are set up with community tables where you would sit with other people, have some brews and meet friendly people. Thanks to the Germans for this tradition.

One evening we went downtown to the Lakeshore Brewery which was one of the biggest craft breweries in the city. They also have a wonderful restaurant. We did the brewery tour, which was quite unique, with a really funny young man who narrated the whole process from start to finish, including some historical background on the brewery. During this tour we drank beer at the beginning and throughout the tour, then we were ready to sit down for dinner. We were there for the traditional Friday night fish fry, which turned out to be excellent food. We also sat outside after dinner on the Riverwalk and had our final sample beers. It was a really fun evening and we enjoyed the tour.

We spent another day again down on the Lakeshore riding our bicycles from one end to the other. On the southern end we rode through Lakeshore State Park. From there we again saw the beautiful skyline and got up close with the Milwaukee Art Museum, which is a very unique architectural design. This modern designed building has winged shape flaps that open and close at certain times of the day to shade the building. We never got to see the wings move, but I am including a video here at this link to show you how it looks.  https://youtu.be/eGQJPkQL0fU?t=61

The beaches along the Lakeshore were packed as it was a gorgeous weather for the weekend and it was very hot in the city. Being on the lakeside with the winds coming over the cold water  was like a huge air conditioner blowing. It was a really fun day and we truly enjoyed the city again.

On our last day there we had planned to go back into the city, but there was a major electrical outage throughout the Milwaukee area.  We couldn't leave our dogs unattended in the camper without AC. This time we were stuck at the camper without AC in the extreme heat wave that had moved across the whole state. The temperature was around 95 degrees with a heat index over 100. The power actually came back on after 3 hours and then a couple of hours later and went off again so it was a pretty miserable day our last day there. 

I have to say I'm not really a beer drinker, but I did drink more beer there in the few days than I have in probably a year. Despite the power outage we really did enjoy Milwaukee, the wonderful atmosphere and the friendly people. We truly enjoyed our time in Milwaukee.

Our tour of Wisconsin continues!

2018 Great Lakes Trip – Chicago

Photo link: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/M5koJB8t4BXCR6eP8

Saturday June 23rd – Tuesday June 26th 

Camp Bullfrog Lake, Willow Springs, Illinois

We headed toward Chicago and camped at a County Forest Preserve. From there we were able to drive to transit stations and take trains into the city. We went into the city on two days. We also hired a professional dog walker to come to the camper for those two days, so we didn’t have to rush back at a specified time. Rover.com!

The first day we toured the city in a double decker bus where you could hop on and hop off at various stops. It’s an easy way to get familiar with the city and move around easily. We toured for hours around the city and saw so much. We stopped at the Navy Pier and rode by many buildings and parks. The John Hancock building was one of the places where we stopped and took the elevator to the 94^th Observation Floor. The views are amazing and the weather was perfect as the skies were clear. We also walked along the Riverwalk, stopping at a nice bar for a drink. We also had a delicious Chicago beef sandwich at a famous Italian restaurant. Another stop was at Millennial Park where we walked around “The Bean”, which is really named Cloud Gate. This art work was designed to reflect the surrounding buildings. Its unusual shape allows for very strange reflections of people and buildings. 

The second day, we rode the bus to the pier where we had lunch and boarded the Chicago River Architectural Tour boat. This was the most informative and enjoyable thing we did in the city. Being on the water and seeing the buildings from a different perspective was awesome. There was a young man who narrated and described all the buildings along the tour. He was incredible with his knowledge of all the buildings, added humor and historical information of Chicago. We also walked around the Riverwalk to the Willis Tower (Sears tower) for the tour to the 104^th floor observation deck. Again, the views were amazing, even though the skies were a little hazy. We rode the “L” train back to our parking location.

Our last day there, Kurt was determined to drive into the city, which he did. He took his bike and was able to park near the Lakeview Drive and ride along the lake. Later in the day we picked up a famous Chicago Deep Dish pizza from a local restaurant, gosh it was the best!

I’m so glad that Kurt talked me into visiting the city, I had been there three times on business in the 90’s, but didn’t really get to see what a beautiful, clean city that it is. If you love cities, you should go there!

We loved Chicago!

2018 Great Lake States Trip - Indiana & Illinois

2018 Great Lakes Trip – Indiana & Illinois

Photo link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sSTnthpnq9tPfJJZ6

Monday June 11^th – Sunday, June 17^th 

Brown County State Park, Nashville, Indiana

Next we traveled north into Indiana, taking mostly back roads through agricultural areas with huge farms. We were heading to this state park that came highly recommended. This huge park has over 27 miles of mountain biking trails from easy to extremely difficult, with steep mountain slopes. This park is called the “Little Smokies” as it reminds one of the Smoky Mountains in N. Carolina. There are also more than 18 miles of hiking trails. We planned a week there at the mountain top campground. The weather was nice when we arrived, but it had been raining for the three previous days. The trails were still wet and not ridable, so we decided to do some hiking. We took the dogs on a 3 mile hike around Lake Ogle, which was easy to strenuous. 

The next day it rained some more, so we decided to go into the nearby town of Nashville. We walked around the cool little town and had lunch at a great Mexican restaurant. By the third day, we tried to ride some of the easier trails, but still found them to be wet and muddy in places. The following day the trails had begun to dry up, so we both rode a few miles. On one trail I hit a wet rock and crashed my bike. I fell on my right side and hurt my ribs, among other scrapes and bruises. I was okay but very sore with a lot of pain. So the remaining days I was not able to ride any more. We did drive around most of the park, checking out long view overlooks. The mountains are very beautiful and did remind us of the Smokies.

Maybe one day we will return here when the weather is better and we can really enjoy the trails. We keep hoping that the weather will be better at our next stop.

Monday June 18th – Friday, June 22nd 

Starved Rock State Park, Utica, Illinois

Next we headed into Illinois to this state park on the Illinois River, about 100 miles southwest of Chicago. The park was nestled among vast farmlands in central Illinois. Well, again it was rainy the day we arrived and continued to rain most every day. Between rain storms we did get out to explore the park. There is a lot of history here of the Native Americans and the pioneers that settled the area. 

We discovered that nearby Matthiessen State Park has some amazing hiking trails. Now we know what a “dell” is, you know the old song “the farmers in the dell”? The park has a one mile long canyon, called a dell. It’s forested with lush greenery and a stream running through it. The geology is quite interesting, as the water has worn down the sandstone in unusual rock formations that look like ripples. The creek was mostly shallow and there were rock stepping stones placed across the stream to allow crossing without wading in the water. There were stairs leading down into and out of the canyon. This was one of the most unusual hikes we have ever done. We took the dogs and let them run, they had so much fun playing in the creek. We enjoyed this hike so much that we went back another day.

We did take some scenic drives along the Illinois River up to some nearby towns. I’m not so sure how scenic they were, but we were getting outside and out of the RV. We were all ready for a break from the rainy weather. As we go forward to Chicago, we are really hoping for drier, cooler weather!

2018 Great Lake States Trip - Tennessee & Kentucky

Photo link:

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Friday June 1st – Tuesday, June 5th

Fall Creek Falls, Spencer, Tennessee

This beautiful state park sprawls across 26,000 acres on the Cumberland Plateau in south central Tennessee. There are numerous waterfalls within the rugged gorges of the park. Fall Creek Falls, at 256 feet, is one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern US. Besides forested campgrounds, there is a lodge, inn and conference center, cabins, restaurant, swimming pool and amphitheater. There are over 15 miles of mountain biking trails and 56 miles of hiking trails. 

We had a great campsite in the forested campground. We were happy to have great weather; however, it was warm. We took the dogs hiking and visited the main attraction, Fall Creek Falls. There were a lot of locals at the park to witness the unusually powerful falls. Later we hiked the trail to Piney Creek Falls, crossing one of the suspension bridges to get to the other side of the gorge. All of the falls were still raging due to the recent rainfall. Our next hike was to Cane Creek Falls, which we were able to view from an overlook. The next day, we hiked the Woodland Trail, which meandered through the forest and crossed over the brink of Cane Creek Cascades on a suspension bridge.    This bridge was much longer and wobblier. Luca became so freaked out that Kurt had to carry him across the bridge. I have to admit, it was kind of scary crossing for me with Kody on a leash (who was unaffected at all). After crossing the bridge, we were able to hike down to the base of Cane Creek Cascade Falls. This hike also returned to the Fall Creek Falls Overlook,

There were some mountain biking trails within the park. We drove to one trailhead the first day to check out the conditions. As we expected, the trails were wet and not maintained. There were some downed trees, but were easy enough to haul the bikes over. So after about a mile, we turned around and thought we would try the other biking trail. Kurt took his bike the next day to check out the other mountain biking trail and it was in worse condition. No riding here!

So the next day we thought we would ride the paved trail that followed along the north side of the lake. We started off on this trail, only to find major downed trees blocking the pavement and no way to get around it. It’s a shame that this park was not active in cleaning up the trails. It would have been a beautiful ride. 

The last day there we decided to try the Cable Trail, which was described as a rugged hike down to the base of Fall Creek Falls. The beginning of the hike was as expected, but once we got to the “cable” we discovered this was a 25 foot cable over huge, rugged rocks, requiring the hiker to hold onto the cable to get to the bottom. Wow, neither of us wanted to “repel” downward on this hike. So we headed back to camp. 

Overall, we enjoyed this park, the hiking and the beautiful falls. We were ready to move northward to Kentucky and revisit the “Land Between the Lakes”.

Wednesday, June 6th – Sunday, June 10th 

Land Between the Lakes, National Recreation Area, Grand Rivers, Kentucky

We decided to stay at this federal recreation area, which we visited last October on our way back to Florida (where we stayed during the remnants of Irma). We enjoyed this place since there was so much to do. There were hiking and mountain biking trails, the lakes, and various attractions. These include an Elk & Bison Prairie drive-through, a planetarium, historical “Homeplace Working Farm”, multiple beaches and picnic areas. 

This was a convenient stop-over where we could relax and have some fun. We were able to ride the mountain bike trails and hang out at the lake. It did rain a couple of days and was very hot most days. We thought we were escaping the heat of Florida, but so far it’s been almost as hot, humid and rainy as back at home. Next trip northward, we will move quicker toward the northern states. Hopefully, that will make a difference in getting to cooler climates!

Next on the agenda is Indiana at a great state park. Looking forward to some cooler weather and great mountain biking trails.

2018 Great Lake States Trip - Alabama & Georgia

2018 Great Lakes Trip – Alabama & Georgia

Photo link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/lXtWmMqv1LJfGlEF2

Friday, May 18^th – Thursday, May 31^st      

Oak Mountain State Park, Birmingham, Alabama

This was the third time we have stayed at this state park, and we really love it. Even though there were a couple of days of some rain, it was not enough to keep us off of the hiking and biking trails. The mountain biking trails here are excellent and we enjoyed riding them again. We took Kody and Luca on a great hike to the Eagle’s Nest Overlook. This is a 3 mile round trip, steep, moderately strenuous hike up to the top. The weather was great and we all enjoyed the afternoon on the trail. Each time we hike up there we have never seen an eagles nest, but the hike was still great. Another day we hiked the Yellow trail to a point called Maggie’s Glen, then continued around the White trail for a 2.5 mile loop. The dogs always enjoy stopping at the creek crossings to get in the water and get a big drink. 

One afternoon when the weather was beautiful, so we took snacks, drinks, and the dogs to the smaller lake (Beaver Lake) to just relax and hang out. At this lake is a watersports park called “Flip Side”, with cable tow lines for wake boarding. There are obstacles in the water to maneuver. They teach wake boarding and host competitions. It was very interesting and unique to see.

Oak Mountain State Park is one of our “go backs” and we always stop there when traveling through Alabama. After eight days of fun, we were ready to move north to NW Georgia.

Cloudland Canyon State Park, Rising Fawn, Georgia

After spending a night at a Walmart along the way (Saturday night on Memorial Day weekend there were no campsites available anywhere), we arrived at this state park and got settled in our site. This is a park where you can pick your site of any that are available. We found a great one where we were even able to get a satellite signal though the trees! This park is on the Cumberland Plateau on Lookout Mountain in northwest Georgia.

One of our main interests in this park was mountain biking trails, we were so excited to try some new trails. The first day there was great, we drove around and did some small hikes along the canyon rim to overlooks. The next day we took the dogs hiking down to the lower falls. Half way through the hike it began raining and we encountered stairs down to the canyon that were open metal grates. The dogs were not able to walk on them because their feet would get caught in the grate. Oh well, we then headed back to the campground after we were all soaking wet!  The next day, Kurt went on his own to hike down to the two waterfalls in the canyon floor. Despite the rain, he made it through the hike and got some decent pictures of the falls.

So with the rainy weather, we were not able to ride the mountain bike trails. We drove to the trail head and walked back into the trails and found they were too wet and slippery to ride. We were so disappointed to not be able to ride these trails as they were highly rated.

During the five days that we were there, Alberto storms rained on us for four days. We were all getting cabin (RV) fever and were not able to get out and be active. What a bummer. So we just decided we will have to come back here another time when it’s not hurricane season. We did have fun watching the hummingbirds at our feeder, despite the rain they were still visiting!

So on to our next adventure in Tennessee at a great state park.