The Milwaukee Zoo

August 10, 2010...Milwaukee Zoo...

A really nice zoo. Not as big as St. Louis...but some interesting displays of 2-3 levels of animals that are predators... We captured pics of different birds and big animals...but couldn't catch the "tiered" effect on the several animals - Like a cougar on the top tier...and deer on the lower tier. It's set up so that they can't get to each other...but an interesting concept of the ecological balance in nature. We got our exercise for the day walking the park. That's always a plus.

August 8, 2010 - Oshkosh

Sunday, August 8, 2010

We started the day at the Paine Art Center and viewed the Norman Rockwell collection. No pics allowed...so we have no pics. :) They had numerous Saturday Evening post covers (probably over 300.) They also had several original paintings, watercolors, and sketches which were used for the covers. The Paine Mansion which houses the art work shown from time to time, was quite impressive on it's own merits.

The day almost gone...we headed to the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) Museum. With only 45 minutes to closing, we were given a pass to come back on Monday. If you're thinking of visiting...2 suggestions. 1. Don't attend when the EAA fly-in is occuring. We don't think you could move with the extra thousands who fly in, or drive in for the week-long event. We missed it by a couple of days. "Whew." 2. Plan on at least one full day. We covered almost half the turf...and had to keep "moving on."

We picked a couple of shots that stood out for us. 1. The Wright brothers plan. 2.The first attempts to "fly free." 3. Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis. 4. WWII military plane with Awesome Kill statistics.

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You must understand, however, that the highlight of the entire event was Ron's opportunity to fly Maneuvers in a 1927 Travel Air E-4000. YaHoo!!!!!

Oshkosh

August 6-8, 2010

Had a great Salmon-on-a-plank dinner at Pete and Annettes on Friday night. Forgot the camera...TSK TSK!!! But we had them out for Taco's on Saturday night, and made up for it with these pics. New marathon running with Pete and Annette...4-man cribbage. The guys are way up on the gals. Not good! :-) Had to move inside after dinner...with the storms a-brewin' - it was getting mighty windy. [The tripod works pretty cool.]

We went back on Sunday and caught the girls in between their busy schedules...perfect pic. Percy (the dog) even has a little smile for us.

Sturgeon Bay Cruise

August 5, 2010

We enjoyed the adventure at the Door County Maritime Museum so much, we went back for more the next day. We toured Sturgeon Bay on the Chicago Fire Boat which is docked at the museum property.

Got someone else to take the pic of us...the boat was rocking a little bit too much to use the tripod.

















Coal hauling ship currently in dry dock

Lighthouse at the entrance to Green Bay with a fascinating story about the lighthouse keeper who was repeatedly "visited" by his deceased wife. Supposedly, one night he said "If you're going to hang around and make all of that noise...why don't you make yourself useful and do the dishes?" As the story goes, he woke up the next morning to find the dishes washed, dryed, and neatly put away.

Rock formations along the shores are sandstone...similar appearance to what

we saw in the Apostle islands...but totally different quality of stone.

Crane used to move parts with shipbuilding and repair...We didn't think the job of the guy in the little cage hanging from the top beam looked like much fun. Lots of wind and rain around the Bay.

800 Ft ship in for repainting
and repairing.

Showing size of the

propellars that move

these huge ships.

The old Draw bridge across Sturgeon Bay is being repaired. There's a new bridge just 3 blocks away. Concensus of those living in the Sturgeon Bay area wouldn't allow the old bridge to be torn down. Too much history to be lost...I'm guessing the tourist trade helps to offset the cost of the $10M refurbishing project.

Had to include the pic of the 210# Mastif who joined us on the tour. Mom (left) carried a hand towel to catch the drool which is so common with this breed. He seemed friendly - though we were seated several tables to the right of this area. Probably thinks he's a lap dog to top it off. BIGGGGGG DOGGY.

Palmer Johnson Yacht Co

Aug 5, 2010 -

[After lunch.]

During our various activities in Sturgeon Bay there were several mentions of the Palmer Johnson Yacht Company. They don't give tours...but they often have their bays open so that you can watch the workers as they build the huge oceangoing luxury cruise ships (Really big yachts for many passengers.) They built smaller yachts, also...all CUSTOM orders.

Tug Boat Tour

August 4, 2010 - Jean's Birthday... we went to Sturgeon Bay to see what we could see. Decided to visit the Door County Maritime Museum which had an extensive history of the shipbuilding industry in Sturgeon Bay.

We started with a walking tour on the John Purves Tug. Originally designed in 1919 to be an ocean going tug. Served as a floating radio station for 3 years in the Caribbean before being brought to the Great Lakes in 1922. She served in WWII as a LT-145 supplying garrisons in the Aleutians. Converted from a steam engine to diesel in 1957, she served (as a tug boat) on the great Lakes under several ownerships until 2003 when she was donated to the Door County Maritime Museum. Restoration of the tug to its present state - used for walking tours - took volunteers 5 years to complete.

PICS: 4 per row

1-3. The Tug; 4. Engine room; 5. Chart bench; 6. Galley; 7. Fuel tanks (capacity 57,000 gal. of diesel - lasted 2-3 months); 8. Breakaway life raft; 9-10. Bridge; 11. Engine room controls; 12. V-12 diesel engine (there were 2 on board - each ran a separate screw). Amazing tour...one of the previous captains of the tug was present to fill in the "fun" day to day details of life on a tug boat.

The tour of the Maritime Museum was fascinating. History of the ship building industry in Sturgeon Bay following the decline of the lumber industry in that area was extensive with videos and replicas of the vessels built for transport, in general, and PC and PG boats built for WWII. One section of the museum dedicated solely to the history of ghosts and apparitions associated with various lighthouses on Sturgeon Bay, Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Perhaps a fun place to visit on Halloween.

Finished the day with Jean's birthday dinner at Donny's Glidden Resort. Looked like a great place for a retreat. View from the dining room overlooked Lake Michigan. Didn't catch that on film.

Located in Whitefish Bay...just a few miles from our RV park.

Door county - Bailey's Harbor RV park

August 2-3, 2010

Left Rhinelander early in the a.m...(before the rooster crowed)...and arrived at Perutka's meat market in Antigo just in time for the doors to open. It was on our way to Door county, and we couldn't pass up the great bacon, brats, weiners, and summer sausage. [I think we need a larger refrigerator.] :-)

We settled in at our camp site in Baileys Harbor and took off on our first adventure. Of course by now you must realize that after our lake experiences at Itasca and Superior, "putting our feet in Lake Michigan" was the first item on the agenda. [Gonna have to wait 'till next year for Ontario, Huron and Erie.]

The lighthouse at Cana Island was a beautiful site. We continued on to the tip of Gills Rock at the tip of Door County...poked around a bit and went through a small, but interesting Maratime Museum.



Next morning we headed out for Ellison Bay, Sister Bay, Ephriam, and Fish Creek. A huge cultural center. Many concerts in the park...(Also concerts in halls for $$$). Theater - again, both inside and outside... Art Galleries...unique restaurants...boat rentals...boat cruises...a real vacation spot for all ages. Our favorite restaurant was Al Johnson's in Sister Bay.

How do you mow the grass when it's on the roof??? You buy a goat, of course!

Back to Bailey's harbor just in time to witness an official "Fish Boil" - so famous in Door County.


The crowds at the Fish Boils were always plentiful.

The Fish, Potatoes, and Onions are all cooked in the same pot. Looks good!!! Smells great, too. But, we didn't partake. Just couldn't get past having to pick the bones out of the fish in order to eat it. [City slickers]

Bunk & Valois

July 28-29, 2010

It rained long and hard on Tuesday the 27th all during the night. We missed the strong winds that did so much damage...our RV park was nestled in a little valley with the higher hills to the west. Headed out Wed morning for Cable, WI - and stayed with Bunk and Valois (Kari's parents) - they have a home on Lake Namekagon....beautiful area.

We caught some awesome pics of Eagles -

young and old...

And Loons.

There was one very different loon that "hung out" right in front of Bunk and Valois' house. No one seemed to know "which variety of loon" it was. All alone...no siblings. Most of the loons we saw were in groups of 2 or more.

After our relaxing picture hunt on the lake, we went to the famous Wednesday night "WingDing" at a local establishment.
You truly wouldn't believe the size of the wings (the pic was to dark to include.) Delicious.

Thursday morning was a busy one, as Bunk and Ron went fishing...and Valois and Jean went golfing. Had a great time.

Packed 'er up and headed back to Rhinelander for a few days of catching up with our blog...and revisiting the bridge marathon we started a couple of weeks back.

July 30 - June 2, 2010

We caught up on the blogs. Ron washed the RV...lots of sap from the beautiful treed areas we had been staying in. We played bridge...gals took the lead at first...but then the guys caught up on the last day. We had boiled fish...with Dave. A first for us. Heading to Door County, WI early on Monday the 2nd...that's where boiled fish dinners are very popular. Maybe we'll give 'em a try.

Apostle Island Cruise

July 27, 2010

We did well to choose the morning cruise of the Apostle Islands, and were lucky enough to be "too late to get tickets on the upper deck." The rain started about 2/3 of the way through the cruise. Met a great couple from La Crosse, WI. (The world IS small...La Crosse is Jean's home town.)

OUR CRUISE SHIP(above)...................................... LIGHT HOUSE at RASPBERRY ISLAND

SEA CAVES on

DEVILS ISLAND

LIGHT HOUSE DEVILS ISLAND

ABANDONED 1800's fishing CAMP ROCKY ISLAND

HONEYMOON ROCK - BASSWOOD ISLAND

At the end of the tour...we headed out for IRONWOOD, MICHIGAN...only @ 60 miles away. Stopped for lunch at the 2nd Street Bistro in Ashland on the way. (Highly recommended by US.)

Clam Chowder with wild rice...and a Greek sampler platter...(we shared)...TO DIE FOR!!!!

When we arrived in Ironwood, MI we had to have our pic taken - as proof that we visited the upper Michigan peninsula so that we could fill it in on our "door map." The states we have visited are pretty sparce right now...but it's fun to chart our progress.