Sat, 8/7/10

Wagon Trail RV Resort, Ellison Bay, WI: Started out sunny today but clouded up by lunch. So we just hung out again and took care of some maintenance stuff. Washed the windows in the bedroom inside and out and Mike did some maintenance on the truck. Played Monopoly again. I won the first game. Pork chops, red beans & rice, and broccoli for dinner. Probably mid-70s today.

Sturgeon Bay Canal Light

The keepers of the light used to walk on the raised section because in bad weather the water came up on the cement pier, and sometimes reached the raised walkway as well.  The keeper had to go out there in the morning and evening--in all weather.

Original Sturgeon Bay Canal light in the background--New light in the foreground (red)

Fri, 8/6/10

Wagon Trail RV Resort, Ellison Bay, WI: Today was a do-nothing day. The weather was fine—although a little on the chilly side. I didn’t even go for a walk. Mike went over to the office and putzed around on the computer for a while. When he came back we played Monopoly for a while. I won the first game and he won the second game. Probably the low-70s today.

Thu, 8/5/10

Wagon Trail RV Resort, Ellison Bay, WI: Not sure what today was going to bring, weatherwise. But we decided to drive down to Sturgeon Bay and go out on the old fireboat. Had breakfast at Sister Bay Café first and headed down the peninsula. Took almost an hour to get there. Stopped at Walgreens first and then headed over to the Sturgeon Bay City Dock and the boat. Signed up for the 12:30 cruise. The fireboat was originally designed as a City of Chicago fireboat, the “Fred A. Busse”, and was built in 1937. We cruised under three drawbridges and then out into Sturgeon Bay, heading for the man-made canal and Lake Michigan. Saw a couple of eagles while cruising the canal. Once out on the lake we turned around and headed back through Sturgeon Bay again—this time heading for the Green Bay side. Passed a couple of boat works. They build those huge, luxurious yachts here in Sturgeon Bay. They also have repair facilities for the huge tankers that ply the Great Lakes. A couple of them were tied up awaiting repairs. After our cruise we toured the tug John Purves. This was a huge tug that towed some of those huge tankers hooked up to giant cables. Very different from what we have on the Mississippi. On the Mississippi the barges are pushed. Some of the “tows” are as big as an aircraft carrier that are pushed along the twisty, unpredictable Mississippi. Got to have nerves of steel. We have a friend who is a towboat captain. After touring the tug we headed back up the peninsula. Had lunch just outside Sturgeon Bay and then caught a movie—“Salt”. Pretty good. Back home and crashed.

Chicago Fire Boat

Tug Boat we toured