Fri, Sep 7:  Wagon Trail Campground, Rowley’s Bay, WI:  Laid low today.  Cooler than yesterday.  I watched the remaining episodes of Downton Abbey and was sad to see it end.  We had breakfast for lunch—bacon and eggs.  Read for a while and then walked part of the trail to Sand Bay on Lake Michigan.  Pork chops and sweet corn for dinner tonight.  Mid-60s again today.

The historic Gus Klenke garage.  There are paintings of this historic structure in a lot of the galleries.
Door County

Barns of Washington Island

Thu, Sep 6:  Wagon Trail Campground, Rowley’s Bay, WI:  Took the 11:00 ferry to Washington Island this morning.  A beautiful day, but on the chilly side.  Explored around the island and stopped for lunch at The Granary.  There were about 8 local guys sitting around talking and drinking coffee.  They were funny to listen to, with their Swedish or Norwegian accents.  I asked them why there were no deer around, which brought a lot of laughter and discussion.  Apparently, they’re everywhere.  We’ve seen sand hill cranes and turkey, but no deer.  Took the 4:00 ferry back and crashed.  Was going to cook up some sweet corn and have that with sliced tomatoes for dinner.  We're too full from lunch.  Mid-60s today.

Our ferry arrives.

Boarding begins.

Arriving at Washington Island.

Stopped to check out this tower.

We had to climb up a series of stairs to get to the top of the bluff.  Over 100!  And then we had to climb the tower!  I was hoping there would be a medic up there with oxygen or something. 

On the other side of the island you can catch a passenger ferry to Rock Island.  Part of the island was purchased by Chester Thordarson in 1910 where he built his summer estate.  The boat house was part of that estate.  It's now part of the Rock Island State Park.  A few years ago we took our backpacks and camped over there for a few days.  The boat house is neat.  I used to play the piano in there and we'd play cards or do puzzles.

This is the ferry that takes you over there.

Jacobson's Museum

There's a pretty little inland lake here.

This is Jacobson's summer cottage.

Pretty Little Lake

Stavkirke

This beautiful, all-wood church was patterned after the Bergund, Norway, church built in 1150 A.D.

They used Viking shipbuilding techniques.  "Stav" means pole or support, and there are 12 center staves, or masts, as well as heavy beamed, ship-like construction throughout the structure.  It is truly beautiful

This ship hanging from the rafters is a replica of a mackinaw schooner, popular for fishing and transporting goods across the lake in the mid-1800s.

This beautiful door has wrought iron fastenings.  The panels on each side of the door are hand carved.

The ceiling and rafters.  It smells so good in here with all the wood.

Wed, Sep 5:  Wagon Trail Campground, Rowley’s Bay, WI:  I got up, showered, dressed, and cleaned up our site while waiting for Mike to wake up.  Made my smoothie and then it started to rain.  Rained all morning.  When Mike got up we changed the sheets and took the dirty ones to the laundry room when the rain abated.  Got that done and then just read and took care of some computer stuff.  The sun never made an appearance, but it’s supposed to be sunny the rest of the week.  Mid-70s today and cloudy.  Left-overs for dinner.  HBM!

They love their flowers up here.

Tue, Sep 4:  Wagon Trail Campground, Rowley’s Bay, WI:  Rained all night last night.  Really heavy at times.  This morning the rain had stopped but still cloudy.  We decided to go ahead and get the grocery shopping out of the way.  By the time we got out of the store the clouds had blown away and it was 81.  So we decided to drop off the groceries and then get the ferry to Washington Island.  We put everything away and I changed my clothes, ready to go.  And then Mike checked the fall schedule for the ferry and we wouldn’t have enough time over there before the last ferry, so we nixed that idea.  Drove into Fish Creek instead and checked out a few of the shops.  Had dinner at the Fish Creek Grill and got sprinkled on.  Back home and crashed.  Turned out to be a nice day.  Low 80s today and humid. 

Lake shore at sunset park in Fish Creek.

Pretty little church in Fish Creek.  Often there's an artist set up with an easel painting it.

This road is called Cottage Row.  What a joke, because the "cottages" are all huge multi-million dollar summer homes.

This is the founder's cabin.  Built sometime in the mid-1800s.

Some of these old log cabins were drug over across Green Bay when the lake freezes.

Bluffs around Fish Creek.

Mon, Sep 3:  Wagon Trail Campground, Rowley’s Bay, WI:  Headed over to Whitefish Dunes State Park after lunch.  When we left our site it was 77.  When we got closer to the park it was 68!  By the time we got there it was 72.  Not bad.  Walked some of the trails and couldn’t find what we were looking for.  A few years ago there was a big rock shelf people walked out on with their dogs, etc.  Apparently, the lake was really low then.  So, now it’s under water.  And that was at Cave Point County Park, which is adjacent to Whitefish Dunes.  So, we drove back and stopped at the Blue Ox for an early dinner.  After that we stopped at the Door County Bakery, which was closed—thankfully.  Upper 70s at one point today and mostly cloudy.  Humid too.

The big shelf we saw a few years ago...

Someone built a cairn.

Oscar the handsome bulldog--with his life jacket on.

The big rock shelf, which is now under water.

This tree is growing right out of a rock.
Whitefish Dunes State Park

Mike on one of the trails.
Whitefish Dunes State Park

Pretty lake shore.
Whitefish Dunes State Park

Me on one of the trails.
Whitefish Dunes State Park

We passed a sheep ranch.  All the sheep had little "coats" on.  Not sure why.  Maybe to protect the wool?

The sheep farm is a bed and breakfast.

Would be a neat place to stay.

Sun, Sep 2:  Wagon Trail Campground, Rowley’s Bay, WI:  Got the laundry done first thing this morning.  For the first time the laundry room was pretty busy.  But we didn’t have to wait for a machine or anything and got it done quickly.  A cloudy day today and cooler than yesterday.  Glad we did the Sister Bay Marina Fest yesterday.  We read our books and I watched some more episodes of Downton Abbey.  Left-overs for dinner.  Probably mid-60s today. 

Saw this beautiful sailboat in the Sister Bay Marina.

Apparently, all the sails are deployed at the push of a button.

Would love to see a demonstration of how it works.

Sat, Sep 1:  Wagon Trail Campground, Rowley’s Bay, WI:  After breakfast we headed over to Sister Bay for the Marina Fest.  Were worried about the weather, but even though it’s cloudy, it’s nice and warm.  Actually pretty muggy.  Found a place to park on the street pretty easily.  Walked around the marina enjoying the wooden boats on display and some of the yachts docked there.  Checked out some of the food vendors and listened to a bluegrass group performing there.  The Sister Bay library was having a book sale, so we went over there to check things out.  I bought 4 books.  Back to the food vendors.  I got a white fish sandwich and an ear of corn.  Mike got a bratwurst and an ear of corn.  They roast the corn in the husk, then peel back the husk, dip it in a vat of butter, and off you go.  Really, really good.  Sat at a picnic table with a couple from northern Illinois who just bought a home up here in Fish Creek.  They’ve been coming up here every summer for years, and are retiring in their home up here in Fish Creek.  I’d like to come up here sometime in the winter.  Mike will have none of that!  Probably mid-70s today and really nice.

Some of the Wooden Boats on Display

Mike checking out the lightning class (I think) sailboat.

This is my favorite.  Actually it was built in 2002.

An Adirondack Guide Boat

Love this little skiff.  Someone added all the wood and a regular steering wheel and set of controls.

These guys were good!