We cannot spend 5 nights in every state

Alan tells me that we cannot spend 5 nights in every state or we will never make it home by election day which is my deadline.  He is now working backwards to figure out what we can do and what we cut out of the trip to stay on track.  The two absolutes are 1) to see Luke, our youngest, in Seattle for a few days and meet his fiance's parents who have a lake house there; and 2) stay a couple days with Cheryl, Alan's sister and her husband, including a visit to their vineyard North of Dallas.  The rest can be changed.  

But Wisconsin was well worth the 5 days.  Well, maybe not the overnight in Beloit's Wal-Mart parking lot.  But the rest of the visit was awesome.  Door County was our favorite.  The Apostle Islands Lakeshore is very nice as well, but second on my list.  We took a 3 1/2 hour cruise of the islands (saw 21/22 islands). We saw 5 bald eagles and some lake birds, but not much else.  Caves carved out by the water were cool, but not nearly the amazing colors  along Pictured Rocks Lakeshore National Park in the Michigan portion of Lake Superior.  Put that Park on your list.




Then we rode a ferry with our bikes to bike the largest and only inhabited island

We rode about 15-17 miles and loved the dirt roads and hunting for agates on the lake shore.  But a highlight was sitting at the neighborhood bar with year-round locals who meet there every afternoon and even local administrators like the Planning Commissioner come barefoot.  The stories about surviving winter when Lake Superior freezes over were quite interesting.  




The setting and landscape is beautiful:



Our car is directly behind the sign. This inn is right on the shore and faces the marina. 






We rode the ferry back just as the sun was getting low in the sky.  A nice bowl of fish chowder in a sleepy little town puts the final touches on a sweet 5 days in Wisconsin.



Alan gets credit for most of these pictures. 

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