Door County - June 2024

 Another year. Another Door County, Wisconsin adventure. This year Jill brought her granddaughter, Aiyana, on the adventure. This will be a post in photos.

We stayed at the same place as last year, The Liberty Lodge in Sister Bay. There is a lovely view of Green Bay.

Jill reserved rooms on the front veranda side.

The Lodge serves a lovely breakfast, has a fantastic gazebo, and large grass yard. Here I am with Aiyana.

The real draw of Door County are the beaches on the Lake Michigan side. We were fortunate to get to hang out at Mary and Roy's place right on the shore.

A sunset on the Green Bay side. No Canadian wildfire smoke this year. Yay!

Jill signed us up for pottery throwing. It was challenging and fun.

The pottery place has a menagerie of arts and crafts projects.

We visited the Cana Island lighthouse which you can climb up inside. This was a first for all of us.

Yes, there is a replica (wooden) statue of Lady Liberty at Liberty Lodge.

We took the car ferry over to Washington Island. The ferry's name was "Madonna."

Lavendar fields on Washington Island.

Cherries in Door County.

I had no idea there were so many varieties of cherries.

We went to the percussion camp at Birch Creek Conservatory again this year. Free concert by the students and instructors.

Fields and barns everywhere on the peninsula. 

A dramatic sunset in Ephraim.

This photo has been modified to remove unwanted items (a car and some wires). The house in the background is where the staff stay.

There are these beautiful white and black pelicans.

The famous "goats on the roof" at Al Johnson's in Sister Bay.

A map of the peninsula.

The clear water of Lake Michigan.

Wisconsin Roadtrip - June

Well, I've been back from a Wisconsin roadtrip over a week and finally edited the photos and put together the trip video. You can see the video by clicking here. A lot was packed into the 10 days.

First of all this was a trip with my dear friend Jill. She flew to Minneapolis where we started our driving adventure.

First stop - Madison, Wisconsin. Jill is from Madison. We visited the house she was raised in. The current owners had just sold the house and by chance, the lady of the house was there when we stopped. She graciously let us walk through the house so Jill could see it. Turns out she and her husband had bought the house from Jill's parents!

We went to the University of Wisconsin - Madison campus and met an old friend of Jill's and hung at the student Union. We spent the night in Madison. In the morning I took a run along Lake Mendota and through the campus. After that we went to the huge farmer's market that surrounds the Wisconsin capitol building. We went in the building briefly. It was a very hot day.

From Madison, we drove to Milwaukee. There we met friends that Jill knew from 35 years ago, Shannon and Will! Destination was the James Taylor concert at Summer Fest. Sheryl Crow opened for James in the ginormous American Insurance venue...23,000 James Taylor fans.

Spent the night in Milwaukee. Left for Door County, Wisconsin in the morning and stopped at another childhood friend of Jill's who has a house on the lake (Lake Michigan). Made it to Sister Bay in Door County for a week's stay at the Liberty Lodge.

The video covers the Door County portion of the adventure pretty well. But in brief and in no particular order we ... 1) took the ferry to Washington Island where we saw lavender fields, a really weird building that someone told us was a Scandinavian church?, and visited a rock beach. 2) sat out at Newton State Park (a dark sky location) to see the stars, however, the moon was so bright the stars weren't all that visible. 3) went to Cave Point County Park to see the waves (not too wavy) but saw what turned out to be a duck with all its baby ducks tucked under her wings...you had to see it. It was cool. 4) strolled in Ellison Bluff County Park where Jill and I had been a winter ago. 5) ate and drank a lot 6) went to the world premiere of a play at Peninsula Players Theater 7) listened to steel pan music at Birch Creek Conservatory 7) ate and drank a lot 8) it was crazy smoky (Canadian fires) most of the time but had a few days of clear air 9) hung out at a beach on the Lake Michigan side (beautiful) 9) drove across Door County (it is the peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan) every which way you possibly could. 10) saw some beautiful sunsets. 11) and have a mentioned that we ate and drank a lot?!

After we dropped Shannon and Will off at the Green Bay airport, Jill and I drove straight back to Minneapolis. I've basically been sleeping ever since.

The weird building. It has serpents and scary things.

It also has these strange goad gargoyles.

Door County Wisconsin

My retirement on January 21 was rapidly followed by a trip to Door County Wisconsin with my friend Jill, Penny (Jill's sister-in-law) and Maggie (the cat).

I have created another trip video. This one is here...Door County video

Jill, Maggie and I drove to Door County on Saturday, January 22. Door County is all the way across Wisconsin. It borders Lake Michigan and is a peninsula that creates the east coast of Green Bay. If you hold your hand in front of your face palm out, your thumb is Door County.

The trip was a chance for Jill to experience Door County in the winter. Her family has spent summer-time visits here for years. Our accommodations were the same home that the Rendalls have stayed in. It is perfectly located on the peninsula right on the Lake Michigan shore.

We were able to relax, eat out, shop and hike without issue as most establishments and parks were open at least part of the day. We even ate at a supper club that Jill and Penny had never been to!

The winter weather was what you would expect....very cold. There was only one snowy day.

Maggie was a great traveler. She enjoyed exploring new surroundings and even caught a critter in the house! Her favorite spot was on Penny's legs.

This was the first of a series of post-retirement travels. More to come.

Door County - celebration of Joan Rendall

I had the amazing good fortune of knowing Jill Rendall's mother, Joan. Joan Rendall was a classy lady who had an impact on many people including me. Her strength and care and style will inspire me the rest of my life.

The Rendall family gathered in Door County Wisconsin this past weekend to celebrate Joan's life... to share stories... to visit the sites she loved... to eat the food she really loved.

The Rendalls spent many days at their friend's home on Lake Michigan so it made perfect sense to celebrate Joan's life here. And to spread her ashes in many of her favorite places.

I had the pleasure of sharing some of that Door County in the 1990's and now again in 2014.

The weather was fantastic. Lake Michigan was incredible. An east wind blew in warm water and created waves big enough to body surf on.

The Rendall clan at Cave Point.

Wisconsin red barn

Joan's great-grandson and my buddy, Tanner.

Me, Jill and Becky having a blast in Lake Michigan.

 We had ice-cream in Ephraim and a Schaum torte in Sister Bay. Jill's dad, Dave, pointed out the locations and events that happened all over Door County.

Beautiful "found" flowers