On to Door County Wisconsin

Map of this blog's locations click this link to open the map

We spent a total of 11 nights in the West Bend area and really enjoyed our stay, but it was time to move on to see what else Wisconsin has to offer. We decide to head just a little further north to the big peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan effectively creating Green Bay, for which the city on the southern end is named. Door county includes the majority of this land mass and is a big destination spot for all sorts of tourists - us included.

The drive up was pleasant. I opted to take a slightly more western route just to see something new. Our timing was good because we drove through Oshkosh just before the big airplane event they hold each year. The field was already full of tents and campers getting an early start on the activities. We may need to consider adding this to our bucket list for some future year.

We end up finding a campground that can accommodate us for a week. Quietwoods South is a nice enough place but since it is nearly full, mostly with seasonal rigs that haven't been moved in some time, we end up in what seems to be more of an overflow area. But with 30 amp electric and water, it will work as our base for our day trips exploring the area. They even have a nice pool and water slide park that is usually crowded with lots of screaming kids, but it provides a good place to cool down in the evenings after a long day of sightseeing and hiking.

Star Trails Picture from Quietwoods Spot

The first destination is Cave Point Park. This is a county park immediately next to Whitefish Dunes State Park. Both places were quite busy for a Monday. But the weather was great so many others had a similar idea. The main attraction at Cave Point is a horseshoe shaped feature hollowed out from the side of the 20 foot tall drop off to Lake Michigan. It might be 40 foot wide and 75 feet long.

Mostly kids were coming up to the top of either side of the cliff and jumping off - usually accompanied by loud screaming.

Often the jumpers would stand there for a minute or more getting up the courage to take the plunge and were often "assisted" by a friend that would give them a push. But the thing that we found most fascinating was the young couple that had placed what looked like a simple strap I might use to fasten cargo to a truck or trailer. It was one inch wide and was attached to trees on either side of the horseshoe about 2 feet over ground level. It was tensioned with the ratchet mechanism but seemed to have at least a foot of give when they would stand on it.

Initially the girl was trying her tight wire act, but since the strap was also right across the main path for the jumpers to reach their leaping point, she was constantly being interrupted. Her boyfriend came over to give her encouragement, but she opted to let him go.

It doesn't look it, but he recovered!

We eventually tired of watching the jumpers and headed down the trail that overlooks the lake. At points there were easy ways down to the shoreline and at one of these we discovered what could only be described as cairn building training area. There were easily 100 of these precariously balanced rock creations in this stretch. Some were nearly 5 feet tall with others being only a foot. Many people would stop and build their own before heading out.

After having a picnic lunch with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan, we headed into Whitefish Dunes SP. We did a few geocaches, a little bit of hiking and even went down to the swimming beach area to soak it all in. Mid afternoon, we decided to head to Potawatomi State Park which is on the Green Bay side of the peninsula, but with it only being about 8 miles wide, it doesn't take long to get there.

The highlight, for me at least, was the observation tower. We both started the climb, but by the time I was up top, I realized that I had lost Chris somewhere along the way. I felt the thing was quite stabile, by apparently Chris' stomach was not in agreement and she opted to stop at the deck near the half way point.

Chris at the half-way point

Here is the view she missed from the very top.