Door County

The view from our picnic table at Whitefish Dunes State Park





Nyla jumping over a wave after watching Bohdin do it








































Bohdin is in the center.  It was so shallow that he was able to go really far out.




Butterfly on his head



Getting ready for the glow stick parade




Door County is on a narrow peninsula in Lake Michigan so it has a lot of beach.  On our way up we stopped at Whitefish Dunes State Park.  We broke out the camping stove and made some local hotdogs.  The kids didn't like them because the casing was a bit snappy.  I think they shouldn't go to Germany to eat frankfurters.  

After eating we went to the nature center and then down to the beach.  We didn't bring our bathing suits but I don't remember why.  The kids enjoyed walking along the beach and Bohdin ended up going in anyway.  Nyla stayed close to shore and jumped the waves there.  Then she and Cora dug in the sand.  She doesn't like waves as much as Bohdin does.  It was a nice beach but we couldn't spend too long there because Buddy wanted to get our campsite set up before it became too late.

The tent went up pretty quickly.  We were set up in no time.  As the evening went on Bohdin developed a fever.  While he slept I took Nyla and Cora for a walk.  We went down to a nearby dock and played at a playground.  Cora was having a clumsy evening and tripped numerous times.  She left the campground with clean clothes and arrived a dirty mess.  She was also having a stubborn evening and several times refused to walk any further.  I didn't take her for another walk the entire time we were there.  

The next morning we went to the local beach.  We arrived there about midmorning and it wasn't crowded.  Even when we left it wasn't very crowded but there were more people.  It was a small beach and Bohdin was disappointed about the lack of waves.  The water was very shallow so Bohdin was able to go out a great distance and never get above waist level.  Buddy built a sand castle and all of the kids helped.  Buddy wanted to find some stones to decorate his castle and discovered 
some small Petoskey stones in the water.  We all started digging trying to find more.  Cora would randomly bring stones she had found over and it usually was a Petoskey stone.  She made it look easy.  Buddy and I sorted through hundreds of stones and found a handful.  Cora sorted through a dozen stones and found as many as us.  She didn't even know what we were looking for.  

After Cora's nap we went to the other side of the peninsula which is the bluff side.  We stood on the scenic overlook and looked out over the vast size of Lake Michigan.  The kids have zero patience for scenic overlooks and just played tag or something.  We drove around the tip of the peninsula and saw the ferry for a nearby island.  We continued around the peninsula and stopped at Europe Bay Beach.  When we got near the water we noticed the smell.  I've smelled enough cow manure in my life to recognize the smell on the beach. I soon found the evidence.  The beach was covered by dried cow manure.  The water near the shore was greenish where the manure had become wet.  It was really gross.  There were some people swimming so we walked down a bit to see if it was better where they were.  It wasn't.  The beach was strewn with rocks and we soon discovered that it was a treasure trove for Petosky stones which made us forget the smell.  We found so many including some big ones.    

During the night, Nyla and Cora showed signs of becoming sick.  They had caught Bohdin's cold.  Neither had it as bad as Bohdin but it did make for a less than restful night.  In the morning the girls weren't in top form and we just hung out for most of the day. Cora had trouble going to sleep for her nap because it was so humid.  The temperature was only in the low to mid 80s but it felt like an oven inside of the well ventilated tent.  Eventually we went for a drive so Cora could go to sleep.  She finally did and Buddy stopped and picked up cherries, fudge, and smoked fish while Cora slept in an air conditioned car.  It wasn't a long nap but it was a nap.  

In late afternoon a little girl had finally arrived at the campground.  Nyla had went for a walk the day before searching for a friend but was unsuccessful.  When she spotted a girl her age she talked to her and asked her to play.  Since the family just arrived they wanted to set up camp first.  Nyla waited very impatiently for the girl to show up at the playground but she never did.  We bumped into her again at the bathrooms and Nyla asked her to play again.  She couldn't because they were going to the beach.  Nyla came back to the campground and one minute later we were all getting ready to go the beach.  The little girl never showed up at that beach but that was fine.  It was just the push we needed to get 
out.  It was windy so Bohdin was hoping for some waves.  There were some small waves so he had fun in the waves.  Cora was cold so I sat with her on the beach.  

That night it was sweltering in the tent.  Nyla fell asleep pretty quickly and Bohdin did eventually but Cora could not.  It was hours before she finally fell asleep and she slept fitfully through the hot night.  It was really really windy but the wind was high up.  I laid there listening to the wind rhythmically swaying the tops of the trees above us.  It was so windy that with every gust I expected our tent to blow away but we never had so much as a slight breeze down near the ground. It was frustrating.  It was the only night that it was too uncomfortable to sleep.  The night before I was actually slightly chilly.  

Bohdin woke me up early and I started packing up our campground.  It took way longer than I expected.  We all worked hard and it still took over two hours.  The original plan was to stop at Whitefish Dunes again but instead we stopped at a dairy.  They had a window so we could see the cows being milked.  Buddy was fascinated.  It was an industrial operation with automated milking equipment.  Cora enjoyed seeing the small animals.  Only Buddy enjoyed the milking portion.  Cora 
was getting tired and everybody was getting hungry so we had lunch instead of going to the beach.  I drove to Milwaukee while everybody else slept.  Buddy woke up as we neared the brewery but I had to wake all of the kids up.

At Lakefront Brewery we did the tour which was pretty good but ruined a bit by the baby there.  Cora was inpatient and squirmy so we had to leave early.  I didn't hear as much as I hoped which was unfortunate because our tour guide was really funny and it seemed to be a good tour.  

Buddy really wanted to check out the beach in Racine so we didn't do anything else in Milwaukee before heading south.  We stopped at our hotel room for a quick bite to eat then went to the beach.  We took too long because the cold front had already passed through.  I thought it was too cold to get in the water but Buddy and Bohdin did not.  They spent a lot time in the waves.  Nyla played in the sand and Cora did a little of everything before she became cold.



Nyla:  It was super duper duper duper duper fun and hot.  I liked sleeping.  I liked the glow stick train.  The glow stick train was really fun you know.  There were fossils in the stones.  

Bohdin:     It was really fun.  I went to three beaches and all three of them had waves but the third one (Racine) had the biggest waves.  I slept in a tent three times and we made a campfire twice.  It was just really fun.  I also really enjoyed looking for Petoskey stones.  Actually I enjoyed having them more.  They are really interesting.  Me and Nyla had a glow stick parade and it was just a super parade.  Me and Nyla both wore two bracelets and one crown made out of glowsticks and we both held one glowstick and I was leading a really long glow stick train and Nyla was following at the end.  Cora followed most of the way.