On Our Days Off

If you look at the picture of the tugboat closely -- click on it to make it larger -- you see that it has a rope tied to it that is really tight. One end was tied to the tug and the other end was tied to the cast iron mooring on the breakwater and there were measurement devices attached to it for a test. They were testing the rope's tensile strength -- how hard you can pull the rope before it breaks-- The rope didn't break before they quit pulling so I guess it passed the "test".

We finally took pictures of the restaurant with the goats on the grass roof. The grass is very brown where the goats have been "mowing". The restaurant is called Al Johnson's and its in Sister Bay. We haven't been in the place to check out the story behind the goats.

If you click on the picture of the water to make it larger you can see the ore carrier. We were out fishing -- maybe two or three miles offshore and saw the ore carrier about 9 miles out from where we were. It is very strange to share the water with really big ships. The nice thing about fishing in the waters of Green Bay is that the big ships have to stay in the very middle of the bay to avoid all the hazards. Most of the structure we are fishing is closer to shore and unless we are going to cross the bay and go to the Upper Peninsula we shouldn't have to worry about the really big ships.

No fish caught yet -- we hear they are catching walleye like mad about 35 miles south of us where the water is warmer.

Our Campsite

We have a nice campsite with trees all around us. This is very different from the gravel and cactus campsite we had down south. Our truck is parked right across from our campsite so its nice and close without taking up space at our campsite. The "road" in front of our camp is just a little road in the camp with very little traffic.

There are four couples (including us) and one single lady who are workampers here. Our main job is cleaning the bathhouses but we also cover some hours in the office/store and some of the other outdoor work. We have a good group of folks (the others are older than us) that all do their share and we are starting to get to be a good team. Two of the couples own homes in Arizona but workcamp up north in the summer. The other couple usually workcamp in the south in the winter. We haven't applied for a winter job yet. There haven't really been many posted yet and the ones that have been are mostly for volunteers. We may have to take a volunteer job -- at least you get a place to park for free.

We have been out on the water actually fishing twice now. Still getting to know the waters and trying to find fish. We sat at a waterfront restaurant and watched two boats fishing the harbor of Sister Bay for over an hour and only saw one small bass caught. They were working it hard too so we don't feel bad that we haven't caught anything yet. It is still cold here - we've only had a couple of days over 65 degrees. It still getting down in the 30's and low 40's at night.

Big Water

We launched the boat and went looking for fish -finally. Its the end of May and finally the weather, wind and our schedule all cooperated enough that we were able to get out on the water for about an hour and a half. This is the biggest body of water we've ever been on and we were at the edge of Green Bay close to where it becomes just Lake Michigan. We had heard that the walleye were already out this far but we didn't see anything on our graph.

The water is still very cold and we don't believe the fish are out this far yet. It is strange to be on water where there are big "rollers" with smaller waves ( 1 or 2 feet high) on top of the rollers. The island is Horseshoe Island and we were fishing up and to the left of it. The picture of water with shore in the distance is the one I took from the boat looking back toward Horseshoe Island which would be between the two points of land that jut out. (you can't see the island- we are too far out). No fish caught -- I almost caught a small mouth bass right under the dock but he tasted my leech and spit it back out. Picky eater I guess.

Our neighbors have a couple of birdfeeders out that attract many kinds of birds. We can look out our windows and enjoy watching them. Jim took a picture of one of the Indigo Buntings that lives here. They are such a pretty color blue.

Door County Flowers

The trillium (in pink and white) are unbelievable here across the whole peninsula. Everywhere we've traveled they cover the floor of every wooded area. Even in the areas with a lot of cabins --if the cabin owners left it natural -- the trillium are blooming. I think the blooms last longer here then I've seen in Minnesota.

The other masses of wildflowers we've seen are these pretty blue flowers. I forgot to look up their name. We found the largest carpet of them in Peninsula state park.

We went up to Northport again to get a better look at the ferry you can take to Washington Island. If you look in the background of the picture of the ferry you can see the lighthouse on Plum Island. We had lunch at the Northport cafe and watched the ferry leave the dock. Food was good - most places serve perch or whitefish sandwiches. The perch is very good and prices at this cafe were reasonable -- especially for having a water view.

We managed to get the boat in the water at least enough to test the motor. After traveling 1500 and some odd miles on some pretty bumpy roads it started right up. The weather wasn't the best with high winds and cold so we are still waiting to actually get on the water to fish.

Lake Michigan lighthouses

We found two more of the lighthouses along the Door County peninsula. These two are down at Sturgeon Bay on the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula. The shoreline picture is when Lake Michigan is calm.

It's been a very cold spring here -- so they tell us. The trees are finally starting to bud out and show their leaves. The cherry trees are budding out and should be in bloom any day. It should be a beautiful sight because there are large groves of them everywhere.

We drove to the top of the peninsula. The road ends at the ferry to Washington Island. We are planning to try taking the monster truck on the ferry and explore the island. We have also found some small county parks on the shore that have some beautiful views of the main body of the lake and the waters of Green Bay.

This coming week we might actually get out on the water and try some fishing. Its supposed to warm up. We've bought a bunch of charts and an electronic map chip for our fish electronics that has the western Great Lakes on it. Jim has been studying all the bouy markers and what they mean because there are a lot more kinds on Lake Michigan then we saw on the inland lakes we've navigated.

Door County Camping Retreat

These are pictures from our campground in Door County. This camp is close to Egg Harbor which is less than thirty miles from the very tip of the peninsula. We have never been to Door County before but we were interested in trying out the fishing in this part of Lake Michigan. Now we will have our chance to check it out. We are just waiting for it to warm up. Its been colder here than it was in January in Elephant Butte. Needless to say we haven't been out on the water yet --- brrrrrr.

The trillium ( the white flowers behind the picnic table) are blooming all over the campground. There are also daffodils and tulips blooming all over the place. They seem to love daffodils around here because almost every house and along many roadways they are blooming in thick clumps.

This campground was originally laid out in a circle and has been added on to over the years. You can see two more loops to the left of the circle and now there are more new sites not on the map. Each colored dot is a site. There are seasonal RVs here as well as sites for every kind of RV and tent. There are also a variety of rental cabins from very rustic to park model homes. People have been staying here on the weekends trying to camp but its been too cold to really enjoy it much. Jim checks the temp in Elephant Butte everyday-- its in the 90's -- and reminds me we could have stayed there and worked and been warm.

Door County Wisconsin

We made it to Door County. We really didn't have time to get settled before we had to start right in with our new jobs. Our first assignment is helping with the finish work on the main bathhouse that is being remodeled. Jim has been enjoying seeing his "office weenie" wife do real physical labor. I was using a power sander on the ceiling, a scraper on old peeling paint, etc.

We have Wednesdays and Thursdays off so we finally got out to see some of the surroundings. We found our first lighthouse in Peninsula State Park. It is Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. There are a total of 10 lighthouses around the shoreline of Door County. I hope we get to see them all. We also found a boat ramp we can use to launch our boat into the waters of Green Bay. It seems so small after using the huge 10 lane one in Elephant Butte. The waters of Green Bay are 15 miles wide and 90 miles long. Luckily the fishing is supposed to be good not too far out from where we will be launching.

We are at Door County Camping Retreat. The campground is very large with over 250 camping sites. It is pretty heavily wooded and each campsite is surprisingly large. Right now a few wildflowers are beginning to bloom. It should be beautiful here when everything buds out and is blooming. Our campsite is nice with trees, grass, a picnic table and a fire ring. Very different from our cactus and gravel campsite in New Mexico.