Heading south

Saturday night we stayed at the Oak Lake Campground in Fair Oaks, IN.  It is a very large campground with a small lake for swimming and lots of activities for the kids. Lots of tent sites. It is far enough from the interstate so that the traffic noise is minimal.

Remains of Model T discovered when campground was built

Campsite at Oak Lake CG

Sunday we drove to Renfro Valley, KY.  We bypassed Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Lexington with very little traffic but traffic on I-75 south of Lexington, KY was heavy.  We stayed in a very nice KOA in Renfro Valley.  There is a music theater in Renfro Valley and there was a large crowd there, we later learned that Merle Haggard was playing there that night.
Monday we drove to Pigeon Forge to spend a few days before heading home.  The temps are only in the 80's so the transition back to the heat and humidity has not been as bad as I feared.
Reg gas was $3.14/gal in some places in Tennessee.

Parting Shots

Friday morning Bob, Tom, Maureen, Nancy and I played golf again.  It was cool and very foggy and at times we could not see more than 75 yards, so we just hit the ball and hoped we could find it.
Friday night we had our farewell dinner at the Log Den restaurant.

This morning we said our goodbyes and headed south to the heat and humidity.  We had a very nice drive along the coast of Lake Michigan until we got to Chicago.  We had planned to take the I-294 loop but our TOM TOM said there was a traffic delay and told us to take I-94 through the middle of town, BIG MISTAKE.  The traffic was stop and go for miles and we were running low on fuel so we had to exit the freeway. After filling up I realized that I could not get back out of the filling station the same way I came in and had to exit on a very narrow street that took me several tries to negotiate with the trailer.  Before we could work our way back to the freeway a heavy line of thunderstorms made the traffic even slower than before.  It ended up taking us another hour to get out of Chicago.
At least the rain kept the temperature down so we don't have to face the heat for another day.
Gas was $4.50/gal for premium in Chicago.

Hazy skies over Chicago

Storm's a-coming!

Lazy Day

The forecast called for rain today so we just stayed in camp and read and played dominoes. The rain  never materialized but it was cloudy and cool with temps in the 60s.

Fish Boil

Wednesday I played golf with some of the guys then the group went out for dinner that night in Fish Creek.  The local specialty is a "Fish Boil" where they put potatoes, onions and fish in a large pot and cook it over an open fire until it boils over. I did not try it but everyone who did said it was very good.

For the grand finale they throw a can full of lighter fluid on the fire

The fire is supposed to burn off the fish oil but I think they just do it for effect

Gumbo Day

Tuesday some of the group went on a chartered fishing expedition so most of us just stayed in camp.  James and Yvette, our friends from Louisiana, made gumbo for everyone for lunch so Nancy spent the morning baking desserts.

Ken and Yvette survey the table while I stuff my face

mmmmm good!

Too many desserts to choose - oh well just try them all

After early morning rain it cleared off and turned out to be a nice day.   After lunch we played dominoes and then I took a bike ride to the coast.

Washington Island

Despite some gloomy weather we took the ferry to Washington Island today.

Waiting to board

This loaded semi made the other riders a little nervous

Almost loaded

The group is anxious to go

Next ferry coming into port

Leaving port

 Got to see a some lighthouses on the way over to Washington Island.

Pilot Island Lighthouse

 Pilot Island, seen above, is the roost for thousands of cormorants which have killed all the trees on the  island with their droppings. We were several miles away so the photo is not that sharp.

Plum Island Range Lights

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Washington Island port

Ferry cargo

Old schoolhouse - now art store and museum

Small private museum with lots of neat stuff

Interesting vertical log construction

Pebble beach?

We are in heavy coats and someone was swimming

A farm museum

This picture is for Megan

One room log house that was home for family of 7

Timber frame barn

Yoda is ready to go - get the horses

Old farm house

Yoda samples the local brew, bitters.

Yoda gets a little silly after too many bitters.

Reproduction of medieval Norwegian church

Timber framed without nails

Inside the church

Lavender farm

 Despite the off and on showers and cool temps we had a great day.