Camping update from Door County, WI
Does anyone really read this blog? If you do, please leave me a comment.
Well, it’s Sunday morning here in Door County and we’ve been here since about 5pm Friday – so just less than 2 full days.
So far, the weather has really held up well for us. This is against the forecast we got before heading up too. It’s been mostly sunny, little to light winds and in the low 60s. This good fortune allowed us to have a campfire for the first two nights, to cook over a campfire one night and to get into Fish Creek and do some sight-seeing and shopping for the better part of the day Saturday.
Ruby and Emme had a nice day Saturday too. Here more than anywhere, shopkeepers noticed little doggies in that bag we carried with us and asked to see them. So they got a lot of attention. They also enjoyed their walks in downtown Fish Creek, smelling all there was to smell and even eating a hot dog at an outdoor eating place.
On the way back to the trailer Saturday, we stopped at the Old Post Office in Ephram to sign up for the 6:30 pm seating for their Fish Boil. We then took the pups across the street to the shore of a harbor of Green Bay. There they both got to walk along the shore in the sand and play as the water licked their paws and small waves taunted them.
Later that evening, I got to experience my first fish boil. If you’ve never experienced this, you should do it once. The boil master (my term) was very experienced and really did a great job of explaining the origin of the fish boil and it’s history in the Door County area. I got some good pictures of the process too. And contrary to what someone told me, I found the taste of the meal pleasing. We had Lake Michigan white fish, red potatoes, onions (all part of the boil) and sides of homemade coleslaw, assorted breads and cherry pie. The meal cost about $16.50 each.
Back at our campground, I have to say that while Wagon Trail Campground in the northern tip of the peninsula of Door County is the most expensive campground we’ve stayed at in two years, we also have probably the most beautiful site we’ve ever had. Back in January, I reserved one of their longest and easiest pull-through sites. We’re in site 213, right off the main road coming into the campground. And while we do get all of the in/out traffic, the traffic for this holiday is light and this site is well worth it. The site is a very large rectangle that is parallel with the main road. There is a compacted gravel (with fine crush on top) arc of a road the comes into the site and exits the site back onto the main road. The 38′ Heartland Landmark and long-bed dually RAM both fit easily with room to spare. Then we have a beautiful grassed yard on the door-side of the trailer. I’d estimate it to be 15′ x 50′ in size. It is bordered by wild flowers, some fresh plantings of shrubs etc. and small trees. The fire ring is large and includes a cook box off to one side with a movable grate. I’d definitely take this spot again.
We have walked maybe a third of the campground so far and have found that like our site, that Wagon Trail takes a lot of that nightly site rental and puts it right back into the campground. Every site had a fresh layer of compacted fine gravel and are all very spacious. Most sites here are carved into the woods. As such, most are all gravel with no grass as grass would never grow is such a shaded area being surrounded by trees. While there are a moderate number of pull-throughs here, like most other campgrounds, most sites are back-ins. Yet, many back-ins here are huge and very deep. Many of them would accommodate the longest of trailers, fifth-wheels and motorhomes.
The lodge/office facility here is very nice. Spacious, clean, well-kept and well-stocked with camp and food-stuffs as well as a lot of Door County wear. They have an arcade room and a den style reading/game room. The main restrooms/shower facilities are next to the office and are older but well-kept and clean. There are several other restrooms/shower facilities around the campground too. To one side of the office facility there is a dump station and a fish cleaning table and dumpsters. Garbage dumpsters and recycle cans are placed throughout the campground so no walking a mile to the sole trash can like in some state parks. The staff here was very cheerful, friendly and helpful. They offered to make reservations for dinners, gave us recommendations on other area attractions as well. And of course, the best tip was where to get the best cinnamon and pecan rolls in Door County. It was a mile down the road at a Swedish bakery in a lodge carrying the same name as the campground – Wagon Trail. And they did not disappoint. The pecan rolls are to die for! I bought one cinnamon roll and one pecan roll thinking we would have these with breakfast. Well, turned out these were the breakfast. I asked Nancy how they were and she had a one word response – FAT! I’ll take that as yummy.
This morning, we’re doing TV church. Not our first choice but we did find a real TV ministry that is quite good. After church, breakfast and cleanup, we hope to get a hike in, in Peninsula State Park, followed by some shopping in Ellison Bay.
That’s my report for this morning. With luck, I’ll find a Wi-Fi connection somewhere yet Sunday to send this out.
From the field,
Jim
Why Jim of course I read your blog postings. When are the web cams going to be back up? Weekend weather in PA was rain on Saturday, Nice on Sunday.
When I can, I read your blog and get caught up on the Beletti “happenings”. 🙂
Dude I read it. 🙂 Miss you guys!