Humidity!

After spending time in Three Lakes area we headed through Washburn and added another brewery to our list – South Shore Brewery.  This is was a nice little spot to hang out for a few hours while it rained.  It is so hot and humid in these parts of the world.  You would think the rain would cool things down a bit but it just makes it more sticky.  We can’t get any farther North and still be in the US at this point.  We might have to head back to Canada.

We had been told by many people that the Apostle Islands were a stop we needed to make on the this journey and we were insured it wouldn’t be as hot or humid as the rest of the Midwest. Ugh!  Bayfield, WI became our home base for the next few days.  This is a charming little town full of old Victorian homes, small gift shops, cafes, and beach front.  It was hot and humid but at least the nights cooled off.  The first evening in town, it poured down rain. Our hope was explore the area but all we managed to get in was a small hike because it was wet.

The next day we found the Meyers Beach side of the Apostle Island Shoreline. When we arrived at the beach there was tons of fog and the park ranger did not recommend we take the kayak out.  We took a long hike out to view the sea caves instead which are amazing!  Watching the kayaks and paddle boards out on the clear calm water convinced us that we could now put our blow up kayak in the water so we hustled back to the beach area only to find that the thick dense fog was rolling back in again.  The decision was made to have a picnic on the sandy beach instead of putting our kayak in the water.  We made a stop at Copper Crow Distillery on the way home and dinner that night was a local pizza take-out.  We used our new dining table for the first time and ate in our van!

Our last day in the Apostle Islands area was spent exploring Madeline Island.  We took the ferry over for the day and were able to put our kayak in a lagoon there.  The island is fairly small so we explored by bike.  We ate the best ice cream of our lives!!  Cedar Crest Pirates Bounty will forever be Libby’s favorite flavor!  The evening ended with a hike to the point and a sunset ferry ride back to Bayfield.

The next day was Libby’s birthday!  It started with some amazing donuts from Mannypenny Bistro – we may take a trip back to Bayfield just for those donuts!  A little yoga by the lake and a trip to the fish hatchery were the main events for the day.  After heading in to Ashland for a hike by the lake (which we do not recommend as Ashland is a Superfund site – not such a pretty hike after all) we got some groceries and made our way to Hayward to meet our good friends Alisa and Jason for a camping adventure with their family.  We celebrated with dinner at the Angry Minnow Brewery.

Alisa and Jason had already been in the Northwoods to spend time at a lake and it worked out perfectly that we were kind of in the neighborhood.  We stayed with their family at the KOA in Hayward where we had a ton of fun.  The kids were able to run and play at the bounce house and park area and the adults hung out by the cabins.  The second day of our Hayward adventure included the Wilderness Walk and the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.

Eau Claire, WI was our pit stop for the next night in between friend adventures.  We moved on  to Oakdale KOA to meet Tina, Molly, Cora and Micah.  KOAs really do a nice job of making camping fun for kids.  There was a pool and a bounce place at this one as well.  We took a bicycle adventure and ended with lunch in Wisconsin Dells.  What fun!

Reconnecting with family and friends has been such a bonus of this adventure. For the last decade our lives have been so preoccupied with running the every day business of SAME that we felt we neglected our personal relationships.  We missed out on lots of milestone things that we wished we could have attended – births, graduations, weddings, etc. In some cases, we even let friendships go completely dormant.  The magic of this trip has been in the rebooting of those connections.  There is something special about face-to-face time with people you love and who love you.