May 31, 2013. Flowers, Blooming Trees and Mosquitoes.

 

 

 

 

 

May 31, 2013.  Flowers, Blooming Trees and Mosquitoes.  We biked back to Cottage Row today and found a couple of additional picture-worthy scenes.   The first is a view of the Green Bay, from the edge of town.  The second is a view from the road to a patio of one of the several multi-million-dollar houses along Cottage Row.  Third, another abandoned building lot along Cottage Row.  You can almost imagine a home beyond the gate, probably built in the first half of the last century.  Now, the home is gone and there is second-growth timber and thick underbrush covering the lot.  It made me wonder what life was like there 80-100 years ago.  Who meticulously laid the stones?  What caused the last owner to leave and why wasn't the dwelling saved?  It is simultaneously majestic and sad. 

Peninsula State Park rests at the edge of the town of Fish Creek.  The nearest community to Fish Creek is Egg Harbor.  Actually, Fish Creek, Egg Harbor and most of the other communities in Door County are villages, hardly large enough to be called towns.  I clipped this explanation of the village name from the Egg Harbor Web page:

There are many conflicting stories about the name Egg Harbor. Some say it was named after a nest of eggs found on the shore by Door County's first settler. Others say it received its name because seagulls nested along the shore and one could gather a basket of eggs from their nests.

A more appealing story is told in the Door County Advocate of April 26, 1862. The story indicates that three or four Mackinac boats left Green Bay to deliver furs to the trading post on Mackinac Island. The boats stopped at the yet unnamed harbor to rest for the night. While rowing ashore there was a race to see who would reach the shore first. Food from the mess baskets was thrown at the leading boat and food quickly returned. First, hard tack was the missile of choice, but soon eggs flew through the air. When the boats reached the shore, the battle continued until the eggs were gone. Everyone enjoyed the fun and the story of the battle which was often repeated by the voyagers. The harbor was then identified as Egg Harbor.

 

Pick the explanation you like.  Regardless, the villiages of Door County are lovely places with businesses and residents planting flowers and blooming trees in every direction.  This a great time to visit because colors are everywhere.  I am not much of a flower person, but I confess I am taken with the multicolored landscape.

 

During our previous visits mosquitoes were not a problem.  This time, they are everywhere.  If the air is still, dozens of them will swarm over any warm body.  Annie tells me they don't bite, they saw into your skin and suck the blood.  It is only the female mosquitoes who bite (or saw).  The body senses the blood loss and rushes histamine to the site which causes the blood vessels to swell.  The swelling creates a bump on the skin.  The swelling irritates the nerves in that area and the irritation is felt by humans as itching.  Mosquitoes are pesky little critters which have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. 

 

So, Annie says Bounce, a fabric softener, will repel mosquitoes.  She has been walking around with a Bounce sheet sticking out of her shirt pocket all day.  I went to Snopes.com, a Web site which validates rumors and myths.  Snopes says this is one of many home remedies which are ineffective.  The best repellent:  Deet.  And, the site says it isn't harmful to use Deet with children, so long as directions are followed. 

 

That is good.  Annie looks like a second grader attending his first boy-girl dance whose mother stuffed a white handkerchief into his pocket.  Don't tell her I said that.  

May 30, 2013. A Fair Day on the Peninsula.

 

May 30, 2013.  A Fair Day on the Peninsula.  With a beautiful blue sky, the temperatures rose into the seventies today.  After resolving a Harvey problem - more about that later - we put up the awning, got out the puffy chairs and had lunch al fresco.  Nice additions to outside living since our last trip are the two matching puffy chair ottomans (or, is it ottomen?).  And, here I sit, computer in lap, blogging.  Life is good.

For some unknown reason, we lost our on-board water supply yesterday.  We had water in the holding tanks, the pump was pumping, but nothing came out of the faucets.  So, I did what any enterprising RVer would do, I got out the owner's manual.  What a worthless piece of junk.  It was written by someone who knows everything for someone who knows nothing.  The author of this manual didn't dumb it down nearly enough for me to understand it.  The illustrations were tiny and in black and white.  They were so poorly illuminated that I couldn't tell which way the half-dozen water valves were turned. 

We worked at it for an hour last night and finally went to sleep without water.  That works for some bathroom jobs but is wholly inadequate for others.  This morning I awoke with a burning desire to fix this problem myself.  According to what I could understand from the manual, all the valves on the interior of Harvey were turned in the right direction.  The next logical option was that the tanks were empty, despite the gage indicating there was still water in them.  So, we broke camp and went to the fresh water station to refill them.  The gage was correct, there was still water aboard.

We were one step away from driving to the RV service place we passed on the way here when I decided to just have Annie start turning valves while I manned the pump and watched the faucet.  That didn't work.  "Wait, I told her.  There is one more valve on the outside of Harvey."  With her still supine on the floor with her head in the water control compartment, I went outside to what is called the "city water" valve.  When I turned it parallel with the water pipe, I could instantly hear a change in the sound of the pump.  "I fixed it, Annie, I fixed it!"  We had water again.

"Fixed it, my hind leg," she retorted.  "You are the one who broke it."

I guess she was right.  I am the only one who was near the city water valve.  I must have turned it inadvertently.  But, I'd much rather have the credit for fixing it than the blame for breaking it.  So, I'm sticking with "I fixed it!"

Later:  We biked into town and discovered Cottage Row overlooking the Bay.  The road is lined with old stone walls and crowned by tall trees.  It creates the impression of riding through a tunnel of green.  The final picture is me lecturing Nan on some subject, probably the viability of class actions as a method of ridding society of carelessness in manufacturing products.  She was unimpressed.  In fact, her expression never changed. 

May 29, 2013. Working Hard at Doing Nothing.

May 29, 2013. Working Hard at Doing Nothing.  The woods at Peninsula State Park are alive with new growth.  Patches of lovely, tiny flowers spread into a floating carpet of pale blue.  White, three-pedaled flowers against green leaves abound everywhere.  What are they?  I do not know.   I don't know what any of this stuff is.  It is just pretty.  A closer view reveals a cherry blossom archway is really a collage of distinct red, pink and white buds and flowers.  A lonely bench with a heart carved in the back looks out over the Green Bay to an island in the distance.  But, the woods aren't perfect.  Annie swats and fans mosquitoes while trying to remain upright on her recumbent. 

What did we do today?  Nothing.  But, we worked hard at it.  

May 28, 2013. Wisconsin Countryside.

 

May 28, 2013.  Wisconsin Countryside.  Between 7:00 and 8:00 AM the traffic on I-35 in Kansas City is three lanes of bumper-to-bumper cars.  I see the same billboards, the same businesses and the same exits.  I sometimes see the same people in the same cars.  The congestion and the gas fumes create a tunnel for the imagination and my thoughts turn to duties and daily chores. 

But, in the countryside of Wisconsin, fields and homesteads roll away from the highway carrying my imagination with them.  Abandoned homesteads create wonder at who lived there.  What were their lives like?  What filled their days and nights?  Occupied farms appear fresh and attended.  Farmers and ranchers use modern equipment to feed America.  Freshly worked fields tell a story of an innovative and energetic population dedicated to family, work and country. 

We are in Peninsula State Park following two days of traveling through the restful countrysides of America.  Today the skies will clear and the temperature will be in the seventies.  We are ready to work hard at doing nothing.  I predict success. 

May 27, 2013. On the Road to The North Woods.

 

 

May 27, 2013.  On the Road to The North Woods.  We are off.  Our destination is the North Woods by way of Door County, WI and Mackinac Island, MI.  The plan, subject to revision and fine tuning, is to spend a week in Door County, a night or two in McLain State Park then on to Mackinac.  After Mackinac, we will turn north and enter Canada near Sault Ste Marie, then cling to the coast of Lake Superior until we reenter the United States at Duluth, MN.  We will be out about four weeks.  Of course, the good thing about free-ranging is that you can change directions on a whim.  We are nothing if not whimsical.

 

We got a late start today and found ourselves near Cedar Rapids, IA about quitting time.  We are in Palisades-Kepler State Park on the Cedar River.  The river is running full, but we are up-hill from it, so we are dry.  We had linner (half lunch and half dinner, usually taken in the mid-afternoon) at the Ox Yoke Restaurant, part of the Amana Colonies.  The Colonies were settled by immigrants from Germany in the 19th Century.  There are seven colonies which are inhabited by descendants of the founders.  They are a hard-working, good-cooking bunch. 

 

It began to rain this morning before we left.  I attached the bike rack in the rain, getting wet in the process.   The rain continued until we reached Des Moines.  The rain was attended by a strong cross-wind.  Harvey wanted to weave from shoulder to center line for the first hundred miles.  It has a high profile which makes it harder to steer in cross-winds.

 

Today is Memorial Day so I think of my father who was a medic during World War II.  I don't know if he ever fired a gun, but he didn't need to in order to prove his courage.  He was awarded the Purple Heart and a Silver Star for his bravery during an exchange with German soldiers in France.  Several American infantrymen were wounded in a clearing near a railroad track.  Dad went over the embankment to administer aid despite incoming fire.  He saved their lives and was wounded himself in the process. 

 

Dad rarely talked about the war.  That was typical of his generation.  They did their duty, then came home to work and raised their families.  I know what I know about his bravery from frayed and browning newspaper clippings.  A  man who will put his own life in danger to save others is a hero.  My dad was a hero.  So, on this day, I remember him and the millions of other Americans who are now recognized as "The Greatest Generation."  He left a legacy of courage and obedience to duty which makes be proud to be his son.  I will not forget.

 

Tomorrow, we will finish the drive to Door County and stay in Peninsula State Park.  There, we will stay for the next week.  There will be biking, pie eating and relaxing.  I plan to relax and enjoy time without demands.  Thank you, Lord.