The Ray Adventures: Great Lakes Naval Training Station and Door County, Wi.

We keep following spring north, we are back to daffodils, tulips and lilac bushes blooming. The weather still is up and down, oh well, it's not snowing. We've now traveled to 28 states and 13 NFL stadiums and have crossed quite a few things off our bucket list. It is Memorial Day, a time to reflect on those who gave their lives for our country allowing us to live our lives in a free country.

Tuesday, May 19th As promised the temperature has dropped 30 degrees since yesterday. BRRRRR! Gary tried to go to the Naval Museum again today, still closed. Since we only have electricity I took the laundry down to the marina to wash then brought them back to the coach to dry. We shower in the marina too, a little inconvenient since it doesn't open until 9:00. So far so good we still have fresh water and room in our holding tanks. It was a good night for hot taco soup. I watched DWTS, I'm glad Rumer Willis won.

Wednesday, May 20th It's still cold and windy, this is the day we chose to go into Chicago to see Soldier Field. We left Luci in the coach for the day to head into Chicago. The traffic wasn't too bad until we exited the freeway and came to a complete stop under an overpass (another one of my phobia's) for a bridge lift. We sat there for 15-20 minutes, they must have let an entire yacht club pass through. It's a good thing we allowed plenty of time, we found the stadium okay then finding the start of the tour was tricky. We found our way to the Pro Shop, most NFL tours start there, no, we had to walk outside the perimeter of the building, exactly 180 from the shop in the cold wind. Then after we paid we had to wait on an outside concourse for the tour to start. Brrrr again. The original Soldier Field was built in 1922 to honor those who lost their lives in WWI. Probably the most recognizable of all stadiums because of the exterior columns. The stadium is owned by Chicago City parks, any changes to the building must be approved by them, so in early 2000 when they were making plans to enlarge the stadium the only requirement was to keep the columns. To us the combination of new and old styles are ugly, but that's just us.. They actually lost 7,000 seats when rebuilding but gained in revenue by adding the suites. There is 10 miles of plastic conduit pipe under the field to keep the field warm although they've changed it from sod to astro turf several times in 12 years. Although our tour guide was engaging we felt it was the lousiest tour we've taken. We didn't go to the press room, suites and club area. We did see the visitors locker room, it had a few opposing teams jerseys and helmets hanging in the lockers including one from Seattle. We finished up on the top level on the outside, with the wind howling I got an ice cream headache, then had to walk half way around the stadium in the inclement weather. I'd hate to sit in the stadium on a frigid day, it was 40 degrees the day we went but colder than a **********. We made it back to the coach in time to freshen up a bit then drive to Larry and Karen's for dinner, arriving at 5:30, right on time. Larry BBQ'd chicken and pork kabobs. He's the perfect man. Karen is working as a school nurse so he cooks. Luci and Belle, their 8 month old goldendoodle had a great time but Missy, their 12 year old Tibetan Spaniel, wanted a piece of her. We had a nice visit, we didn't get back to the coach until 10.00.and crashed.

Thursday, May 21st. What a difference a day makes, it was sunny and warm. We walked down past the marina into the"spooky" woods. Then I started fretting about the coyotes and headed back but it was still abut a 3 mile walk. Luci rolled in something nasty, so we took her to the beach, throwing a stick so she would swim the stink away. It seemed to have worked. Lake Michigan is clear and blue and is the source of Chicago's drinking water, hope she didn't foul it up. We chatted with our neighbors from Maryland, they are in the area visiting his dad. I didn't ask how old he is, but he has to be up there in years. We had lunch at the club here on base, $5.00 sandwiches, not too bad. After we hit the commissary for last minute shopping an the exchange for more liquor. We visited with our other neighbors from Denver while I BBQ's a whole chicken.

Friday, May 22nd Another beautiful day, it must mean it's time to move on. We left about 10:00 for the 226 mile drive to Door County, Wi. on the finger of Wisconsin. There was only one rest area along the way and it was closer to Green Bay then Great Lakes so we stopped in Sheboygan for a pit stop and a quick bite at Subway. We arrived at Harbour Village about 3. It's a huge park with a waterpark, 3 pools, 18 hole mini golf, disc golf, lots of activities and many, many kids. Probably 30% of the spaces are rented out for the season plus some lots that are privately owned. The spaces are quite roomy, no lakes around the coach like Great Lakes after rain. It's the beginning of Memorial Day holiday with lots of families arriving. The whole county is a veritable tourist trap with lots of shopping and restaurants. We were amazed at the number of wineries in the area.

Saturday. May 23rd A nice day for exploring the peninsula. We drove down to Sturgeon Bay, about 10 miles from the RV park, the main town in the county. We walked along the waterfront, picking up a couple of geo caches and looked at the beautiful boats. We drove up the east coast of the finger, on the Lake Michigan side, to see a couple of light houses, well somebody must have moved them we couldn't find them. We drove down a "Rustic Road", whatever that is, we figure it must be similar to our scenic drive designations. We stopped at Whitefish Dunes State Park, walked along the beach for a while. We didn't see any dunes or at least not the ones we are used to on the Oregon coast. We drove across the peninsula to the Green Bay side to get back to the park. We went through the town of Egg Harbor, decided we'd go back after the holiday is over to explore, lots of people and no parking spots. I BBQ'd a steak I'd bought at the commissary. Tasty.

Sunday, May 24th, We laid low today, I drove into Sturgeon Bay to check out the only quilt shop in the county and to pick up a few groceries. We took Luci on the Nature Trail here at the park, about 3 miles round trip. The forecast was for rain to start about 1:00, well it held off until about 3:00 then just poured.

Monday, May 25th, We woke up to a gray day but dry, they are forecasting thunder showers later but it was a pleasant day, a bit breezy. I had to finish a quilting project so Gary dragged my things out of the basement. I was almost finished, I was putting the last of the top stitching on when I ran out of red thread. Back to Sturgeon Bay. On the way back we stopped at Door County Winery and Distillery. Gary was pleased, they also had beer to sample. I bought one bottle of Merlot, the grapes came from Napa Valley, all the other wines were from grapes grown in the Wisconsin short growing season. Got back to the coach, finished my project and cooked dinner.

That's it for this week, enjoy the pic's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam