Outdoor Adventures

Just got back from our second annual Door County camping trip. 

This year I made a little list of some non-camping activities going on which included a trip to one of the gazillion wineries. I don't know how I missed this last year, but Door County is famous for its cherry orchards. There's cherry everything... cherry pies, cherry juice, cherry dip, cherry bagels. Somehow it didn't occur to me that we'd be sampling cherry wine until we pulled up to Orchard County Winery. While there were some grape vines growing, the orchard was mostly full of cherry trees. So my first thought was YUCK, I don't want to drink cherry wine. But it turns out it's not so bad. Really! Especially, when it's combined with grape wine. The stuff we liked best was 90% grape, 10% cherry wine. It's only a little sweet and has just a hint of cherry taste to it. 

Back at the campground... I'm getting pretty good and brewing coffee over a campfire. The key is to put the kettle on top of a skillet as opposed to putting it directly on the grill. That way the water heats up evenly and faster. 

I felt pretty clever when I figured that out, but then...

Our fried eggs were kind of a mess. I couldn't figure out why they were sticking so much this time and then I remembered that the last few times we cooked bacon first and the grease oiled up the pan. duh. 

Ginger came along with us, but this may be her last camping trip. Not only can she not sit still long enough for a family photo, but she barked at pretty much everything. And dogs aren't allowed on the beaches which makes it impossible for all four human family members to play at the beach together. One of us has to dog sit. 

Besides splashing around at the lake (it wasn't quite warm enough for a swim) we hiked some trails and admired all the wild blooms: mostly forget-me-nots, columbine, phlox, lilacs, lily of the valley and some shrubs I couldn't identify. 

Wow! Check out that lookout point in Peninsula State park. The views of Lake Michigan are amazing. 

This time last year it was much warmer and had been from very early on in the season. The gardens in town weren't as far a long this time, but still pretty. I think next year we'll wait until late June or July for our trip. 

I think Fish Creek is the cutest of some super cute towns in Door County. I love how the little shops are mostly set back away from the main street and surrounded by beautiful gardens. 

That last shop is an antique store called Bay Trading Co. in Egg Harbor. We stopped there last year too and they have a ton of cool stuff that we can fit in our car because it's packed with camping gear. 

And so you can get your bearings if you're not from around here, I made a little map. Did you know I majored in geography? I shouldn't brag about that though, because I've been known to get lost driving around Milwaukee. Anyway, this map is at least somewhat accurate. 

So that was our 3-day weekend. Hope yours was full of fun, too!