Today’s post is 1650 words, 27 photos, a 7 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the comments on the nine-part series on my travels to Ghana. It was a wonderful experience with many learning opportunities and a few challenges to my world view. The person who organized this trip to Ghana is working on a similar trip for next year. Please message me and I’ll put you in contact with her. If you missed any of those posts, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Prior to our time in Ghana, we were in Rome and Sicily, both fun experiences, check out my blog site for stories from those places.

Before I begin another long series of posts from Scotland and England, I’ll share stories and photos from this past summer back here in the U.S.

Back in North Dakota

In mid-June, after our Friendship Force friends from Toronto departed (click here to see that post), my Traveling Partner and I made a quick trip up to western North Dakota. On the way, we stopped at the Veterans Cemetery at Mandan to check on family members that are interned in this hallowed ground. I’m happy to report that Dad is still in the same spot waiting for Mom to join him. Not too far away, my Traveling Partner’s parents are still there too. We’ll join them in this cemetery when our time comes.

We checked on Mom who now resides in a long-term care facility. She’s 95 and living an active life as her physical capabilities allow. I did a couple of readings of my book at the Hazen and Beulah public libraries with support from the Mercer County Museum. I spent an afternoon at the Museum looking at the many fine exhibits including some of my dad’s antique tool collection.

We had a brief visit with my Traveling Partner’s brother. It was a seriously hot day when we drove to Medora, the county seat of Billings County and bustling tourist town near the entrance of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We stopped at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center along I-94. Regardless of the weather, hot, cold, snowy, rain, the view never disappoints. This park is by far my favorite national park. The first time I was there was in 1961 when I went to 4-H Camp. I’ll never forget the those colorful buttes, the cottonwoods along the Little Missouri River, and felt the heat of the burning coal mine. Now I relish view from the Wind Canyon Overlook and the slow drive through the North Unit of the park. I can’t wait to go there again.

We had lunch at the busy Cowboy Cafe in Medora. You can’t miss with a hand-pressed burger, fries, and a piece of homemade pie. Over the years, we’ve eaten there many times with my Traveling Partner’s parents. They liked that place with its western vibe.

Back in Door County

It was after a couple of hard rainstorms in late June when we left for a month-long stay in Door County, Wisconsin. If fact, we delayed our departure for a day after being notified by the Potawatomi State Park staff that our campsite had “some” water.  We gave it a day to dry out, it was still damp but usable. We were there only a couple of days until we could check into our AirBnb, the “Heart of the Door Homestead.” We invited family and friends to spend a few days with us. Over the month, we had 16 guests. We had a great time showing them around the county, eating good food, enjoying a cocktail in the late afternoon, and watching movies under the stars.

During one of our drives, we stopped by the Ellison Bluff County Park in the northern part of the county. The trail was pleasant and the views of the Bay of Green Bay relaxing. Door County is an outdoor paradise, there are many hiking trails for all levels of difficulty. Like to hike? Door County is a great place to get outdoors.

Rock Island State Park

It was early on the 3rd of July when seven of us drove to the tip of Door County to catch the car ferry to Washington Island. After crossing Death’s Door to Washington Island, we drove 8 miles across the island to catch the foot ferry to Rock Island.

There was line-up for the car ferry, it was a long weekend for a lot of people and they were out in force to take advantage of the pleasant weather and the stunning environment of Door County. Washington Island, with 710 year-around residents, is about 4.5 miles off the tip of Door County and is about six miles by six miles in size. It has museums, historic sites, shops, art galleries, a lavender farm, a couple of churches, restaurants, and a few nice beaches. It’s a mellow vibe on Washington Island, a good place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the busy peninsula of Door County.

After leaving the car ferry, we made our way to Jackson Harbor to the Rock Island Ferry dock. We purchased tickets ($15/person round trip) and waited in line for the ferry to depart. Several groups were loading their camping gear on the ferry, some had a lot of stuff (big coolers, boxes of food, etc.) that had to be toted to their campsite.

The first mate gave safety instructions prior to pushing away from the pier. It’s only a ten minute ride but there’s a lot of water.

In a shallow spot, the gulls and pelicans rested on this warm, pleasant day.

As the ferry approached the Rock Island dock, we couldn’t help but notice the boathouse that dominates the shoreline. The person who once owned most of the land on Rock Island built the boathouse in the late 1920s. The boathouse, listed on the Register of Historic Places, has been under restoration for the past couple of years. There were workmen on site when we arrived. It’s open to public and quite a feat of workmanship and beauty.

At the dock, the day trippers like us, exited the boat first. The campers with all their gear scurried for dibs on one of the many carts to haul their gear to the campsite, some located up to a half mile away from the dock.

Rock Island State Park is one of five in Door County and the only one that we had not visited before. The park covers the 912 acres on the island. There are no motorized vehicles allowed. Other than a few souvenirs and firewood available for purchase, there is no camp store on the island. The nearest concessions are on Washington Island. Before setting off on a  hike to the Pottawatomie Lighthouse, we ate the lunch we packed for the trip. We brought plenty of water, the day was warm, we would need it.

A photo of the interior of the boathouse, still under renovation.

About a third of mile along the trail, we came to Dewey’s Cottage, once the home of the son of the majority owner of Rock Island. Rock Island was proposed as a state park in 1961 and came into being in 1965 when the state completed purchase of the property.

This cedar structure peeked our curiosity, we speculated all kinds of ideas. It’s called the Thordarson Deer Gate. The owner of the property, Chester Thordarson, built a high fence around 30 acres to protect rare plantings from the grazing deer. This was the gate to the enclosure. About 10 years ago, the DNR was going to tear down the 80 year-old structure as it had become unstable. Public input kept the gate from being razed and funds were allocated to stabilize it but it’s still behind a fence for all of us to wonder what it is.

After the hike (1.3 miles) through the forest we arrived the lighthouse perched on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. The Pottawatomie Light (1836) was the first of many lighthouses erected on the shorelines of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes. The current lighthouse was built in 1858 and the light can be seen for 14 nautical miles. There are volunteer docents that live at the light and offer daily tours from Memorial Day until early October. There is also a small gift shop at the lighthouse.

About five minutes after arriving at the lighthouse while resting at one of the picnic table in the shade of the trees, we were inundated with biting black flies. Someone near us was wearing light colored pants that were now covered with flies. Our grand dog was being bitten by a swarm of flies. Neither DEET or swatting drove them away. We did the only thing that worked and headed back down the trail, leaving those pesky flies behind.

Our group could have taken one of the many other trails but after the fly incident we opted to head back to ferry dock. By this time, it was mid-afternoon. Yes, transportation from our lodging on the mainland to Rock Island takes time. When we arrived at the dock, there was a long line of passenger waiting for the ferry back to Washington Island. We had to wait a couple of round trips before there was space on the ferry. Once we were back on Washington Island, we stopped for a look at the famous School House Beach. This beach is only one of five beaches in the world with perfectly smooth stones. The sunny day brought out a lot of beach goers but the water was quite cold.

We stopped at the Fragrant Isle Lavender farm with its 20,000 plants that were in full bloom. I avoided the gift shop, for me a little lavender goes a long ways. The line for the ferry from Washington Island also had a lineup. We had to wait until there was space for us to board with our vehicles. It was a good day. One more state park checked off our list.

That’s enough for this week. I’ll continue the story next week.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM