Our travels next took us to central Wisconsin where we spent a bit of time in the tiny town of Wilton. We set up camp in the pleasant little town park, a short walk from town. These town parks are our favorite places to camp as they are generally spacious, quiet, clean and pretty. This camp spot was no different and, although the park was next to a cornfield [as is everything in the state] the bugs weren't TOO bad. Kelly got bit up a little but we were lucky to have power for AC so we could hide out in the trailer as this was probably the most hot/humid weather we had seen so far.
Our location was great, being located about mid-point on the Elroy-Sparta bike trail, another Rails-to-Trails path that runs through the farmlands for a distance of about 33 miles. It was a great place to get a few longer rides in and handy for taking Kasha on walks. The trail passes through three tunnels along its route and, on our first ride, Kelly and I encountered two of them. These tunnels are unlighted so I followed Kelly closely since she had the only light on her e-bike. The second tunnel is fairly long [about 3/4 mile] and was a good turning around point so we only explored the first hundred yards or so of the cold, dripping entrance before deciding we'd had enough.
The town was less than exciting with one tavern available for dining out and the only food available at the local Dollar General store. Canned Chef Boyardee ravioli is ok for the first three nights but loses its allure pretty rapidly. Actually, they were surprisingly well stocked, and we managed quite well.
The upside of the limited eateries available was that the 2 restaurants close by were pretty darn good. I had a burger at the Wilton tavern and it was probably the best burger I've had on the whole trip and the combo with fries was a whopping $8. We ate here a few times on our stay and the food was consistently excellent and inexpensive. There was another farm-to-table type restaurant not far away that is located in an old schoolhouse. We tried this one out as well and were delighted to find that it, too was great food at the most reasonable prices we had seen so far. When leaving, we chatted with the owner and ended up leaving with an armful of free produce from their garden. I'd been 'jonesing' for some good tomatoes the whole trip and these did not disappoint.
The next phase of our trip was scheduled to be spending some time with our friends from Shorewood, WI, Bob and Susan. We started off by camping a few nights in a state campground near Belgium, WI. Located on the shore of Lk Michigan, this campsite was very private due to the dense vegetation surrounding each campsite. This was a dry-camp [no power, sewer hookup or water] so we had a chance to give our solar system a test. All worked great! We found that we can dry camp about a week without needing any utility hookup if we are careful with water.
This is another location located near a Rails-to-Trails bike path, this one the Ozaukee Interurban trail. Kelly and I had ridden this during our tour around Lk Michigan many years ago and we were able to do a few day rides on this trip. We were pleased to see that the bakery in Oostburg was still in operation as they have the best dang apple fritters on the planet. Good motivation for a ride. Kasha was again in heaven, with lots of stick fetching on the nearby Lk MI beach and walks on the trails in the park.
After leaving the camp we were treated to a few nights of living indoors at Bob and Susan's house. Thanks, guys, for your generous hospitality ...it was much needed. We would be staying in the area almost 2 weeks so we rented a spot to leave the trailer in storage for the duration. We had to pay for a month but it was only $100 [less than 3 nights camping] and we got to enjoy indoor plumbing, a real bed and some space for a while. Shorewood is a lovely suburb of Milwaukee and has a great blend of suburban living with urban attractions close by.
We happened to be in Milwaukee for one of my favorite events, Milwaukee Irish Fest. This is held in a huge venue right on the shores of the lake and features some great Irish music, dancing and cultural displays. Bob had arranged for the four of us to serve beer for a few hours and we were entertained by the musicians playing in the tent right next to ours.
For our next WI adventure we decided to leave the RV in storage and motel it for a few days in Sturgeon Bay, WI. Our motel was [suprise!] located near another Rails-to-Trails bike path, this time the Ahnapee Trail which starts in Sturgeon Bay and extends through WI farmlands and towns for about 48 miles. We got a few very nice miles in with the great weather continuing for us.
After returning to Shorewood, we then headed out for our stay at the lake house. While the ladies took the cars up, Bob, Del and I rode the last 40 miles to the house on a combination of bike trail and rural roads. This was some of the nicest bike riding I've done in years and made me realize how much I miss road riding on scenic, untraveled roads. I enjoy my mountain and gravel rides in CO but miss road biking a bit. Especially, riding with a group in such perfect conditions. In the morning, we loaded up the bikes for all and did another great ride on the bike trails of Peninsula State Park and finished the day with some beers and pizza at a local beer garden with some entertaining live music. The house was beautiful and the company even better. Thanks to all our WI friends for making this a memorable trip.
Bob the yoga master
Lake Michigan shoreline
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