We Arrive in Kawaunee County, Wi

We left Madison, WI, this morning under perfectly clear skies and warm temperatures.  One hundred and sixty eight miles later we arrived in the village of Kawaunee, Wisconsin, on the western shore of Lake Michigan.  Through the towns of Beaver Dam, Fond Du Lac, Oshkosh, Green Bay and De Pere, we made good time on great roads with little or no construction.  Just north of the town of De Forest, however, we did get into a bit of a pickle when the GPS sent us to a dead end road. Fortunately there was a nice wide turnaround, and also fortunately, there was a kindly gentleman that came out of his house to give us the correct directions.  Thank you!

Along the country road, we marveled at the concise, ruler-straight, rows of corn.

The cities of Oshkosh and Green Bay have essentially merged.  Just as you believe that you've left one,  more buildings and businesses appear.  We tried to stop for lunch at Stevie B's Pizza, but couldn't find a place to park the big rig.

We pulled into Kawaunee Village RV Park site 49 at about 3 pm.  This is a nice park, with lots of shade (read trees with low branches!), and wide gravel sites.  Not all the sites have full hookups or 50 amp power, but we scored two adjacent sites for R&M and ourselves with all the comforts of home (oh, wait, this IS home!).

The park is sparsely populated this time of year, so we were given permission to park Gus in an adjacent empty site. Nessie just about filled up her allotted space and there wasn't any room to squeeze in Gus.  Roger was busy watching football, so Donna and I went on a ride to check out the local attractions.  Just up the road we stopped at a roadside park to look at the lake.

On the trail down to the water we happened on some wild berries and purple wildflowers.

The Lake Michigan "beach" gives you a glimpse into the glacial power that carved out these bodies of water.

On the return trip to Kewaunee, we happened upon a huge field of sunflowers. Numerous people were stopping for pictures, and we joined them.  While talking to some local people that were out for a Sunday drive, we got some pointers about coffee shops and pie restaurants in the area! I don't know just which of the pictures of the sunflowers is the best, so I'll just throw out a bunch.  Let me tell you, it was a sight!  It made us happy, made us feel good, and nostalgic all at the same time.  When was the last time you saw this……..

Or this…..

All the little guys had their backs to the brisk wind, which gave a whole new perspective to the field….

I always thought that they kept their faces to the sun, but not in this case.  BTW, that's Lake Michigan in the background! Our new friends snapped a photo of two tourists outstanding in the field...

We glanced at a beautiful sky, and bid farewell to the sunflower field.

Does that look like the Michelin Man blowing a French Horn?

The prettiest flower in the field:

One of the cars that stopped by the sunflower field was a lady in a red convertible sports car.  A half hour later we met her at the marina at Kewaunee Marina.  She was walking on the grass knoll just off the beach enjoying the soft warm summer breeze and getting, as she said, "my fill of warm weather". We sat and talked for a long time, watching the lighthouse/buoy at the end of the pier and talking about local attractions.

It's a full moon tonight, and the campground is quiet. The soothing sounds of the buoy down at the marina come in the window. I think we'll like it here!