Door County, WI to Walnut Grove, MN

We have covered a lot of territory, seen new sights and had a great time since my last post.  As stated before, the campgrounds we've been in have had sketchy or nonexistent wifi, but they have been very nice.
We left Baraboo, WI and traveled up to Green Bay so Gene could stop by Lambeau Field and get pictures of the stadium.  We then went on to Sturgeon Bay to stay at Harbour Village, an RPI resort, for three nights.  We're discovering that we need "rest days" along with our sightseeing days. Wednesday we drove up to the northern tip of Door Peninsula - Gills Rock - and visited the Door County Maritime Museum.  They had a lot of interesting exhibits, (Gene saw a Johnson outboard motor same as his step-dad used to have), some relics from shipwrecks in addition to information on their ferry system.  We ate lunch at the Shoreline Restaurant which overlooks Garrett's Bay, then to the ferry landing at Northport to watch the ferry come in, unload and reload.  This particular ferry travels between Northport and Washington Island.  There was a tour bus on the ferry along with bicyclists, a Segway tour group, pedestrian passengers and about a dozen cars and trucks.  After reading about the shipwrecks that had taken place in this area, I was not too eager to take a ferry ride!  We drove over to Cana Island Lighthouse near Bailey's Harbor to take pictures.  The lighthouse is on the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula - very choppy water.  Back to Harbour Village where the mosquito population kept us inside the RV, but we brought several DVD's, so just enjoyed a good movie.  The next day Gene did some RV cleaning (outside) and I worked on downloading and organizing pictures.

Friday we left Harbour Village and stopped at Quietwoods RV Service in Sturgeon Bay.  The hot water heater was not working on electric, only on propane.  The heating element had quit working - it had lasted 11 years, so no complaints.  The new one was installed, we filled up our propane tank and were good to go.  A quick stop at Wal Mart for some groceries and on down the road we went.  We spent that night in Wausau at Marathon County Park.  Gene has found some very nice places for us using  "RV Parky" and "Oh Ranger" apps on his tablet. 

Saturday was another Laura Ingalls Wilder day in Pepin, WI.  This was where she was born and her first book "Little House in the Big Woods" is based on this area.  We toured the museum, spent the night in Lake
Pepin Campground and next day went to the actual site where a replica log house has been built.  I fixed sandwiches for our lunch and we ate there - a lot less work than Ma went through to fix a meal!

Needing a bit of rest, we chose Peaceful Valley Campground in Le Sueur, MN to spend the next couple of days.  To get there, we crossed the Mississippi River again - still very high from all the rain - into Red Wing, MN and almost straight west to Le Sueur.  When we entered the town, we saw a huge sign of the Jolly Green Giant that said "Welcome to the Valley".  As it turns out, the Giant hasn't been in Le Sueur for many years.  I was disappointed.  I looked forward to sitting outside and soaking up some sunshine, but , alas, rain and mosquitoes nixed that, so I read and relaxed inside.  Gene walked up to the office with his tablet and played his "Clash of Clans" game on his tablet
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Yesterday we drove further west to Walnut Grove, MN to another Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.  Her Pa traveled almost as much as we do.  They had a sod hut, school house, settler's house, chapel and many items related to the television series "Little House on the Prairie."  In "Grandma's House" they had displays of butter churns, old washing tub, and other household items that make me very thankful I live in a modern age.
It was an extremely windy day and our drive here to Randall, MN in and out of rain was wearying.  Again, the need to rest up before our next leg of the journey.  Tomorrow we're off to Winnie Dam Campground near Deer Lake, another COE, for the holiday weekend, then into North Dakota.  We're still smelling the roses and enjoying the trip.