Unexpected Awakening

August 1, 2026

Yes, I grew up on a farm so I shouldn’t have been surprised. But I was anyway. On our farm we only had cows and cats, not chickens. And certainly not roosters. . . that crowed in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!!

We were jolted out of a deep sleep to a robust “cock-a-doodle-doo” or two just outside the van window in the wee hours of our second day of our trip north. But we were so tired, we fell back asleep quickly. But then around 5am he started again and didn’t quit.

And so, we rubbed our sleepy eyes, grabbed a drink out of the fridge and hit the road again.

It was a foggy morning, and we didn’t have much of a signal on our phones. But we soon found a highway and after a few hours we were ready for breakfast.

We found ourselves in the gorgeous historic town of Port Washington, Wisconsin, home to 13,000 residents. We stopped at an interesting old multi-level building which housed Java Dock Café and ate a quick bite and got Terry some strong coffee.

Heading north out of town we noticed an extremely large construction site and wondered what it was going to be. Of course, I checked google and found out a huge data center was being built there. This made me very sad that such a beautiful town was going to have such a large eyesore right next to it.

A bit further up the road, since we were in the area, we agreed we had to stop at Lambeau Field. Terry wanted to put his Chiefs shirt on for the photos, but he refrained LOL!

And a couple of hours later we arrived at Peninsula State Park, which was to be our home base for the next 3 days. We had some time to kill before we could check-in to our campsite, so we visited Eagle Bluff Light House, built in 1868, which is inside the park. We were a little disappointed by its lack of height and the fact that visitors are not allowed to go to the top of it. But it felt good to stretch our legs after the long drive.

We then checked out Nicolet Bay Beach, which was packed with lots of interesting families, enjoying the bright sunny day. And when we saw the food trucks next to the parking lot, we decided we had to try their huge brats with kraut and spicy mustard. Delish!

After a hot steamy shower at the shower house (there was very little ventilation, unfortunately), we found our spacious wooded campsite and parked. Exhausted, we were asleep by 8:30.

We were amazed by what we found just up the road the next morning! Tune in tomorrow to find out what it was!