Headed off to Richard Bong State Park for the "Labor Day weekend show" (bonus points if you can name the song & singer), we got the car loaded down with Nikki as well and e set off to met Tammy, Jeff, Georgia, Joey and Herbie, at this scenic and beautiful park. Kenosha Wisconsin!!
The trip down, to our surprise, was uneventful as the good folks of Wisconsin suspended all road work until after Labor Day. The roads were great and we made the journey down without a hitch, as they say. You have to love Wisconsin where when you ask for directions they say things like " Go down the road here a bit till the road bends the curb around and then at the stop and go light, turn left and the store she's right there. have a great day, oh sure you betcha ya!" We made one quick stop at Target and made it to the park in about 6 hours and with enough light left to set up camp. Tammy and Jeff were right behind us and after we set up camp, the real reason for getting there early.... the Friday Night Fish Fry, another great thing about Wisconsin!Driving around the country side in the dark with directions to the Eagle INN Supper club, we were super excited. Then the first problem ...the road you need to take is closed so you need to "go down this way till the road, well she stops and then you need to follow around this way a bit till road you she keeps going and the supper club will be around there ya know". We never found the Eagle Inn, however we did find the local Sports Bar that had a big Neon sign that said " Come for the fish and stay for the volleyball" our kind of place! The security guard at the front door took one look at this crew and got us a special table where he could keep an eye on us. The kids loved the place, Jimmy however was giving this big, over served guy a hard time about the Brewers and Packers to the point where the security guy was inching a bit closer to our table. All in all it was a great time but we never did get to see any volleyball.
Saturday was all about exploring the park. The kids went to the morning art and nature class while Tracy took a hike around with Nikki to get the lay of the land. The park, it turned out, has a great swimming beach which was on the agenda for that afternoon. It was warm and muggy with impending doom being broadcast via the weather channel. If I could for just a moment, make a point of reference.... Here we were in the middle of 16,000 acres of beautiful Wisconsin parries and forestland looking at Jeff's Ipad2 watching the weather channel, really. Technology has it place and I guess watching a storm brewing in the woods could constitute a good reason, maybe. Anyway we headed into town to gather some supplies and while the storm sirens went on, the sky was midnight dark and the lightening was spectacular. We had lunch in camp and as the first wave of rain rolled in we headed into the only real oasis around, the bowling alley!
We waited out the storm , the kids had a ball (no pun intended) and Billy was able to perfect his bowling form. I felt a bit sorry for the owner of the alley as the lanes we were bowling on are no longer flat but more rolling like a rolling road, from the kids not so gently throwing the ball toward the pins, everyone was able to get a strike or spare so from that point well worth it!Back to camp... where we had dinner, started a camp fire and were able to have a nice and somewhat dry night. The heat had broke so the sleeping was great and the rain added a nice and soothing pitter patter on the tent.
Sunday was a great weather day, no rain and all sun. We headed off to the "find the slither and slim program" however due to a bit of a late start and perhaps the weather the day before, the program seemed to be cancelled, no matter tot his hardy group it was off to take over the playground/ jungle gym at the beach. The kids got involved in some kind of obstacle course complete with rules only kids understand and after a couple of hours it was a tie for first place. That was enough so it was time for lunch. Then an afternoon at the beach wear there were several shark attacks and the kids had a blast playing "Jaws". Link below for Jaws - Kenosha Scenes 1-3.Then we headed back to town to watch the water ski show, featuring kids from 8-18. The lake was super windy creating waves to which challenged the best skiers, however the show went on.
It was pretty cool to see these up and coming water ski show superstars, pull off the pyramids, double trick ski exercises and group ski trick among the winds and the waves, impressive. They even had a jump, the kids were most impressed by that, as we were!
That night we had the traditional family Chalupa meal and shared our favorite summer vacation stories. It was hard to believe that the summer was drawing to an end and there was so much we were thankful for. Monday we packed up made plans for a Thanksgiving Extravaganza and we all headed home with butterfly's in our stomach because...."tomorrow was the first day of school!"
