Door County Photos Posted

After only being back a week from our first trip to Door County, I was able to get our photos uploaded to Flickr, which you can view here.

There aren't any photo titles or descriptions yet, nor are any of these posted to the photo map yet, either. That will be something I hope to accomplish over the next few days. In the meantime, you can still browse through and match them up according to our period Door County posts at the blog here.

Mahalo for now,
Kris.

Door County: Day 3

Saturday was already going to be the highlight of our trip, seeing that it was our anniversary and the whole reason we took the weekend off and came out to Door County, so Sunday was just going to be for relaxing and carefree. The game plan for Day 3 was going to be Sunday Brunch, a few hours at the Spa for Cindy, going to one of the state parks and having a nice dinner. Well, we ended up having brunch, and that was about it.

Cindy decided to cancel her plans at the spa for Sunday, so that freed up sometime in the afternoon and allowed her to take her time in the morning getting ready for brunch. We went to the Inn at Cedar Crossing in downtown Sturgeon Bay for brunch, which was a nice little diner where we happened to get a good table right next to the window. The first thing we noticed, while not associated with brunch, was that Sunday during football season in Wisconsin meant EVERYONE was wearing green. It didn't seem to matter about the whole Brett Farve thing (which is still a sore subject to some), anyone and everyone that was a true fan was wearing their green and gold. Yikes.

Back to brunch, Cindy and I were both spying the pancakes on the menu; her, the traditional buttermilk pancakes, and I just had to have the cherry ones. We hadn't really associated why 2 pancakes alone had cost about $8 until they were brought to the table. Wow, these things were bigger than the plate itself! They were really good, though, but we just couldn't finish them. The portions aside, it was a very lovely meal.

So, with our stomachs full, we decided to start walking (something we did a lot of) and after a trip around town, we jumped in the car and headed north on 42 towards Ephraim. We wanted to check out one of the state parks, Peninsula State Park to be exact, that we had seen on the map to see how the bike trail was and whether or not there was enough good pavement for me to rollerblade on. We were disappointed, though, that when we pulled up to the entrance, that you had to pay to enter. That sort of caught us off guard, so we turned around and kept driving.

Along our drive, we made more than a few stops and detours, checking for different views of the bay and finding a few shops to look around. We must have killed a good 3 hours before Cindy finally dozed off and I was just driving to drive. I kept heading north until I found myself near Northport, which on Hwy 42, is the last area before the ferry dock to Washington Island. What was great about Hwy 42 in Northport was that is was very curvy and empty, not another car on the road.

While the road wasn't as winding and curvy as the Road to Hana, which of course we had to joke about, it was still fun and I just may have kicked it up a little bit above the speed limit (don't tell anyone, ok?). I had guessed that it would have had a different path back once we reached the ferry dock, but to my excitement, it was a dead end. So, I got to drive the same road again, this time going the other direction. It was a small thrill, but at that point, it wasn't going to take much to keep me entertained.

On the way back from Northport, we stopped at quite a few different points just to pull over, walk around, take photos and browse through some of the stores. We stopped at Sarah's Snack Shop (although the kid behind the counter didn't look like a Sarah, but it was Sunday), and Cindy picked up her Door County sweatshirt and half an egg sandwich while I enjoyed a strawberry and banana smoothie for lunch.

As we made our way back South, one stop at a time, we hit a coffee shop for Cindy, found a nice park to relax in, and saw some leather jackets that were very nice, but cost about $1,400 dollars. That part was a little crazy. As we spent the day just wandering and enjoying the fact that we didn't have any plans, we decided on a finding a place to pick up dinner and just eat at the resort. We found a small deli in Egg Harbor where we grabbed some sandwiches and that was that.

We were both pretty tired from all the fresh air, and also the fact that I was still getting up at 5am (not going to go there). The Packers game wasn't until 7:15pm, although you wouldn't know it by what we saw so early in the morning. I, however, was pretty much down for the count by 9 o'clock and I don't think Cindy was that far behind me.

Looking back at what we had planned to do and what actually did, they were pretty far apart. We still enjoyed ourselves, though, and for our last full day in Door County, it left a very nice impression.

Door County: Day 2

Our second day in Door County marked our 5 year anniversary, so it was going to be special no matter what we did.

A first morning in Door County was a little gray, which we later realized was the same for the other days, too. It almost looks like a dense fog outside until at least 9am or later. No worries, though, as we didn't make it out the door until about 10:30am. We headed into town for the annual Harvest Moon Festival in downtown Sturgeon Bay. It featured an antique car show, music, and local merchants with tents all along 3rd Ave. We walked around for about an hour or so, checked out a few shops and grabbed a bite to eat while we were there.

Later in the afternoon, we decided to drive up north again along Hwy 42 and, since we sort of knew where we were headed this time, were able to pay more attention to the scenery instead of the map. It almost seemed like in just 24 hours, the leaves on all the trees along the road had started to change colors, with a few oranges and reds here and there. It is probably more likekly that we just hadn't paid attention to them yesterday, but it was still a pleasant surprise. We initially were headed up to Fish Creek to check out the bike trails at the Peninsula State Park, but we were getting a little hungry and decided to turn back and head for dinner.

For our anniversary dinner, we chose Stone Harbor right on the waterfront in Sturgeon Bay. There was a wedding at the resort (the 3rd one we saw that day), but we still had enough room at the restaurant for a quiet and lovely dinner. In celebration of our anniversary, we just had to have the tiramisu for desert, as we did as part of our reception 5 years ago.

Of course, after a full dinner and a piece of tiramisu large enough for 4 people to share, we had to walk it off. If was just before sunset, although you couldn't really tell because of all the overcast and clouds in the sky. We walked along 1st and 2nd avenues downtown, and crossed over the drawbridge at Michigan Ave. As we were walking, we had to keep an eye on the time because we had 8pm reservations for an hour long carriage ride nearby.

At around 7:30pm, we decided to head on over and start our carriage ride early. By this time, it was just about completely dark, and Cindy was really excited when she saw the horse. The two carriages were parked next to each other, and our horse and the one next to it seemed like they were having a conversation. We got on board, and away we went. It was a little chilly, and even though there was just two us in a carriage that seats 6, it felt like we were going pretty slow.

Neither one of us was sure where we would be riding for an entire hour since the area was realtively small, but we ended up going along the bay and through some peaceful residential areas over the course of the tour. Everything was so quiet and calm, along the bay and listening to the water. There lights lit up the shore across the water and with no other traffic or commotion aside from the sound of the horse's hooves hitting the payment, it was like we were the only ones on the planet. Very nice.

By the time we came back to the resort, it was around 9pm and we were pretty exhausted (as I imagine the horse was, too). The clouds that had lingered throughout the sky most of the day continued their dominance at night, so the amazing display of stars we saw on Friday was nowhere to be seen.

While it would be hard to compare this anniversary to last year's, it was still very special and memorable. 5 years of marriage in the book, and it still seems like it was only yesterday...

Door County: Day 1

I thought I would take a moment to recap some of the activities of yesterday, our arrival and first day in Door County, WI.

The drive up was rather smooth and uneventful. It looks like we mostly caught the tail end of construction season as there were only a few congested spots and one extended detour. With only one stop in Sheboygan for lunch and Starbucks, we made it up here in pretty good time.

We starting at the Westwood Shores Waterfront Resort in Sturgeon Bay, and our suite is right on the water and has a stunning view of the bay. It is a little reminiscent of our view of Maui, but obviously that's not an equal comparison. ;) We already have some photos that we're hoping to have posted later today.

Once we were situated and mostly unpacked, and after a little meal planning, we decided to head out north and start getting our bearings. After a beautiful and solitary drive (there were literally no other car on the road), we found our way through Egg Harbor, Fish Creek and then up to Ephraim. We had a taste for pizza and ended up at Joe Jo's Pizza & Gelato in Ephraim. The pizza was good (had to get the pineapple, of course), but the Gelato was an excellent way to finish off the meal. I went with the Cherry, which tasted just like the Cherry Starbursts, and Cindy chose the German Chocolate. Wish we could take more of that home.

After dinner, we drove back south down 57, which went through Baileys Harbor and a few smaller areas. It was getting dark fast, so as we went farther, it was harder to read some of the signs. We made it back to Sturgeon Bay and went into the Business District. By this time, much of the stores were closed, but now we know where most everything is. :)

One stop at Walmart and we were back towards the resort. Even though it had been dark for over an hour by then, we didn't realize all the stars over our heads until we got out of the car and Cindy noticed it. I had hoped the stargazing would be better up here, and even brought all my gear. It was just, up to that point, it hadn't entered my mind that evening.

But, once we say how beautiful the sky was, it was only 15 minutes before we were down by the water, binoculars, camera, and tripod in hand, ready to take in the show. I wasn't out there too long, but still managed to get some decent photos (we looked at them on the TV in our suite last night). I had perfect views of the Jupiter and the Big Dipper, just to name a few. While I was able to get the entire dipper in a single frame, it came out more blurier than I had hoped. Tonight, I fix that.

For only being in Door County for about 6 hours yesterday, we still managed to fill up a day's worth. Today is our 5th Anniversary, so we have even more fun stuff to do. With that said, I'm going to shut down the laptop and head on out and enjoy day 2.

Mahalo,
Kris.

Rain, rain, and more rain

Boy, it seems like we're getting all the rain that we where missing this summer just in this past week along. Now, I know I can't complain because of all the hurricane activity along the East Coast and the Gulf this past month or two. That certainly puts things into perspective.

It is the weekend, finally, and after my first full week of my new early morning hours, I feel pretty happy with the change and how my body has responded to it rather quickly. To keep in that habit, at least for the time being, the concept of sleeping in on the weekends now means 6:30am instead of 5:00am during the week. Doesn't sound that much better, does it?

With summer winding down, there are fewer opportunities for us to get out on the bike trails and, for me at least, strap on the rollerblades for a few hours. We originally were going to have a picnic at the forest preserves today with a few friends from work, but that's obviously not going to happen. I actually didn't get a chance to skate at all this week, but I'll spare the details on that. Cindy and I are heading out to Schaumburg today to go to dinner for my aunt's birthday, and had planned to spend time on the trails at Busse Woods before that, but that's not going to happen either.

Aside from the weather, this time next week we'll be in Door County, WI for the first time, and we're looking forward to that. I just ordered a new camera from Amazon for the trip, and it should be here by Tuesday just in time. I'm looking forward to taking lots of photos and trying it out, as well as just relaxing and soaking up the not-so-hectic life for 4 days. Hopefully it will help hold us over until our Maui trip in February, or at least until the holiday time off for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Don't know if I'll be posting here again before our trip next weekend, but I'll try to make a point of blogging about our activities while we're there.

Mahalo.

One Week to Door County

It's getting to that time of year where the temperature starts to drop (it was almost 40 degrees last night), the leaves are starting to change, and the days just seem to be getting shorter.

It was almost 5 years ago when Cindy and I were married, and with just one week left to our anniversary, we are looking forward to our first trip up to Door County. We leave on the 19th for a four hour road trip up north to Sturgeon Bay, where we'll be staying for 4 days and 3 nights at the Westwood Shores Resort right on the water. We were referred this resort by Cindy's aunt and uncle, so we have it on a good authority that it will be very nice, indeed.

We originally wanted to do a cruise for our anniversary, perhaps going back to the Bahamas again, but budgets and airfare just weren't accommodating. In any case, we're looking forward to the long weekend.


The only other change possibly worth noting is the adjustment I'm making to my work/life schedule. For the past week, I've been getting up earlier and earlier (currently at 5am) so I can make it to the office by 7am. As such, I'm able to get more work done and be out of the office by 4pm at the latest. This has been giving me plenty of extra time in the afternoon to do more than I could before, when I wasn't getting home until 7pm.

It's been an adjustment, but so far, I'm liking the benefits.


Back to Door County, I just ordered a new point-and-shoot camera, the Canon PowerShot SD890 IS, to take with on the trip. Now I just need to tell Cindy that I bought it. :)