Sunday: Eau Claire to Prairie du Chen Wis

The story of our trip continues with another promising day beginning with a heavy dew on the sleeping cars in the parking lot of the Country Inn and Suites of Eau Claire.  We discovered later the dew was supplemented by the landscaping sprinklers...some poor planning on the part of the hotel management to get their guests cars all wet overnight.

Boyles and Koenig cars asleep

Hahn and Kneisley cars asleep
 

 

The route was mainly southbound so the sun was in our face most of the day but with a few clouds the sun beams were tolerable.  Good that I put sunscreen on today though.

 

Some 40 miles later we got our first glimpse of the mighty Mississippi River.

And moments later we saw this Morgan and several other Brit cars parked on the street in Alma, Wisconsin....

 so we pulled in to investigate

 

The Morgan, we discovered belonged to Tom Politski who is the editor of the Minnesota Mania Morgan Club newsletter.  I met him in Arizona a year or two ago. He caught up with us and was delighted to have run across the wandering Morgan Pub Crawl.  Nice chap and fun to talk to.   His 1986 Plus 4 is still propane powered as it was when it was delivered to him new in 1986.  All of the Brit cars were in town for a hill climb event yesterday.  After a night of frivolity they were having a group breakfast before returning to their respective homes.

Tom Politski and Sally

 

 After our chance meeting with the Brit car owners we went up to Buena Vista city park to get a better perspective of the river.

Looking south from Alma, Wis.

Looking north from Alma, Wis

The Dam and lock at Alma, Wis

 

 And the opportunity to get a keepsake photos

Gary and Sally

Bob and Missy

 Barn quilts are everywhere here in Wisconsin... a colorful touch to old and new barns alike.  

Further down the Mississippi the river gets wider and wider

 

 

 

We are staying in Prairie du Chen Wis. tonight and after a short Noggin' most of us went to dinner at a nearby restaurant where they served what I thought was an Ohio dish.... Walleye.  Very good, indeed. 

 

Tomorrow we cross the river into Iowa for the trip to La Claire, a suburb of Davenport. 

Saturday: Egg Harbor to Eau Claire, Wis.

Our objective today was a drive from Egg Harbor to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  No special sightseeing objectives other than 250 miles of mostly four lane divided highway across the middle of farm country.  The day was clear and temperatures in the middle to upper seventies-- another perfect day for our tour.

The morning was cool with a heavy dew.

Glad we packed lots of micro fiber rags....

The nice surprise of the day came at breakfast.  When we pulled in with three Morgans to a small family restaurant in Dykesville, just a few miles south of Egg Harbor a distinguished chap named Roy Stumpf rolled up on his high caliber bicycle.  He knew Morgan cars and chatted a bit.... and we invited him to join us for breakfast.  He said he has put 11-thousand miles on the bike.  Not bad for a fellow on one side or the other of 80 years old. 

Of course the conversation turned to our cars, then HIS... seems he had some cars too.  And he invited us up to see his garage after breakfast.... a mile or so up the road.  He cycled up and we followed.

We were impressed with his unique log cabin.... er, house on the bay and the adjacent garage.

A few of his cars were stored here, as well as a fully equipped shop.  He said he has other cars stored in several garages and buildings around town. 

The highlight of the collection  to us was this beautiful Allard K2. 

This Allard was owned originally by the owner of Niagara Power.  Roy knows it is a very valuable car and preserves it in its original state.  Twin four barrel carbs with Edmonds induction and manifolds on a Lincoln engine.

And this Allard embossed leather jacket casually draped across the seat of the car. 

 

 

Also this Chevy pick-up with a Corvette engine is more representative of the collection of resto mod cars.... restored bodies with high powered engines.

 

His current hot rod project was purchased a bit ago. He explained it was a show car with no wiring, and did not run, but it sure looked impressive with etched metal everywhere.... even on the fully polished and chromed under carriage.  He is working to make it a drivable roadworthy car.

Roy was gracious enough to have us gather in front of his house for a group picture.  We are grateful for this outstanding opportunity to get to know him and his wonderful collection of outstanding cars.  Thanks Roy!!!

 

Meanwhile, Bob and Missy McKenna found some scouts to enjoy their car.   It is great fun to share our Morgan's with young people.

Very interesting bridge over the Fox River in Green Bay. 

The Great Dane restaurant in Wausau was a good place to stop for lunch.

And the McKenna's made a beer stop at Leinenkugel's brewery gift shop.

Arriving in Eau Claire, everyone eventually collected in the Country Inn's and Suites breakfast room for a Morgan Noggin....

To decide where to go for dinner.   Of course the guys sit on one side,

 

And the gals on the other side. 

It was decided to order carry out.

More travel tomorrow, to Prairie du Chen 

Friday: Playing in Door County, Wisconsin

Today we get a free day for local touring in Door County, Wisconsin.  If you look at a map (see yesterdays post) you will notice what looks like a spout on a tea pot to the north east.  The whole peninsula is Door county and Egg Harbor is but one of many small towns here.... named for a nest of duck eggs.  One legend claims the "Battle of the Eggs" is where the town name came from.  Seems a group of Green Bay men supposedly sailed into the harbor in 1825 and engaged in an egg-throwing fight at what is now the location.  Boys will be boys.

Now, back to the events of the day.

 

The Landmark resort in Egg Harbor is one of the finest places we have stayed on any of these trips.  Snuggled in the woods just south of the small city, high on a bluff over looking Green Bay (the bay, not the city).   Our unit is in the Horizon Lodge, one of three similar lodges side by side, all part of the resort. 

A leisure start today with a target of leaving for breakfast in town at 8:30.  We finally got away about 9 and found this neat bistro/restaurant downtown.  They accommodated our group and put us in a separate room.

 

About 10 we headed north on the peninsula to the northern most point, where a ferry service runs to the nearby islands that stretch toward the confluence of Green Bay (the bay, not the city) and Lake Michigan.

Reg and Charlotte at the ferry terminal.

and Myron

Some interesting twisty roads on the way to the ferry terminal.

Most of the land here is used for resorts or shopping, vacation homes or cherry groves and apple orchards.   Here is a newly planted apple orchard.  Honey Crisp seems to be the popular apple variety of the day.

 

 

 We stopped at a fruit stand to buy some apples for a snack and sure enough, an admirer zeroed in on Myron's Morgan. 

Cana Island lighthouse overlooking Lake Michigan, keeping watch for over 140 years, now a popular place to visit while in Door County.  There are several very interesting lighthouses along the shoreline of Door County.

Lake Michigan from the lighthouse grounds.

The shore of the lake, rocky and hard packed sand.

 

Additional photos from Missy McKenna and Vernon Campbell...


A miniature library along the way....take one, leave one in Ellison Bay.

The Campbell's in front of the faux lighthouse at Sister Bay  Vern tells me the lighthouse was built as a memorial for someone.

Al Johnsons Swedish restaurant in Sisters Bay.  With grass on the roof, and live goats up there.  And the cut outs are painted with the different Scandinavian country flags.

 

Here's how the goats get up on the roof.

 

Missy with a Dalek, from the Dr. Who TV series, as displayed in a local store.  Dr. Who is a  BBC series. 

The town of Fish Creek has a very nice beach, here the Campbell's and McKenna's enjoy this perfect day.

 

On the way back to the resort we discovered Art Kampschafer deep into the inner workings of his Morgan transmission shift linkage... the car was stuck in reverse.  Reg came to the rescue with a tool no one else would have thought to pack.  Art now can go forward, but Patsy will have to be his reverse gear until he gets back to Texas. 

The view of Green Bay from our Egg Harbor resort deck.

And tonight is Game night.  The Campbell's treated our group with refreshments and the gang played a game called Scatagory. Fun with words.

 

After the games, we were treated to a super sunset.

Tomorrow, more fun with cars as we drive to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.