US4

We left Chicago today after a two night one day stay. Boy oh boy, did we cram a lot into yesterday. We rode the bus into town (the marina where we stayed was about 4 miles from the centre of town), went for a boat ride through the city highlighting all the different architectural styles of buildings built along the river and surrounding area, visited the Cultural Centre, the Zoo (free) and saw "Evita" on stage last night. Oops, I nearly forgot - the first night we saw the play "Million Dollar Quartet" which was about a meeting of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash in December 1956. The men did a great job with their songs especially the young man who played Jerry Lee Lewis.
The boat trip was very nice and had a very knowledgeable person (Bill) giving us info about many different buildings.

My Mum always called me a "Penny Watcher" because I am inclined to look down when walking. Well, today Mum I looked up and saw two beautiful buildings with gilded trims.

After the boat ride we went to see the "Bean", a sculpture created by Indian born British artist Anish Kapoor. The sculpture's correct name is "Cloud Gate" and it was created in 2004-06. It comprises of 168 highly polished stainless steel plates welded together with no visible seams. It measures 33 x 66 x 42 feet and weighs 110 tons. We were quite impressed with it.

Near to the "Bean" was a flower bed in which there was a castor bean plant. This brought back memories of when I moved to the States 33 years ago. I had a terrible problem with voles eating all my flower bulbs so my Mother-in-Law suggested using castor beans. She sent me some via mail from Missouri and I duly planted them in my garden. The bean is the size of a dime maybe bigger and the plant it creates was about 8 feet tall. When my Mother-in-Law came to visit that summer she asked me what the tall plant was. I said it is your castor beans that you sent me. She started to laugh and told me I should have placed the poisonous bean in the vole hole not planted them!!!

I do not know what the above flower is. Can anyone help? It looked a little like a dahlia but with those buds shooting off from underneath the flower I do not think it was.
After the "Bean" we went to the Commerce Centre and what a place that turned out to be. All we wanted was a map of Chicago and a restroom. The inside of the building had a wonderful mosaic ceiling and stair rail with mother-of-pearl inlaid in the centre. My camera could not do it justice. Upstairs, there was a room to commemorate the civil war. At the centre in the ceiling was a wonderful stained glass window and around the wall adjoining the ceiling were different plaques to commemorate the war.

When I was leaving the building this teenager came to me and asked me to take his photo. He was surprised when I said OK. So here is a photo of Jesse (I think that was his name) looking studious at a boring plaque on the wall.

Gary and I split after the Commerce Centre. I went to the Zoo and Gary went to go to the History Museum. The Zoo which required a bus ride was free and worth a visit. I took several photos but will only show you five so as not to bore you.

                                      Chicago skyline from the Zoo.

            A variety of ducks (mallard and wood ducks male and female).

                                      An interesting drinking fountain.

 A pair of African wild dogs (I was trying to get the reflection of one of them in their drinking water).

                                 Giraffe with purple tongue sticking out.
When I was finished at the Zoo I walked to the Conservatory but unfortunately it was closed. I did pass some flower beds and took quite a nice photo of a finch.

"Evita" was very enjoyable. I had seen the stage play years ago in London with Elaine Paige playing Evita. This Evita was good but I liked Elaine Paige better. The young man who played Che was great. He had a lovely singing and speaking voice.
So, that was our stay in the Windy City - named for it's politicians not the weather. I wonder what we could nickname Washington, DC!! Gary did not get to the history museum. He, instead rode the El (train that runs above the streets of Chicago) back to the boat.
We have had a terrible time with the NOAA weather forecast. It has been wrong most days so we have reverted to old fashioned ways of forecasting the weather.
The first is the "Will-o-Meter". It has four white beads attached to it and they can forecast the intensity of the UV rays. If the beads turn different shades of pink then we are in for a high UV ray day. It also has a dual purpose as a waterproof key holder.

The second object is a weather rock. If the rock is moving, it is windy. If it is white, it is snowing. If it is wet, it is raining. If you cannot see it, it is foggy - you get the gist!!!

 Watch out Jim Cantore, I may ask for a job at the weather channel.

US3

I wonder if trouble is brewing for us in Milwaukee - oh no - it is beer not trouble. We have spent two nights in Milwaukee and plan to leave tomorrow, Monday, 23rd September.
There is quite a lot to see here but with not having a car makes most places too far away for us. However, we did cycle 10 miles round trip to see "The Domes". These are glass domes enclosing a desert, tropical and show landscape. Unfortunately, the tropical landscape was closed for refurbishing. The show landscape had a nice display of "Mums" along with memorabilia from the 50s, records, and a '55 or '56 Chevvy.

                                        Inside the dome looking out.    

                                         Inside dome looking upwards.

For the "record", I thought this was a good photo of my darling, Gary. Some of you may have to explain to your children what a record is/was.

This is one of those photos that you would not normally take unless you look closer at the plant. The leaves were in a spiral creating a pinwheel like effect.

                                    This shot really "spiked" my interest.              

When we returned to the boat we saw many kites being flown along the waterfront. Some of them were huge. Being a "Peter Pan" (I never seem to grow up although I do have a shadow) or a Toys R US Kid, I bought myself a kite to fly behind the boat. I have always wanted to be a high flyer!!!

As we biked along the waterfront we saw this schooner setting sail. She never did raise her topsails, which I would liked to have seen.

The bike path also took us by the art museum building which had a quite unique design.

I cannot imagine this in the drawing board stage.

We were planning on seeing the the Caterpillar Machine and Mining Museum whilst in Milwaukee but Gary decided he wanted to get going on towards Chicago. He is hoping to meet up with his cousin, Skip and take her and her husband for a ride on the boat.

                                               Milwaukee skyline

We left Milwaukee early in the morning and were met again with rough waters. So, again I went downstairs and lay on my bed. After a rough 6 hour journey we arrived at Kenosha and stayed the night in a safe, protected marina. Again, salmon were jumping. I tried to get a photo by sitting patiently for at least 15 mins but all I could capture was the splash. Sorry, Dad.

                                       Harbour entrance to Kenosha

          

                                              The fish that wasn't.
Actually, we stayed two nights because of the winds so were able to tour Kenosha on our bicycles the next day. The city had one of the best war memorials to servicemen that I had ever seen. Each branch of the forces were honored in a very picturesque way.

We passed a restaurant very nicely decorated for fall with corn stalks propped up surrounding tree trunks. I thought that was a great idea for Halloween.

The city had a two mile trolley ride that you could take. Each of the trolley cars were antiques (which I guess they must be because trollies went out years ago).

We cycled along the waterfront to see how big the waves were and they were BIG. I took a photo as the waves ran along the foreshore wall but it did not show the height of the wave as much as I had hoped.

I continued to cycle along the waterfront as Gary visited a Civil War Museum. I passed two very nice beaches which must be very popular in the summer with nearby residents. However, you could see the beach erosion caused by the high waves of the last couple of weeks.

Returning to the marina I took the following shots.

                   I liked the above colours or should I say lack of colours.

                  This photo will help us "reflect" on our stay at Kenosha.

                                            Don't worry, bee happy!                                
Next stop - Chicago.

US2

We have made very slow progress since my last blog due to the high winds on Lake Michigan. It has caused us to stay for two and three days in Marinas because it was too rough to leave.
We did try to leave Kewaunee, Wisconsin 3 days ago but had to turn around and head back to the marina because the waves were too much for the "Rover" (and me).

I took a walk around Kewaunee (pop 2900) and found a closed up for the season town. I did come across the tug "Ludington" that took part in the Normandy D-Day Evacuation towing ammunition barges across the English Channel. The tug was originally called "Major Wilbur F. Browder" and had 2 50 caliber machine guns on the front. The name was changed to "Ludington" in 1947.

Even though it was extremely windy I took a walk out to the lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour. Men were fishing for salmon on the breakwater and you could see the salmon leaping into the air but not onto the end of their fishing rods.

Many of the boats in the Marina were decked out for fishing and some of them were over decked. I do not know how the men or women avoided getting their lines tangled.

The above boat had a storage box on the deck behind him and on it was a weight that must have weighed at least 10lbs and looked like a fish. I asked Mike, the Marina Assistant Manager was it was for as there was no way it could go on the end of a regular fishing rod. He said it was for an outrigger that pulls the lines out to the side of the boat. The "fish" obviously goes on the bottom of the lake with several lines attached.

Mike was very kind to us. He drove me to a grocery store to get supplies because it was too far to bicycle. He hopes to retire in South America when the time comes and we wish him and his wife well.
Sunset was not all that spectacular at the Kewaunee Marina as I had hoped to capture salmon leaping. It was not to be so I took a sunset shot of the bridge not too far from our slip.

Last night we were expecting very strong storms but they did not materialise, thank-goodness although I do like to watch a good thunderstorm.
Gary decided to leave the marina this morning as we are getting quite behind with our schedule. It was foggy when we left and rough all the way to Sheboygan making the journey very unpleasant. The weather forecast for the next few days is not good either.

Well, as mentioned earlier we are in Sheboygan for the night, maybe longer if the weather does not cooperate.
I have been asked how much is it to stay at a marina. The price varies and is related to the length of your boat and what amenities the marina has to offer (showers, toilets, laundry etc). We have paid anywhere from $1.25/foot to $2.25/foot. The price can go a lot higher in peak season and for very fancy resorts.
Just to prove I can get up early if I want to, I got up for sunrise this am. In fact, I was up an hour and half before sunrise (5am). Unfortunately, sunrise was not worth it but I will show you the best of what I took.

This is a view of the marina where we stayed. It actually had a swimming pool and a hot tub (both outside) which we did not use because the weather was quite windy and cool.

I could not resist taking this photo. The marina has installed sound machines and kites to keep the gulls away. It did not work as our pier was covered in bird droppings.

We have come across some strange looking boats on our journey. Here are just three of them.

This little guy was called "Squirt" and he was the local fire boat. 

The above boat was the tiniest powered catamaran I have ever seen - no more than 6 feet with a huge engine on the back. Gary said it was good for calm, smooth water only. I guess it had not been on the lake for a while!!!!

This pedalled catamaran/canoe I think would have been a lot of fun on rivers and creeks.
Gary continues to hang onto his stone. I have been telling him for years that he never likes to part with anything!!!
TIDBITS:
We have travelled 1768 nautical miles so far. The furthest east we got was at Saurel on the St Lawrence (W73.1153, N46.0495). The furthest north we got was Blind River (N46.1781, W82.965).


Kingston Rover Loop Map