Road America Raceway - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin



Pulling "Eve" through the tunnel

 What a great experience! We arrived Tuesday, August 16, and couldn't have asked for a friendlier welcoming! From the gate guard to the office staff to the security staff, just wonderful. Lori, the Hospitality Director was supposed to be out on maternity leave but happened to come in for a meeting and helped get us squared away. Lori had an escort take us to our site since the track is so big we would have had a difficult time finding it. Then Dawn, the Security Director, gave us a tour of the track after we go set up. Had no idea that the track was so big! Bob, the guy that posted the opening on RV.net, and his wife, Kathy, arrived. She attempted to tell us where, how, when, and why but it was just too much to grasp without actually seeing it and doing it. The other camphosts, Mike and Jill, came by to meet and greet us. A very nice couple who offered to show us the ropes the next day.


Hard at work

 
Getting the hang of what we are supposed to do and it was a good thing - camper gate was opened at 3 pm Wednesday. We were assigned the blue, red and yellow camping areas. When the campers arrived we would greet them and verify that they were in the correct camping sites and had their wrist bands on. We were impressed at how most campers were so friendly and kept their sites clean.

We only had an electric site and thought we'd got enough water when we pulled in but we started running low. Not a big problem since the bath house was right across from us and it was always clean.




Our site in the Carousel section

 

By Saturday morning we were pretty much done with our jobs and could enjoy the race. We were allowed to use the golf cart that the track had provided to us as campground hosts. You don't just stay in one place to watch the race! People would ride or walk all around the track and watch from different corners or stretches since the track has 14 turns and is over 4 mile long. Our grandson, Owen had asked for an picture and autograph of a famous person. We stopped at Jim Norton's trailer - what a nice guy! Went out of his way to be friendly and accommodating!
 As we pulled out Sunday morning, we were so impressed by how clean the camping areas were given that most were there for 5 days. Here's the link to Road America - hope to return next year! roadamerica.com






We were provided lunch daily!

 



Getting autograph from Jim Norman for Owen



  

Enjoying a drink at the Patron tent



Downtown Two Rivers, Wisconsin

As you may have surmised from reading my posts - this is a wonderful area! After my hometown of Lawton, razed our downtown area in the name of Urban Renewal, I have become very observant of downtown areas that have been restored instead of torn down. This is another beautiful example of what Lawton should have done with our historic downtown - rehabbed it to a historic downtown shopping area instead of a big old ugly mall!! OK, anyway...we stopped in a place called Unique Flying Objects which had kites, flags and all kinds of other gizmos. Some of the kites were almost too pretty to fly! They also had something called Sky Lanterns which the clerk told us that on Labor Day thousands are released over the lake and it was a beautiful sight to see. The are made of paper in the shape of a hot air balloon  and a candle it lite in the bottom. The hot air of the candle makes the lantern fill with air and rise. They eventually catch afire, if the conditions are right, way up in the sky. Since we won't be here Labor Day here's a picture I found...

Sky Lanterns

Stopped in another store, Schroeder's Department Store, and talked to a very friendly sales clerk. Asked what life was like here in the winter...brutal! Snow, ice is always on the ground, just keeps piling up. And unbelievably COLD! Guess that may be one of the reasons that the houses are so nice and flowers everywhere - they go out and enjoy their beautiful summers since winter is so harsh. Bruce told her we'd found out that they call water fountains "bubblers" and sure enough the store had an actual bubbler. The water bubbles up not out in an arch. We have truly enjoyed our time in Wisconsin! If I had enough money I'd buy a house up here to spend summers here but since I hate being cold would have to leave for the winter!

Day Trip to Manitowoc, Wisconsin

A short drive to Manitowoc, a town of medium size with surprisingly large buildings. Will have to investigate the history of Manitowoc. Has the appearance of a city that was up and coming a long time ago and maybe lost it's main financial supplier, like some the the towns in Oklahoma that were oil towns back in the day. Again, we found that the homes and yards were very pretty. Flowers everywhere! Went to eat at Charcoal Grill but we both thought the burgers weren't worth the charge but better than McDonalds :-) Drove to check out the ferry that crosses to Michigan twice a day April-Oct. HUGE ship but round trip passenger fare is $120 each so we'll just stay on this side of the lake. Looking out over the lake is awesome - so large that it seems like you are looking at over the ocean, without the smell of salt in the air. On to Wal-Mart to get groceries and back to the home on wheels.

Brussels, Wisconsin - Quietwoods South RV Park

Bruce readying the grill

Had a short drive (about 160 miles) to Brussels today. Not a bad drive but Bruce thought it was a long drive for some reason. The park is a few miles off the main highway, in a country type setting. It is a Passport America park or we wouldn't have been able to afford it - $37 a night plus tax but with PPA is came out to $19.50 a night. It is a nice park with about 1/2 being season sites that are fixed up very nicely. Most of the overnight sites are not manageable for big rigs but there are 6 sights that are pull through on the outside of the trees. There is also a great looking pool that I hope we'll relax beside during the next 4 days. Met two really nice couples next door to us that we got to share some wine and a good evening chatting. They are leaving tomorrow, wish we could have met up with them sooner! Will have to exchange info with them before they pull out tomorrow.  Anxious to tour Door County!

Tour from Brussels to Egg Harbor, Wisconsin

Nobody near to take our picture together

We drove up through some beautiful county to Egg Harbor. Cute little tourist town, did some window shopping and stopped for a Snicker's coffee (Bruce decided on the ice cream, I know you are surprised :-) Stopped at the Door Peninsula Winery that our neighbors had told us about and what a winery! Free samples of any of their wines - free! I decided on the Chocolate Cherry and the Plum Loco. Then went to the fruit stand across the street for cherries. They had sweet and tart cherries - liked the sweet best, of course. They also had some blueberries, not local, but from Michigan so had to get a pint of them too. Decided on a short trip today but plan on a trip, in a couple of days, up to the tip of the peninsula which is a town called Northport.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Took a day trip into Milwaukee and had a wonderful time! Took the Harbor Exit and found that they were having an air show. Lots of people, walking, bicycling, picnicking, just enjoying the day. The harbor was beautiful with sailboats all around. The houses along Lakefront Drive were unbelievable!  Bruce noticed a market area downtown as we were driving in so drove back to find it. It was Third Ward, a renovated industrial area along a waterway. So nicely done! Flowers everywhere and roads closed off for week-end events. Waterway had condos with balconies covered with flower boxes. Stopped at Milwaukee Ale House to get the free beer that came with our $5 parking ticket. Had a great waitress, great beer, great pretzels, great fun with Bruce!