Lambeau Field | St. Ignance KOA

Tuesday - 1 October 2002: St. Ignace, Michigan - Hello from the Upper Peninsula! We spent a few days in Winnetka, Illinois with DT's college roommate and his family. We actually "camped" in their driveway. This was the first time we had ever stayed at someone's house in our RV. It worked out great though, as we didn't have to worry about Snickers. Our friends have two teen girls - so Snickers had way too many tummy rubs!

We drove 450 miles today... we didn't mean to, really, we didn't. We did get an early start out of Winnetka - everyone was up and off to school and work. This morning, we didn't have ANY lights - no brakes or turn signals. DT re-attached all the connections and everything worked. I am thinking a loose wire in the cable?

First, we had to drive back to Milwaukee and then continue north, through Sheboygan and on up to Green Bay. In Green Bay we visited the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame and made a swing through the gift shop. We left without a Cheese Head! The Hall of Fame is across the street from Lambeau Field, the oldest field in the NFL. It sure looks good though, because of many facelifts. They are now in the middle of a huge expansion project. The Packers have sold out every game since I was five years old and the team is owned by the season ticket holders. I saw lots of recycling bins for the tailgaters and a cement box for hot coals from their barbeques... these people know how to party GREEN! Also, Green Bay is the same size as Eugene, Oregon, yet they have a Professional Football Team (or, could I say: they also have a Professional Football Team.)

Lambeau Field - Home of the Green Bay Packers, 12-time NFL Champions


Home of the frozen tundra that is Lambeau Field

We also went through Peshtigo, Wisconsin, site of America's worst-ever forest fire - the Peshtigo Fire. The Peshtigo Fire started on October 8, 1871 - the same day as the Great Chicago Fire. Over 1,000 people died and hundreds of thousands of acres of forest were burned in the Peshtigo Fire. Before leaving Wisconsin, we stopped at a cheese shop. It didn't compare to Tillamook, but we are out of (our) Tillamook, so we took the bait.

We drove the shore of Lake Michigan all day and entered into Michigan. After 6 p.m. we were going to stop in Manistique, where there was a campground at a casino. The campground was either closed or haunted. The casino had only one car in the parking lot. The car looked to have been parked there since circa 1998. We took the opportunity to park in their empty lot. DT washed the wind screen - attack of the Killer Black Flies - and I walked Snickers and put something together for dinner as we had decided to CONTINUE ON! Dinner baked - mushroom chicken - while we finished our last 45 minutes or so of the drive and it was delicious! We continued on Highway 2 and just up the road we found a BRAND NEW Casino, thus explaining the ghost-town! But, there was no brand new campground. We also passed a bird feeding shop cleverly titled "Bird Bath & Beyond".

And, so, St. Ignace. We didn't want to drive this far today, but in the Upper Peninsula a "full-hook-up" means water and electricity and we wanted a sewer connection so we could do our laundry (read that: running clothes). The KOA in St. Ignace offered all this and more. We pulled-in, well after dark and figured we would have to do "night registration", which means you drive hopelessly blind through the campground in the dark until you find a place to camp for the night, and pay in the morning. Luckily, the friendly manager of the St. Ignace KOA was just leaving and came back from his car to register us. We had #37. I helped DT back-in to the campsite and then noticed that the electricity was completely on the opposite side of our electrical hook-up. We had to move Goldie over about six feet and I must say it is a very awkward campsite - sewer off the drivers side, water directly behind the coach and electricity on the passenger side! Not a tall tree in sight, so we have good satellite service.

RV Park: KOA in St. Ignace, Michigan