High Cliff State Park and The Wolf River

After leaving the Nicolet Forest, we drove to Appleton, Wisconsin, Brian and Gary live right on the Fox River in Appleton. But since we are in our travel trailer and traveling with Mouse, we decided to stay at High Cliff State Park, on the shores of Lake Winnebago, about 20 minutes from Brian and Gary.

If you look closely, you can see we were on quite a slope, in fact on the top of a mound. it sloped down in all directions. It was so bad, in order to get level we had to go to a nearby Walmart and buy two sets of blocks. But, once finally level, we realized the front was so high off the ground that the tent room could not be set up.

After getting set up, we went to Brian and Gary’s for Ribs. Brian makes the best ribs! IT was a nice evening, including a dip the hot tub.

The next night they came to our camp for dinner. Although there were some bugs, the mosquitoes were manageable. We went to a local store and and bought already assembled, read to cook, shish-kabobs. They were great and Bill even cooked them on the camp fire ring, using real wood. Of course, it only took $15 of wood to get the coals just right. They were perfect. This is something that I definitely can not do. Propane yes, wood, not so much.

Highcliff is a very nice state park on the shores on Lake Winnebago. We were close to Appleton, so it made spending time with Brian and Gary easy.

These last two were taken on a bike ride, high up on the cliff overlooking Lake Winnebago. The good news is just after the ride, I went to a salon and had a much needed grooming appointment: hair, mustache, goatee. Etc. Much better now.

Highcliff also had a marina and swimming beach down at lake level.

After three nights at Highcliff, all four of us drove out to the Wolf River about 20 miles west of Brian and Gary. We are spending 5 nights at Hahn-A-Lula Resort, right on river.

While Brian and Gary are sleeping on their boat, at Anchor Point Marina, less than a mile away.

Bill and I are with the boat in the background.

Our plan for the 4th were to spend the day on the boat at an area on Lake Poygan called The Silos, because of the nearby farm. The day was beautiful and the very quick ride over was fun. The boat can go quite fast and Brian opened it up.

Once there, we spent the day with other boaters in the fairly shallow water. It as a fun and relaxing day.

After a while in the water and sun, and after having eaten lunch, I was ready for a nap.

Brian also took a nap inside the boat. Bill was reading his book and Gary just chilling out. I woke up and noticed some ominous clouds heading our way. I woke Brian and asked him to come up and look. He decided it was time to go. But by the time we were free from the two other boats that we were tied up with, the storm was on us.

We could not get the windows snapped into place, so Bill, Gary and I just held them down as Brian headed back to the marina.

Just as quickly as it arrived, the storm passed and left us a beautiful gift.

You can barely see it, but there was a very slight 2nd rainbow.

We made it back safely. Even though it was a potentially dangerous situation, I felt comfort in the sturdiness of the boat and the Brian’s boating skills. It will be a 4th to remember.

Last night, we drove to Rustic Woods for a Wisconsin Fish Fry. Huge portions, great food, fun atmosphere. But, look at what they are planning today.

Check out 4th of July Weekend, Saturday!

We have two more nights here. I hope to get time for a bike ride. Today we are going for a bag boil breakfast. Brian promises, “no brown eggs!”

We are enjoying our time with Brian and Gary, but are also looking forward to heading toward home.