Our Blog has only gone as far as Sheboygan, Wisconsin, but we are already on the Illinois River in Illinois. I’ve left out most of Wisconsin and all of Chicago, so I will try to summarize them quickly here.

In Sheboygan, the wind came up. It was an unusual summer storm, making it impossible for small boats to travel on the lake. We are on the western side of Lake Michigan. Our fellow Loopers on the eastern side, in the state of Michigan, had rolling and breaking waves in the 8-10 foot range - in the harbors! The prevailing winds gather intensity as they cross the lake, so by the time they reach Michigan, the waves are enormous! 

Even in Sheboygan the waves were too big for us to travel. Luckily, we had already arranged to meet up with Gary and Beth Miller, our former minister in Hartford and his wife, who have a house nearby on Lake Winnebago. We hardly noticed that we were waiting out the storm. They showed us the Kohler showroom and town, a nearby artist’s shop with an amazing garden, the Henning’s cheese factory, the LaClare goat farm, and St. Paul’s UCC church where Gary works. Meanwhile, the winds raged across Lake Winnebago, pushing the water and waves higher than ever. We wore coats while we were there in August; usually at this time of year they are swimming in the water and sweltering in the heat and humidity. 

After a couple of days, we were able to make an early departure for Milwaukee, the town where Brian was born. We met a past-Looper and a future-Looper in the marina, and had meals with them. On Saturday, August 29, we rented a car and drove to Green Bay to attend Brian’s first-ever Green Bay Packers game in Lambeau Field. Before we left town that morning, we were able to explore Milwaukee a little bit in the car. We bought bratwurst at Usinger’s, found the bright blue federal building named after our boss Congressman Henry Reuss, we found the neighborhood where Brian’s grandparents lived and the hospital where he was born. 

At Lambeau Field, we saw tailgaters and people dressed in odd Packers outfits. Every single person in the stadium had on a Packers jersey. At the pro-shop, Brian bought a Bart Starr 15 jersey. In the Hall of Fame, we saw videos of winning games and old uniforms and things like that. The Packers played the Eagles, and got off to a terrible start, practically losing the game in the first couple of plays. They never did recover. On the way to the game we had discovered a 24-hour grocery store in Manitowoc, so we stopped there around midnight to stock up for our trip (since we had a car). Everyone in the store was also wearing a green Packers jersey. 

Next was Racine where we got the boat washed and waxed. It took a day and a half, and boy is it pretty! The white is whiter and the blue is bluer. Exploring Racine only took about an hour or two, but we discovered a wonderful burger joint. We sat at the counter and had burgers, fries and home-made rootbeer! Afterwards I went to the library to use the Xerox machine and to the Post Office to mail important, real-life bills. The Post Office closes for a half hour at lunchtime, so it took longer than planned. 

Off to Winthrop Harbor in the late afternoon, but the waves were calm so the traveling was easy. It’s just a clunky marina, nothing to recommend it. They weren’t even friendly and the gates didn’t actually lock when you closed them.

Finally Chicago! You can see it from a long way out.