A Very Nice Distraction

Eric and I had planned a little getaway weekend with Keela for this past weekend several weeks ago, but since the unexpected happened, we knew we needed to get the hell out of the house and take some time to grieve.

So we headed out on a Wisconsin adventure on Saturday morning. We drove to a nice state park with a lake and lots of trails outside of Madison. We hiked around and found the smallest chapel built in 1857 on the top of a bluff. The colors and weather were gorgeous. (Side Note: our camera does no justice in capturing the colors and feel of the scenery.)

We tooled around the city and the University of Wisconsin, and have plans to go back another time for a hockey game. The campus is huge, and really cool, with a ton of frats/sororities/buildings sitting right on a huge lake in the middle of the city. It definitely is a laid back college city.

Then we headed northeast, to the tiny village of Sheboygan Falls, where we stayed in a bed and breakfast. It was very nice, relaxing, and quaint. Eric had a bouquet of flowers in the room with the most touching note "from" Keela. I still tear up thinking about it.

On our drive through central Wisconsin, we passed many o' wind farms. They are a new obsession. I'm ready to buy some land and harness some wind.

We headed to Kohler the next morning to check out the city of faucets. Not really, but the village is the headquarters of Kohler Company, and like Sheboygan Falls, another cute town with sprawling estates, horses, trees, etc. On the other side of Kohler, is Sheboygan, which is right on Lake Michigan. We stopped to watch all the surfers out on a windy morning. I guess there is a big surfing competition there in the summer time... and Corona even sponsors it!

North of Sheboygan is a world class golf course, called Whistling Straits, where the 2010 PGA Championship will be played. There are two courses, both look amazing, but be ready to hand over your mortgage payment to play. The wind was blowing so hard that I felt so sorry for an older couple heading out to play. She probably shot a 200.

Eric under his Irish flag.

When we finally decided to start heading the direction of home, we stopped in Port Washington, another lakeside community right north of Milwaukee, known for the historic buildings and lighthouse right on the water. We found a cool little park on a bluff overlooking the beach.