Although I have lived in Wisconsin my entire life, I had never been to the Apostle Islands National Park. I saw online that a meetup group I sometimes hang with was organizing a trip here, so I joined up. I was a bit late in the joining, so I did not earn a place in the rented cabin, but there was more than enough space to camp. Yikes! I hadn't camped since the kids were little! I dragged out the tent, and got a blow up mattress from Angee, and decided I would glamp, rather than camp. I brought sheets and blankets along.

When I got to the site, I pitched the tent in about 10 minutes, but forgot to put the top on it - the one that keeps rain off. I didn't worry about it much, since there was no rain in sight. After a nice bonfire, looking at a billion billion stars, and a few beers, I went to sleep - keeping all the flaps open inside the roomy, 3 - room tent. With the air temp in the low 50s, and everything open in the tent, and the top open to the air - it got REALLY cold. I was happy for my fleece blankets, but I didn't want to get out to fix things. The next morning, I fixed the top on the tent, and the next night was much much better.

In the morning, our group went to the bustling town of Cornucopia, Wisconsin to start our kayaking adventure. It wasn't a very windy day - but apparently the waves were too much on the main section of Lake Superior, so our plans to kayak into the famous Sea Caves of the National Park were thwarted. Instead, we put in the kayaks at Bark Bay Slough State Natural Area - and were much more protected. We paddled through the Slough, and out into Bark Bay, where we hung out on the shore for some lunch. After lunch, we kayaked in Lake Superior, through

Bark Bay and into Siskiwit Bay. Along the way, we went up to some caves formed on shore by the wind and waves. They weren't as big as the ones in the park further to the east, but impressive just the same. My kayak partner Carmen and I had fun getting scolded because we were too fast, or too far away, or whatever - it only caused us to want to do more.

After kayaking, I hightailed it over to Bayfield, in hopes of seeing the Apostle Islands Visitor Center, and experiencing some of the wonderful videos, etc that they usually have. I didn't make it in time, and it was closed. The building, however, was pretty impressive on its own. I went back west, and met the group at Meyers Beach to hike and see the Sea Caves from above. The hike was SUPPOSED to be 2 miles in and 2 miles back. The first .75 miles was deceiving - they had built a wooden plank walkway, and even with the steps, it was an easy, enjoyable hike. The last 1.25 miles was brutal. It was more like an obstacle course, and since we all had just been kayaking, few of us had appropriate footwear for this. The payoff at the end was worth it - and the caves are beautiful from the top!.

The day ended back in Cornucopia - with a nice dinner at the Village Inn. All in all, a very nice trip with new friends.

#Wisconsin