Atop the Door

[muckefuck]

I think I had the notion that telling all and sundry about my Door County adventures would help me polish the jumble of anecdotes into something presentable that I could then type up here. Instead, I may have overdone it and now I've lost my motivation for sharing details here. In a word, it was awesome. From the moment Dad lost his GPS signal and he had to depend on me to navigate, we got along famously. The happy flip side to his catastrophic lack of planning is his willingness to embrace spontaneity. We arrived within spitting distance of the motel where I'd made reservations shortly before dusk, so I said, "Let's go to the western shore and watch the sun set over Green Bay." When we arrived in Ephraim, I saw that the view was obstructed by the headlands of Peninsula State Park, so I suggested trying to vantage point there instead.

We raced down Rte 42 looking for the main entrance, which appeared to be unstaffed, so we drove right in. I directed him onto the Skyline Road, which took us through a grove of beeches whose golden leaves were luminous with dying sunlight. Then the road began to climb and suddenly we spied a scenic overlook which a sign identified as "Svens Bluff". We pulled up alongside the half-dozen cars already in place, climbed out, and took up positions along the stone wall running along the cliff's edge. It was indescribably gorgeous. (Which didn't prevent some weirdo next to us from trying to describe it all, but I gave monosyllabic replies until he moved on.) When I turned back from the purple sea, I saw that a blindingly white half moon had crept up behind me.

Ironically, it was at this point that I finally had the bars to receive a text from my brother--a response to one I'd sent hours earlier after arguing with Dad about which exit to take off the Edens ("I need a sedative.")--saluting my courage. But at that moment, I wasn't envying anyone else anywhere, a state I maintained for most of the next twenty-four hours. We hadn't even crossed the border before we started planning our next trip up there. (Hopefully, about the same time next year. And for a full week this time.)

Comments

Huzzah!

[bunj.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear it all went so well. Now I'm a bit envious.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

There's always next year!

[vamapper.livejournal.com]

As a native Cheddarhead, I can say I never got tired of watching sunsets anywhere in Wisconsin. To do so while the blazes of red and gold in the trees competed with the sun's blazing reflection off the waters of Green Bay must have been magnificent. I am truly envious.