Day 23 - USA Tour - Green Bay, WI (Navy Reunion)

Overnight: Radisson, Green Bay
Sightseeing Day:
Tour Bus with USS Princeton Reunion Group to Door County, WI
- Sturgeon Bay
- Schopf's Hilltop Dairy
- Bailey's Harbor
- Sandpiper Restaurant, Fish Boil lunch
- Eagle Bluff Lighthouse
- Sister Bay (passed by Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant with his goats on the roof)
- Fish Creek
- Simon Creek Winery

Notes:
- If you go back to Day 20, I have added a YouTube video of the fish we saw jumping.
- Yes, I've learned how to post on YouTube. Yippee.

Get ready, today's entry is a long entry. So, I suggest you get a cup of coffee, sit back and soak up the busy day we had today.

Up this morning to get our "free" breakfast buffet. It was a HIKE. But, limping along, we made it.

We rushed back to get ready for the bus loading. We left at 9 AM and headed to Door County, WI.

We drove about an hour and arrived at the Schopf's Dairy. We were ushered into a class room and entertained by the daughter-in-law of the dairy founders. It was very interesting because we sat in a classroom and watched a live-feed into the area where the cows are fed and housed. No longer are the cows free-range at this dairy. They are highly controlled and all their milk is purchased by Land o' Lakes.

I wish I had movies to share, but the cows are fed by a truck that goes down a path and feeds them a healthy mixture called hayleged. The cows (called "the girls") that were eating had just finished milking. The girls are allowed to roam from the eating area into the milking area on their own schedule. They file into the milking area whenever they feel "bloated."



Each girl has a collar that is computerized. It has their lineage and everything about that cow. Each time they go into the milking area or feed area, the computer records it. After the girls finish eating and move to another area, a truck comes along and scoops up the food that remains and it is weighed. The weight of what's left tells the dairy workers how much those specific girls ate. And, as I mentioned, it is known by computer chip who was eating in that group.



The dairy runs three shifts round the clock. Each shift cleans the entire dairy. All sewage goes into one area and never goes into the soil.

When the girls come into the milking area, there is one guy that goes down the row and wipes the teets with a clean towel for each girl. Then he applies an iodine solution to sanitize the udders. Then, the girl is hooked up to the milking machine. When the girl has given two gallons of milk, the machine disconnects automatically. Then, they are wiped down again with a thicker iodine solution that actually acts like a stopper on the teet so that no germs can get up into the udder. When all girls in the group are done milking, the gate opens and those ten girls leave and go back to eat.

Well, I just had to add a couple of pictures of girls that loved to pose for me. Look at those eyes, will ya!





All calves are kept in an individual pen. No calf comes in contact with any other calf and within a couple of weeks of their birth, they are separated from their moms. This separation is to keep the germs to a minimum and to keep the cows from passing germs to each other.

All fertilization is artificial insemination. Of course, this got a round of "ahhhs" in disappointment from the Navy guys.

After the tour, I "had" to have a cherry cheesecake ice cream cone. It is made right there and it sure was yummy. Door County is known for their cherry crops. So, had to sample the wares.

Before we all left, the local Channel 5 news team arrived to interview the USS Princeton group and highlight what we were doing in Green Bay. So, I've included a copy of the report which I took with my camera while watching the TV. So, the quality isn't that great, but you get the idea. Notice Dave is all through this news report. He has the black and white striped shirt on. My TV star!!



After the trip to the dairy, we headed on to Bailey's Harbor to stop at the Sandpiper Restaurant for an authentic Scandinavian Fish Boil. Now, those of you who know me know that fish is NOT on my menu. So, I had the chicken instead. But, the fish boil preparation was quite unique and the potatoes and onions that I had were cooked along with the fish. No fish flavor was in them at all. The purpose of the fire that causes the pot to boil over is to remove the fish oil from the pot. If you want to see the actual fish boil we attended, click on the YouTube entry below.

Dave and I ate on the patio and it was an absolutely beautiful day. There was plenty of sunshine and a gentle breeze. After days and days of rain, we were very lucky to have such great weather.

Next we drove around to several seaside communities.



Sister Bay was really beautiful and quite the upscale community. There is a unique restaurant there called Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant. The entire roof of the restaurant is covered with sod and grass. A family of goats lives on the roof. It's quite a surprising site to be driving along in this seaside community and see goats on the roof!



Our next stop was at the Eagle Bluff lighthouse. By now, Dave and I have about had it with the walking and sitting (this bus trip ended up being 9.5 hours). So, we walked out, looked at the water, and walked back post haste.



We did see a unique site, though, on our way back to the bus. I've included a picture of a pine tree that is covered with fluffy seeds (not sure what they are, not dandelions, but like that). It looks like snow!





This woods scene is in Peninsula Park. The park foliage was thick and covered with ferns and birch trees.

We stopped in Fish Creek to do some tourist shopping. Most of the shops were typical seaside junk. So, Dave and I mostly sat on the bench observing the tourists (including our Princeton group).

At the end of the tour, we stopped at a winery in the area. Of course, this was a high-demand stop after such a long day. We all bellied up to the tasting bar and had a few swigs. By this time, Dave was getting car sick, so he stayed outside. Too bad, as I loved that Door County Cherry Wine! So I took the opportunity to spend Dave's money while he was out of sight, and I purchased two bottles AND a corkscrew!

When we returned to the hotel, we were not very hungry, but needed a bite to eat. We sauntered VERY slowly to the restaurant near the lobby. We both ordered the meat loaf. I have never seen such a large serving. We each ate only 1/4 of the amount we were served, brought it back to the room, and put it in the freezer of our room frige. Now, I'm all prepared for Friday night's dinner when we return to the campground.