We continue to love Wisconsin! We left Door County on Wednesday morning and took the long trek (300+ miles) inland to Hayward. The fires impacted us a bit and for most of the drive, it was pretty hazy. It is beautiful country, though, with an entertaining sign along the route.
We arrived in Hayward that afternoon and stayed at a brand new campground - Nature Calls - and it was lovely. Set way back from a busy road, it was peaceful and convenient.
Why Hayward you ask? Well, it's the site for the Lumberjack World Championships and as an added bonus, it is also home of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. For the World Championships, we bought a 3-day pass - quarter-finals on Thursday, semi-finals on Friday, and finals on Saturday. It was truly amazing - the athleticism and the show of great sportsmanship was inspiring. Everyone was so friendly and we had a great time. You get the same seats for all 3 days and we met another nice couple from Florida whose niece Hanna was one of the competitors - it made it extra fun to have someone to root for.
Yo Ho is the cheer that everyone says after a great competition!
We went early on Thursday to get a lay of the land - we had great seats close to the stage and the lumberjack bowl!
We also took a lovely hike one morning in Hatchery Creek, close to our campground. It was about 4 miles and meandered through the shady woods - it was great to get out and be in the shade, as the temps were quite warm.
That afternoon before we went back for the semi-finals, we headed to the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum. It was so cool - filled with lots of nostalgia, over 1,000 outboard motors, lures, fishing rods, reels, and more. The highlight was the enormous Musky that you could climb to the top of and pose in its mouth! What a hoot!
I love the reference to Granddad's Old Tackle Box
I have never seen so many outboard motors in one place - it was an amazing collection spanning over 100 years.
Great vintage boats too - my Dad had an Old Town canoe, which my brother still has.
Lots of world record fish!
The inside was really cool, but we couldn't get enough of the ENORMOUS Musky!
Not sure if you can read this, but lots of good humor involved too!
As we were going from Freshwater Fishing back to the Lumberjack Championships, we drove by this - you know you're in Wisconsin when . . .
Being part of the Lumberjack World Championships was really an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience - to enjoy something so unique - here are more photos and we also included 4 videos of the actual competition - these people are truly amazing! In the third video - the woman on the left is Hanna, who was the niece of the people we sat next to.
Each evening started with Opening Ceremonies which included the Hayward VFW Honor Guard on the stage with the flags and the national anthem
A Wisconsin event isn't complete without deep-fried cheese curds - DELISH
The sun sets over another Lumberjack World Championship!
Thanks again for following along - we so appreciate your love and support as we adventure throughout the Midwest. We are now in Minnesota for a few weeks and look for a post on our experiences here soon.
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