First Day of Door County Wonders

The air quality was forecast to be in the "very unhealthy" category, but we really wanted to explore Door County. It wasn't good that we realized that most of the things we wanted to do in this county were outdoors. But the first thing we did this Sunday morning was to find a local church. Then we were pleasantly surprised that the smoke was dissipating and it was actually very nice outside. We headed towards the eastern side of Door County--also known as the Wisconsin thumb. Denisa is a fan of a good lighthouse, and there were two near the Coast Guard station in Sturgeon Bay. We wanted to see them for ourselves.

The signage made it clear that no one was allowed near the coast guard station. But they had provided a public walkway to allow visitors access to the long jetty that juts into Lake Michigan. We had to be sure to stay on the public side of the walkway, and away from the private property side.

We walked past the first light, officially named the Sturgeon Bay Canal Rear Lighthouse. It was in the middle of the private coast guard station, so we couldn't get very close. 

We could see it best from the jetty.

The other lighthouse can only be seen after a long walk on the jetty that led us out over Lake Michigan. This one had an even longer name--the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Pierhead Front Lighthouse.

Denisa isn't the only lighthouse fan. Two artists had their easels set up on the jetty and were painting this afternoon.

The lighthouse recently got a new coat of paint, and this artist thought that was a good reason to paint a new canvas as well. It was fun to see the almost-finished painting with the real subject.

We walked to the end of the long jetty, to get the best view of the newly-painted lighthouse.

Some people were not content to stop at the end of the jetty. Getting any closer to the lighthouse would require swimming.

We walked back under the catwalk, that runs the entire length of the jetty.

We drove along the eastern-most road of Door County, which was primarily a residential street of homes with lake views. But occasionally there was a public access point, where commoners like us can get out on the shores of Lake Michigan.

This was the eastern edge of the Door County Thumb. Last night we looked out from the western side of Door County to see the Green Bay side of this Great Lake. This day we were looking east to see more of Lake Michigan.

We continued the drive to White Sands State Park. We didn't have to pay the $16 day-use fee to enter because we had already purchased our annual Wisconsin state park pass. The wide sandy beach was the main calling card for this park.

We found an interesting selfie-helper on an observation deck above the beach. We placed Mark's phone on the adjustable shelf . . .

set the timer on his apple watch, and took a selfie with the beach in the background. Good job TravelWisconsin.com!

We took a hike through the forest that runs parallel with the beach, then took the boardwalk staircase over the dune to circle back on the beach. Incidentally, that dune is a protected area, and anyone caught climbing on the sand may get a $176 fine.

We got back to the state park's nature center in time for the 2:00 raptors show put on by the Open Door Bird Sanctuary. Violet was hosting her first solo presentation, and she explained that the sanctuary was home to raptors that had been injured or had been imprinted by human behavior so they could no longer survive in the wild.

She brought with her an American Kestrel. This cute little bird is about the size of a robin, but is a carnivore that hunts from the sky.

She also brought a horned owl named Forrest. Hurt in a car collision, Forrest is a travel ambassador who charms the audience with those feathers that look like ears.

A half-mile hike to the north brought us to Cave Point County Park. While there was a $16 fee to park at the state park that we just left, the county park was free. Many people park at the county park and make this half-mile hike to the sandy beach we just left.

We wandered more of God's wonders this afternoon at Cave Point Park.

The trees on this rugged coastline reach all the way out to the water, and seem to be holding on by their roots!

We haven't taken pictures of many flowers lately, and Denisa just had to stop to look at these bright orange blooms on our hike.

While there was still a little smoke in the air, we were so blessed to see blue skies today. For the past week, this area had been covered with the worst smoke anyone can remember.

If you look out into the water, you can see a kayak tour was clustered around this scenic coast line. It was a little windy this afternoon, but kayakers come here to paddle into the sea caves that line this section of Lake Michigan.

While we saw a few swimmers, the water was very chilly even on this hot July afternoon.

After visiting White Sands State Park and Cave Point County Park, we had to hurry back to the pickup. That's because our last destination was a bit of a drive across Door County. We wanted to go cherry picking today.

We managed to arrive at the peak of cherry season, and Denisa was so happy! Actually, the larger sweet cherries were a little past peak and we found some of those orchards were already closed for the season. But the smaller tart cherries were just ripening.

Robertson Cherry Orchard had lots of cherries on their trees. Customers pay $20 for a plastic pail, that they can fill with as many tart cherries as will fit. A full pail was supposed to weigh about ten pounds. As loaded as the trees were, it didn't take long to fill a pail. But it took longer to pick cherries with the stems attached. They will stay fresher longer if they aren't pulled off the stem when picked.

Sweet cherries were also available here, but it cost $25 for their pail that was about half the size. So we opted for the smaller tart cherries and started picking. For some reason, we had lots of pictures of cherries still on the tree. It seems that Mark liked taking pictures of cherries more than he liked picking cherries.

Robertson's Orchards will pit the cherries for you for free if you finish by 5:00, so we were on a schedule. We got our bucket to the pitting station at 4:45.

We actually had only half of our fruit pitted, because we also like to eat the tart cherries fresh. So we left with one bag pitted, and half a bucket still whole and with stems so they will last longer. Fresh cherries were our road snacks for the next few days. The pitted cherries had to be cooked up fast, so we spent the evening making cherry pie filling. It doesn't get any fresher than that! We made a cheese cake pie topped with those fresh Door County cherries for a very local dessert.

We know that we already had an entire blog about monarch butterflies, but we thought we would include a little of our day-to-day monarch fun. This morning, Ramelle texted that we had a new butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, so we rushed over to see this beauty drying out her wings.

We also discovered that the tiny white egg we saw last night, was a tiny caterpillar this morning. It was too tiny for the camera to focus and take a good picture. We also checked on some of the big caterpillars this morning, to see they had good appetites.

When we got back to the trailer this evening, it was time to release the butterfly that had emerged this morning. After being in the enclosure for most of the day, she was ready to go and Denisa didn't get to spend much time with her! Mark's butterfly had emerged later in the day, and he was more content to spend some time riding on Mark's finger around the yard. Our first monarch releases were memorable!

When he finally flew, he bumped right into a tree and stayed there.

That was a little unnerving for the monarch release team, because that tree was also home to birds that might enjoy a butterfly meal this evening. It would be so sad to see a new butterfly swallowed up by a bird after watching its three-week journey in the butterfly nursery.

The smoke was still in the air, turning the lowering sun into a neon globe above the trees. We loved Door County and all the wanders we found here on our first day.

Everything Monarch Butterflies - Wandering Among More of God's Tiny Wonders

Our Boondocker Welcome host was so much fun to visit with, and we really enjoyed getting to know Ramelle! She has one of the most interesting hobbies, and she has taught us so much about raising Monarch butterflies since we arrived to Door County, Wisconsin. One room of her home was filled with the net enclosures where she watches the miraculous process unfold.

It starts with a white egg that is only the size of a pinhead. Ramelle doesn't go out looking for the eggs. But they seem to find her. When she is gathering fresh milk weed for her caterpillars to eat, she might unknowingly bring in an egg. When that happens, she sets that plant aside, and waits to see if it will hatch in 3-5 days.

When it hatches, it is so tiny that a camera can hardly focus on it. That new little caterpillar is very hungry, and Ramelle has to be sure that it has a good plant source to eat. So she goes out gathering milkweed . . . it might have new eggs on it  . . . and the cycle continues.

We watched her caterpillars as they devoured the plants she brought in for them. Because of pesticides and other bugs, she carefully cleans each of the plants she brings in from her yard.

The caterpillar/larva stage lasts 9-14 days. During this time, it will outgrow its skin five times. Each of those growth stages between molts is called an instar. Ramelle pointed out that this one just molted out of its skin because its antenna were still bent from the process.

During this hungry caterpillar stage, there is lots of--ahem--excrement. It's a full-time job cleaning up after these pooping machine.

When the caterpillar grows to be about two inches long, the larvae will crawl up to the top of the enclosure, or onto the highest leaf, and form a "J." It spins a very tough fiber that attaches its back end securely. This fiber has to withstand the wind and the rain outdoors. Here inside the butterfly nursery, its chances of success are so much higher.

We had never seen the process of a chrysalis forming, or really thought about how it happened. Do they spin that smooth green cocoon out of silk? First of all, it's not a cocoon, even though the children's book "The Hungry Caterpillar" uses that term. It's a chrysalis.  Ramelle schooled us on the correct butterfly terminology. That J-Shaped caterpillar will begin writhing until its striped skin breaks open. What is underneath is that mint green color. The caterpillar keeps wiggling until the striped skin is bunched up into a little dry wad that will fall off the top. At this first stage, the chrysalis is still bumpy.

As it dries, it becomes smooth and the gold dots emerge. What a beautiful jewel it becomes! This is a miracle to watch.

It will hang completely still for 10-14 days during this process of metamorphosis. It's a miracle that something so still can be undergoing such dramatic change. When the green color darkens, Ramelle knows it's almost ripe. At the very final stage, we could see through the chrysalis to see the color of the wings inside.

We got a text message from Ramelle that the butterfly was emerging, and we hurried over to the butterfly nursery. It cracked open the clear shell, and first the legs were free.

Those beautiful wings were still folded up as the butterfly emerged upside down. It seems like its abdomen is very big when it first emerges. 

We were completely enthralled with the whole process, but Ramelle has seen it hundreds of times. She was pleased that we were enjoying it so much. She had the smile of a proud new parent while we watched this miracle literally unfold.

The butterfly hung upside down, latching onto the chrysalis shell as it swung back and forth to unfold those rumpled wings. It was also pumping fluid from its swollen abdomen into its wings.

The monarchs in Wisconsin live for about one month. During that time they will lay eggs on the milkweed plants and then die. This generation that was hatching in July will do the same.

It doesn't take long before those rumpled wings straighten into beautifully formed flat wings. They will begin flapping them open to continue to dry and harden them.

After building up their strength and getting completely dry, it was time to coax them gently onto your hand. We unzipped the net enclosure, and escorted them into the garden. Coming out of the chrysalis early this morning, this girl flew as soon as Denisa opened her hand.

Her brother didn't emerge from the chrysalis until afternoon, and he was content to ride on Mark's hand for a tour around the garden. This generation will produce the eggs that will become the migrating butterflies.

We learned how to tell the difference between the male and female monarchs. We know this was a male because of the dark dots on the veins in the bottom wings. The female will not have those dots, and her black veins will be thicker and more pronounced.

Ramelle called us one evening to let us know that the 60 Minutes television show was airing their monarch butterfly segment. It was great timing to increase our butterfly education. It showed the map of where the migrating monarchs spend the summer in the northern parts of North America. That's where the generations will live for a month at a time until they produce the magical migratory generation. That generation will not produce the reproduction organs until later. Instead, the migrators will know when to start the 2,500-mile flight south to a safe place to spend the winter. While the preceding generations live and die in less than a month, this migrating generation will live about eight months.

That safe winter place is in a shrinking forest in Mexico. Now protected as a natural reserve, millions of monarchs somehow know the path to get there. None of these butterflies have ever been here before, yet they know where to go. That's another miracle! The 60 Minutes program showed the forest with trees and ground covered with millions of butterflies that stay alive for that long journey, plus all of the winter months. Then they know when and how to start the journey back to where they were hatched in the north. While one butterfly makes the 2,500-mile journey south in the fall, it will take several generations to make the trip back north in the spring. How those new butterflies know where they are going is yet another miracle!

Spending time with Ramelle and her butterflies gave us a front row seat to more of God's wonders. How a little white egg can turn into a caterpillar that can turn into a butterfly that can fly its way across a continent on those delicate wings--that's a whole set of miracles that remind us we are wandering among God's tiny wonders!