Belgium, WI

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Our day began at Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It was surprisingly quiet in the campground overnight given the number of campers. Andi and I woke up around 6:00am this morning, packing up the RV shortly thereafter. We are trying something new on this trip; we purchased fitness memberships at Anytime Fitness so we can exercise at various gyms along our driving route. The city of Baraboo has a big Anytime Fitness facility, so we made our way there by 7:00am. It was really nice to get in a workout early this morning and shower afterwards.

Andi had a work call at 8:30am, so he walked to a nearby Starbucks Coffee. I got Tory and Aden up & moving for the day, and then drove the RV to a Kwik Trip gas station near Starbucks.

Before we settled in to do school work this morning, I told the kids we could go inside Kwik Trip for donuts. After all, it’s not everyday we’re parking right outside one! Today is the first day of school for most public schools in Wisconsin, so even though we started school a few weeks ago, this served as our “first day of school on the road” treat.

Back in the RV with the kids’ course books open to Math, I kept hearing a beeping sound. It was so distracting! “What is making that noise?” I kept asking Tory and Aden. I worried an alarm was going off on the RV somewhere and Andi would return from his call with it sounding off. Finally, I figured out it wasn’t the RV making noise; it was the beeping sound of buttons being pushed at the gas station pumps. Ah ha!

Andi walked over from Starbucks when his call finished around 11:00am. Aden, Tory, and I were just finishing up school, too. We spent a little time filling up with diesel and airing up our RV’s tires before departing Kwik Trip.

Next, we drove into downtown Baraboo to check out the town. “We’re driving right by the Circus Museum,” I suggested to Andi…

He parked the RV near Main Street, and the four of us window-shopped area businesses for the next 30 minutes or so. Most of them were closed on the Tuesday afternoon after Labor Day, but we did walk through a few Wisconsin-themed gift shops. Baraboo is a very charming Midwestern downtown — clean and well-kept with a variety of businesses.

The restaurant Andi selected for lunch was also closed today, so we wandered into the only cafe that seemed to be open this afternoon. The Little Village Cafe was a cozy restaurant with Ringling Bros. posters and memorabilia decorating the walls. That’s because Baraboo was the winter home base for the world-famous Ringling Bros Circus. See! Are you sure you don’t want to visit the Circus Museum, Andi?

The four of us perused the menu — Andi and I both ordered versions of the Moroccan chicken (platter for him; wrap for me). The kids weren’t very hungry, so Aden ordered pork potstickers and Tory had a side Caesar salad. The chicken was delicious with great flavor; both Andi and I thought so. While we ate, I used ChatGPT to read our table facts and information about the famous Ringling Bros. Circus and their history in Baraboo. I would have loved to visit the museum this afternoon to see all the circus-related history, but neither Tory, Aden, or Andi could be convinced to go.

After lunch, the four of us walked back to our RV and began the drive to Port Washington, Wisconsin. Our goal this road trip is to circumnavigate Lake Michigan beginning on the eastern side of the lake.

Along the way, we pulled over at Leroy Meats in Fox River, Wisconsin. “When a parking lot is that full of cars, it warrants a stop,” Andi said as he pulled up to the store.

Wisconsin loves meat & cheese. This store reminded us a lot of our favorite meat counter back home in northwestern Wisconsin, but also had its own spin on things. We purchased several packages of marinated chicken breasts (because that’s an easy protein to grill while camping), as well as some Leroy summer sausage sticks, and chicken thighs on skewers.

From Fox River, we continued east toward Port Washington. Nothing special about our destination, other than a beautiful spot on the water. Andi parked the RV on a downtown side street, then the four of us wandered around the marina for a while. It was a beautifully sunny Wisconsin afternoon with temperatures in the mid-70’s. A cold front is moving in later this week though, so we were thankful to be near the calm, blue water today.

There was so many shades of brilliant blues around Rotary Park and the Port Washington harbor. We admired the sailboats and fishing charters as we strolled along the boardwalk.

Back in the RV, Andi navigated us to Harrington Beach State Park just north of Port Washington in Belgium, Wisconsin. This state park has over a mile of beach along Lake Michigan and a fairly new campground which opened in 2009. The campsites were very nice (many with electric and paved parking pads) and offered lots of privacy between spots.

Shortly after we settled into our campsite, Andi and I prompted the kids into a walk down to the water. The weather was still warm and sunny, and the beach was calling our names.

We didn’t, however, expect the infestation of mosquitoes throughout this state park. I first noticed one on Tory’s cheek, and then several more buzzing around her face. Then I felt one bite me on the face — ouch! Suddenly, we were all swatting away mosquitoes left and right. Ahh!

The wooded path to the beach didn’t offer any relief. We walked so fast, we were practically running. No friendly chit-chat; just walking to the water as fast as possible.

We finally found relief from the relentless mosquitoes at the beach. There was enough of a breeze coming off the surface of the water to keep the pesky bugs away. Aden immediately ran into the shallow water. His lower half was soaked in seconds which wasn’t surprising at all.

The sandy shores at Harrington Beach State Park were beautiful, and we practically had the place to ourselves. The four of us walked along the water’s edge together.

No way we were taking the wooded path back to the campground! Andi suggested we walk the road back hoping there would be less mosquitoes that way. There were fewer, but some still found us.

Back at the RV, I prepared foil-packet potatoes to throw on the grill with the chicken skewers we purchased earlier in the day. Andi took one for the team & grilled our dinner outdoors while Tory, Aden, and I took shelter inside the camper and away from the bugs. We also ate the last of our garden green beans from the summer.

Tomorrow, we’re planning to make our way north along the coast of Lake Michigan to Sheboyan, Wisconsin. Stay tuned …