Peshtigo, WI

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Our day began at the quiet county park campground in Pipe, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Winnebago. Except for one other camper, we were the only people parked there on Wednesday evening.

Andi and I were awake early this morning, and in route to our next location by 7:00am. Andi had a work call at 9:00am, so he wanted to drive to the area known as the “Fox Cities” along the Fox River in east-central Wisconsin before his call began.

Andi and I mentally rock-paper-scissored for who had to go into the Neenah Public Library to work while the other person got to stay inside the RV. It’s so much easier to work in the RV — for all of us — but not at the same time, obviously. On Tuesday, Andi went to Starbucks in Baraboo, WI to work while the kids and I stayed in the RV to do school, and today the kids and I resigned to working in the library while Andi enjoyed the peace & quiet of the RV. It’s not that doing school inside a library is a bad idea; there’s just so many distractions which make it hard for Aden to focus on schoolwork. I suppose that’s why it’s hard for Andi to take calls inside the library, too.

We joined a handful of other people waiting outside for the Neenah Public Library to open at 9:00am. This was a big, beautiful, library with two stories of windows overlooking the Fox River. Tory, Aden, and I found a high-top table in the Teens Area of the library on the 2nd floor, and got to work. Eventually, we bounced between that spot, some comfy chairs, and another work table in a back corner of the library depending on what we were studying / reading, and who was around us making noise.

In the end, I think the kids and I had the better set-up — it smelled like hot garbage inside our RV when we returned to Andi. We really needed to find a dumpster for yesterday’s trash ….

After we finished school and work around 11:30am, the four of us hopped back into the RV and drove from Neenah to Appleton, WI. These cities and others, surrounding the Fox River and Lake Winnebago, have a rich history in paper manufacturing and are one of the fastest-growing urban areas of Wisconsin. It’s easy to see why with a mixture of small-town charm, historical architecture, vibrant downtown areas, and the beauty of Lake Winnebago and Fox River surrounding.

After school and work, we found an Anytime Fitness in Neenah, and did our workouts there. It’s been nice to have a clean place to workout while traveling in the RV with a variety of weights and equipment. Personally, I like exercising first thing in the morning, but our travel schedule and/or proximity to Anytime Fitness locations doesn’t always allow for that.

Next, Andi drove to City Park in Appleton, WI, and the four of us walked to Houdini Square. The famous magician, Harry Houdini, grew up in this town, and we found a self-guided city walking tour leading to several points of interest.

The four of us followed the blue “Fox Trot Trail” signage through downtown which passed the History Museum at the Castle, and the Lawrence University campus. Aden conducted his own sideline search for a geocache on the Lawrence University campus, but unfortunately he never found the hidden treasure.

Turns out, we did some of the Fox Trot walking tour in reverse as we walked from the RV’s parking spot to Houdini Square. Nevertheless, Andi read aloud interesting facts about each landmark as we toured the city together.

“If this place is so famous, why are we the only people here?” Tory asked with a heavy tone of annoyance in her voice when we reached Houdini Square. We’re lucky, I guess, getting to visit on a Thursday afternoon.

We didn’t finish the whole Fox Trot Trail walking tour. The wind was blustery outside today, and we just got tied of walking in it after a while. Back to the RV we went, and onto our next camping destination.

We drove through Green Bay, WI and surrounding suburbs as we traveled north to Oconto, WI. There, Andi scoped out a potential camping spot for the night, and picked up an Amazon package he’d had sent to a location drop-box.

He didn’t love the campground by the river in Oconto, so we continued further north to Peshtigo, WI.

Wisconsin hospitality at its finest — when Andi went to pay for our site, the campground host said, “Don’t worry about it. Everybody needs a break sometimes.” Andi assured the manager he was willing and able to pay to camp for the night, and the man insisted. The guy was in the middle of a landscaping project; maybe he was just giving us a break, or maybe he didn’t want to stop what he was doing to fill out the paperwork.

We parked the RV on a nice, big campsite pad with a huge playground nearby. Andi grilled chicken stir-fry for dinner with steamed rice. The four of us ate together outside at the picnic table beside our camper.

My stomach still didn’t feel right after eating that double brat in Sheboygan yesterday, so I opted to go to bed early. Andi went for a small town stroll by himself, returning to the camper about an hour later with two giant milkshakes from Sprinkles Diner and Ice Cream Parlor in downtown Peshtigo. Tory and Aden were thrilled!

Tomorrow, we’re saying good-bye to Wisconsin and making our way to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.