Although my mom and I extended our trip up north to our family’s cabin in St. Germain, the last day of the Chequamegon Birding and Nature Festival was Saturday, May 16. We planned that day with an early morning boat cruise aboard the Island Princess to Stockton Island, the largest and most biologically diverse island in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

Since it was extremely foggy, the captain had to blast the horn every few minutes. Even though we couldn’t see anything on our way there, the fog and dew made everything more beautiful on land.

Right away we spotted a common merganser couple.

And spiderwebs dotted with dew.One of the most beautiful sights was the fog receding from the shore.We walked the island for three hours to see the forest, dunes, savannah, bog, lagoon and beach.

Although we never saw a bear, we did spot its paw prints in the sand next to one of the campsites.

We also saw a red squirrel, blackburnian warbler and family of geese.

Our boat ride back to the dock in Bayfield was filled with sun and blue skies.

Knowing it was in the 70’s in St. Germain, we were eager to head south to the cabin.

On the way, we stopped to pick up freshly made strawberry- and raspberry- rhubarb pies at the Gourmet Garage in Bayfield and ate lunch at Cafe Coco in Washburn, which specializes in gluten-free breads, desserts and scrumptious sandwiches (try their new banh mi).

We also made a quick stop at my mom’s sister’s house in Ashland (even though my aunt and uncle were still in Arizona) to check out the beach … and some of the land had eroded.

It was definitely a trip we’ll never forget.

Day 1: Sea Caves and Morgan Falls and St. Peter’s Dome

Day 2: Penokee Mountains and Copper Falls

Day 3: Stockton Island