In my opinion, having at least a couple miserably hot days is an important part of each summer. If a summer were to go by without these days, I feel like I missed something. I wouldn’t say I enjoy sweating while sitting motionless in the shade or being too hot to sleep at night, but I do enjoy summer and those things are a part of it. The weekend of July 19 and 20 was one of those hot hot hot weekends. I don’t often have weekends off and I had planned this one in advance to meet with my good friends from Madison, so although I considered the option of staying home in the comfortable air conditioning, I ultimately decided that I would face the heat of summer and follow through on my 2019 Pizza Farm Camping Trip.
We started the weekend off by meeting halfway at Big Foot Beach State Park in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I set up my campsite with sweat running in streams down my face. My four year old friend, Isaac, didn’t seem to be quite as affected as his mother and I. The heat didn’t stop him from running back and forth between campsites or from running part of the way to the beach. Once we made it into the water, everything felt better.
The sun set, the lightning bugs came out, but the temperature hardly dropped and the humidity was relentless. I spent most of the night tossing, turning, and laying awake in my tent. At some point a storm passed close enough to bring a cool wind and allow for me to get several hours of sleep. The next day the sun and heat returned so we spent the day at the beach, biding our time before Pizza Farm dinner.
Our first stop was at The Hive Taproom just a few minutes from the Pizza Farm. On the 30 minute drive from Lake Geneva to East Troy, the heat finally broke with an impressive display of rain, wind, thunder, and lightning. Isaac slept through all of it, while his parents and I enjoyed some kombucha and honey mead.
Once we got to Grassway Organics, the storm seemed to be retreating. The rain stuck around for a bit and we heard some thunder in the distance. The picnic tables provided were too wet to sit on, so my portable Pizza Farm set-up of chairs and a table and my recently acquired Pizza Umbrella came in very handy. My shirt with an astronaut cat planting a pizza flag on the moon also came in handy, as July 20, 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the moon landing! It is great to have family and friends to provide me with so many unique and unexpectedly perfect Pizza Farm accessories.
Because of the weather and the threat of thunder storms, Farmers Chaz and Megan had canceled that evening’s music and the crowd was fairly thin, but Pizza Night went on for those willing to risk it. I ordered my two favorite pizzas and showed my friends the Farm Store as well as explored the barn.
As always, Farmers Chaz and Megan and their family were extremely welcoming and since it was a slow night, they had a chance to visit with us and with many of the different folks that ventured out for Pizza Farm Night.
I was exhausted from my sleepless night and from the drain of a full day in the sun. The younger visitors made a game of running up and down the hill to and from the barn. Many Pizza Farms are extremely family and kid friendly. I find Grassway Organics to be one of the best places. Fellow blogger, Candidly Meg, can confirm that Pizza Night works for the whole family. I joined in the running once or twice, but mostly I sat comfortably in my camp chair, letting my brain and my body relax in the cool evening air of the countryside after a storm, eating pizza and drinking a beer. Certain parts of summer aren’t always enjoyable in the moment, but when it all comes together, I find it to be perfect.
