Sunday, August 5, 2007

Wisconsin Dells 7/30 - 7/6

Here we are in the Wisconsin Dells. Now when I mapped out this trip, we would leave Cold Spring, Minnesota on our way to Schaumburg, Ill in which I will be conducting my small business workshops. So on the map, Wisconsin Dells was about half way and looked like a good stopping off spot for a week to just R&R.

I never heard of the Wisconsin Dells and I am going to bet that folks on the West Coast, unless they have relatives back here, have no idea what the "Dells" are all about. What a surprise.
This place is the Disneyland of the Central States. More than that it is the Water Park Capital of this nation. What a great place for a family to come to and have a "killer" of a great time. (We would love to come back here with our kids and grandchildren.) The Dells are part of the Wisconsin River and we have never seen so much activity, hotels, water parks, river boats (including speed boats that seat 20 people), water slides and the "Ducks" which are WWII (type) amphibious army vehicles (land and sea crafts) that drive on the streets and then go into the river. It would take over a week to really see this place and try to go to just 1/8 of what is here.

We arrived on Monday, and guess what! It was the hottest day on record. Now we have already determined that when we purchased this RV, someone stuck a "hot magnet" under our coach (I just can't find it). Once again on our trip, we hit one of the hot spots (read below for the others) because we have determined that the heat wave is following Jerry and Mary.

The RV Park we are at is a 10+ (on the scale of 1-10). Really nice, but it was so hot we just did not want to take part in what they had to offer. Please raise your hand if you want to take a sun set ride up a mountain (more like a small hill) on a ski lift and then hike back down -- in 95 degree heat. PASS.

We rented a red PT Cruiser for the weekend so we could go out and see "the Dells." We drove around and saw all these "tourist attractions" - it makes Las Vegas look like a small amusement park. It just goes for miles and miles.

We decided that a nice evening cruise on the Dells, with dinner would be just right for us old folks. So we booked a trip for Saturday night. So what happens that day? They get the first rain they had for over 2 months - gee, it is so nice to know we are here for a part of history.

We went on the cruise anyway. It had a inside cabin for dining and a observation top deck - that no one went on, but it was fun to see the Dells. Dinner however -- what would you expect if the menu said "chicken & prime rib" -- whatever you are thinking -- it was NOT. We have had a lot of prime rib in our life, but never a 1/4 patty? Yes, the prime rib was a 1/4 patty (like a hamburger patty) of (what they claim) prime rib. The vegetables - well that's what they were -vegetables. I looked hard to find the word "steamed" but could not find it. My chicken was pretty good, but when Mary put her fork in hers, it jumped off the plate and flew back into the "Dells." OH, not really -- it only made it to the railing and then died before it could fall in the river. Jerry pulled it back in and ate it.

Hey, we just want to write about a little fun. We really did enjoy the Wisconsin Dells and will come back again some time (in May).

We leave tomorrow for Schaumburg, Ill. Mary will see her long time friend Mary Stewart and Jerry will be conducting his 3 workshops for the Imprinted Sportswear Show (ISS). This will be one of the business parts of the trip. We will up date you next week.