Today we drove from Wisconsin Dells to Woodruff. We are staying at the Indian Shores RV Park ( $51 per night, no discount) just outside Woodruff on Lake Tomahawk. The RV park is very wooded, streets are a bit narrow, trees are very close to the road, but paved, and it took a bit of effort to get the Wanderer backed into our wood site. Getting back out is going to be very tricky. There are trees all the way around giving lots of shade. Can’t pick up DTV sats due to all the trees. There is only WiFi at the clubhouse. But we have good cell phone coverage. 40 channels of cable is included in the price. Interestingly, we have a separate remote control for the cable box on the pole! When we first connected, we could not get it to work. But we found out that the digital TV antenna includes a signal booster. So when the Winegard Digital TV Antenna is turned on, it interferes with the external cable hookup. As soon as we turned it off, the cable began working. Water pressure is excellent. The site is dirt and gravel but pretty level. Our rig pretty much fills it up with the slide outs brushing against the pine trees on either side.
Friday, August 31, 2018
29 August 2018 Wisconsin Dells River Tour
Last night we received more heavy rain, which put the total over the last two days at almost a foot of rain! We drove into downtown Wisconsin Dells to have lunch at Dave’s Famous BBQ and then take the boat tour of the Dells. Famous Dave’s was just as good as we remember from Kansas. The tour boat was leaving out of their high water dock due to the recent rains. We learned the river was four feet higher than normal and was running at five times the volume. We took a bus down to the dock from the parking area and waited to board the boat, the General Bailey. We managed to get front row, top deck seats! The Wisconsin Dells is called the dells due to the multiple layers of rock that are laid on top of each other. Apparently, Dells is the French word for pancakes stacked on top of each other. This rock type and formation is only found in three other areas of the world, one of them being in Bavaria, Germany. David’s friend, Herbert, had taken him to see a similar canyon in Bavaria, on one of his trips to Germany, which could be this formation. The Wisconsin river runs through this narrowing in the dells. It was originally used to run White Pine logs from northern Wisconsin down to the Mississippi river in the 1800s. When the railroads came and began moving the lumber, the river traffic dropped and the old hands that used to help shepherded log rafts through the Dells narrows and the twisting channel turned to tourism. In the early 1900s, a dam was built to convert the energy of the river into hydroelectric. This flooded the rapids in the narrows but made it easier for the tourist industry. There are two tours, one above the dam and one below. We took the tour above the dam. The river was running high, so some of the rock formations that were normally above water were covered. The current through the narrows was running hard and fast which made the trip through them a bit more exciting than normal.
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| Witches Gulch |
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| The Narrows |
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| Witches Gulch |
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| Witches Gulch |
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| Witches Gulch |
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| Bennett's Rock |
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
27 August 2018 La Crosse, WI to Wisconsin Dells, WI.
We made the short drive (90 miles) from La Crosse to Wisconsin Dells. Not a lot to see along the way. We are staying at the Sherwood Forest Campground ($55 per night with Good Sam discount). The ramp down into the office area is relatively steep. But the road to get back to the pull through site we were assigned was very steep with a tight 90 degree turn at the top followed by a steep decent. The roads were narrow and lots of trees (some branches rubbing against us as we pulled through). Not my favorite. The water pressure was good, WiFi signal strong but the internet was slow. All the connections were at the back of the site making the sewer connection difficult. There is no cable hook up and we could not receive any local channels. Normally not a big deal but we had severe weather move through the area both nights with over 10 inches of rain, flash flood warnings, flood warning and tornado warnings. Luckily the AT&T signal was strong so we could pull up the weather apps.
25-26 August 2018 La Crosse, WI
We drove into town to see what there was to see of La Crosse. The downtown area was nice with lots of bars and restaurants. The place was crawling with what appeared to be new college students (University of Wisconsin, La Crosse) getting an orientation tour. We stumbled across another Duluth Trading company store and stopped so Leslie could pick up a couple pairs of slacks she did not find in her size at the store in Duluth. We then drove down to the river park and then up to the Grand Bluffs park for views over the river valley. This area (Southwestern Wisconsin, Southeastern Minnesota) is called the “Driftless”. This is because the area was not ground down and flattened by the glaciers during the many ice ages. The highlands to the north deflected the glaciers around this area so it retains its tall granite bluffs and deep water eroded canyons. Its all beautifully covered in trees. Following our visit to the bluffs we went the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadeloupe and walked the pilgrimage path to the beautiful church.
24 August 2018 Minneapolis, MN to La Crosse, WS.
The day started out rainy. This was the first time we have had to prepare the rig for the road with it wet and raining. David killed up on the roof to wipe the water off the slide roofs before we pulled them in so we would not get water in the Wanderer. The drive down to La Crosse was gray and misty with small showers here and there. But was otherwise uneventful. We pulled into the Goose Island County Campground ($33 per night, no sewer) around 3 PM. The campground is situated on the Mississippi river about 5 miles south of La Crosse, WI. It’s a nice campground but only has 3 back in spots that could handle our rig (No pull through sites). Backing in was a bit tight but we made it. The gravel pad was fairly level. Unfortunately there was a big tree that blocked our Direct TV but we could pick up enough local channels from the digital antenna to keep us up to date. But there are a LOT of Mosquitoes!! They even get into the Wanderer when we step out the door. We went into town and ate dinner at the Fiesta Mexican restaurant that had good review on line. We should have known better. We broke a cardinal rule, don’t eat Mexican food north of Oklahoma!!! It was very bland food but at least was fresh. Then it was off to Wally World to stock up.
21-23 August 2018 Minneapolis, MN
David flew out of town on business in the morning and returned late on the 23rd. Alison came and picked Leslie up for some exploration of Minneapolis and a late lunch. She chose an older and very prestigious neighborhood to drive through. The houses were beautiful; many of them were Tudor-styled with very manicured lawns. In the center of these homes was a park of rose gardens and fountains. We parked and got out to walk along the paths. The flowers were gorgeous and smelled so very sweet. It was a very peaceful place. Trees were splattered around the gardens and people brought hammocks to hang and lie in while reading or visiting with family/friends.
Once back in the car, Alison pointed to 2 thermos cups and offered me some ice water. She is just thoughtful and gracious like that. We proceeded to Lake Harriett. It is surrounded by parkland as part of the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes. You could see the skyline of downtown. There were lots of bicyclists, joggers, walkers, kayakers, boaters, and people simply sitting on benches enjoying the sunny afternoon. The houses around the Lake were once again just beautiful with magnificent yards. Some houses had what looked like mailboxes made of glass. Alison explained they were part of the city’s library program. When finished reading books just put them into these boxes and the Library comes by to pick them up and return them.
We did a similar drive around Bde Maka Ska Lake which was much like Lake Harriett but a little larger. After exploring Alison took me to a charming restaurant named Coalition. We had delicious salads and desserts. She then returned me to the Wanderer. I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon with her. What a treasure she is!
20 August 2018 Hinckley, MN to Minneapolis, MN
Today we drove from the Grand Casino RV Resort in Hinckley, MN to Dakotah Meadows RV resort ($41 per night) southwest of Minneapolis. We had wanted to spend the weekends in Minneapolis but all the RV parks in the area of Minneapolis are booked on the weekends due to the State Fair. Dakotah Meadows RV resort is another casino (Indian) owned RV park. It’s another really nice RV park with paved streets and pads, great water pressure, and very good WiFi with full hook ups. We choose a back in pad at the end of a row since it had more room than the pull through sites. You can tell where the money for RV parks is in Minnesota! We would definitely stay here again.
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