Devil's Lake
Oh my gosh! Where has this summer gone, and where was I when that happened?
Eh .. well, ... I guess that's what I'm supposed to keep this blog for ... minor detail ..
I can't believe it's October already and I've been procrastinating to write this blog for weeks now, just so happy to stay in one place for a while and too 'travel-tired' to do much else than eat, sleep watch TV and read, read, read ... mindless entertainment, just relaxing ...
Not that I didn't enjoy the traveling and all the beautiful places we've seen, but this trip was also a little bit more stressful than we'd bargained for so it was good to have some time to recuperate ...
But about those travels, let's get on with it. Here's what happened after we thought we'd leave that Monday, from our Swiss valley CG in Dubuque, IA.
Beautiful Swiss Valley
That morning we'd packed everything up and were all happy and ready to leave after breakfast, until James started up the truck. What do you think ... steam! Lots of bloody STEAM!
I'm not kidding you! Unbelievable!
Another phone call was made to our truck repair place in Dubuque and, after some back-and-forth brainstorming, the consensus was that it was 'most likely' the fan clutch of the AC. Sure. If you say so. Whatever!
The part had to be ordered, of course, and they couldn't install it before Wednesday, so ... we went golfing ... ha!
And did some more sight seeing:
OK, fast forward a day or 2; the new pump was installed, once more we were ready to leave, and .. believe it or not .. we actually did! Yeah!
Everything went fine ... for 15 whole blissful miles, until ... we blew another tire! Un-be-%$^#@!-lievable!
I mean, what is this ... this trip is cursed!
Avoca brought us into Wisconsin. Yeah, finally!
The, very cheap, village campground, was a nice surprise.
Nice and quiet, and we were the only ones there! Located in the middle of a pine-forest, it smelled wonderful!
And cheers to you! Great job, once again, honey!
One of the things we wanted to see while we were in the area was The House on the Rock in Springfield, WI!
This amazing place that started with a house on a rock, complete with a truly awe-inspiring 'Infinity room', build in 1960 by eccentric Alex Jordan, includes sprawling eclectic galleries of music machines, a sea monster, a Japanese garden and excess amounts and collections of anything and everything!
Although the entrance price is a little steep ($24.95), for our liking at least, there is so much to see and everything is so crazy and beyond anything you'll probably ever see, that it is sort of worth it.
A self guided tour takes you through 3 separate and different sections of the huge complex.
Alex Jordan’s retreat perched atop a chimney of rock opened to the public in 1960. The retreat was only the beginning. Alex used to explain his sprawling creation of collections, displays and galleries by saying that “one thing just sort of led to another.”
The Gate House serves as an entrance to the main House and greets you with warm, dramatic stone walls and a huge fireplace.
Furnishings include Oriental art, stained glass lamps, bronze statues and a three-story book case filled with rare books.
The famous Infinity Room, the 14th room of the House completed in 1985, is a unique room with a panoramic view of Wyoming valley.
The engineering marvel extends 218 feet out over the scenic valley and 156 feet above the forest floor. There are an astonishing 3,264 windows for walls.
The 'Music of Yesterday' section houses the world's greatest collection of animated, automated music machines, towering pipe organs and dazzling 'orchestrions', popular in 19th Century Europe.
Separate rooms showcase a unique collection of mechanically operated symphony orchestras, the 29-foot tall Franz Josef and the famous Mikado with animated Oriental figures.
Upon entering 'The Streets of Yesterday' you stroll along the bricked street of a life-size recreation of a 19th Century village, each building authentically detailed inside and out.
There's a wood-carver's shop, china shop, sheriff's office, fire station, apothecary, carriage house, Grandma's house, barbershop and much more.
Next up, the Spirit of Aviation is reminiscent of a 1950s airfield and displays a huge collection of remote controlled model planes with wingspans up to 8 feet.
Than, the Heritage of the Sea Building, which is stuffed to the gills with an entire maritime collection, and a gigantic Sea Creature, longer than the Statue of Liberty is tall, engaged in a titanic struggle involving an octopus and a whaling expedition.
Elsewhere, you'll see a display of artifacts from the Titanic, an exhibition of exquisitely carved scrimshaw and more than 200 highly detailed model ships and vessels.
Claimed to be the world’s largest with over 20,000 lights, 182 chandeliers and 269 handcrafted carousel animals – not one with a horse head!
It is 35 feet tall, 80 feet wide and weighs 36 tons.
It took 10 years to plan, construct and hand-finish this amazing masterpiece, like none other in the world.
Although utterly astonishing and spectacular, the whole experience is also rather bizarre and overwhelming and, because entirely inside, quite dark and gloomy.
After almost 3 hours (!) of walking through these endless rooms and buildings, it's almost a relief to leave it all behind and go for a walk through the pretty gardens.
The Japanese Garden is designed in the “stroll style” meant to encourage guests to slow down and take their time to enjoy the garden from its many points of view. It features a 14-foot quadruple waterfalls and a contemplative Koi pond.
Phew! How was that for something totally crazy!
Despite a need for some TLC, which I read somewhere they're working on, it was a unique experience to say the least.
Maybe not quite worth a special or long trip, but if you're in the neighborhood you don't want to miss it!
Other than this we didn't do much else than sitting out a rainy day, taking it easy and taking a drive through the pretty country side.
There certainly was an abundance of wildlife in this area! On our way to Spring Green we saw 2 deer, 2 foxes(!) and a coyote.
I only gotta 'shoot' this one, quite the 'curious George' ..
Our next destination was Portage, in the Wisconsin Dell's area, only 90 miles away.
Through some sort of miracle we managed to get there without any trouble!
This is the, very nice, Sky High Campground in rural Wisconsin ...
Although most tourists (especially those with kids) come to this neck of the woods for the famous Wisconsin Dell's water parks, the main reason we were here was to visit Devil's Lake State Park.
So, that next day we drove to the park and set off to hike the East Bluff Trail and Wood Trail.
We'd picked a gorgeous day, and after an easy hike up over the huge boulders that line the rocky shore ..
.. we enjoyed the beautiful views off .. surprise .. Devil's Lake!
Not so sure about these heights ...
Purty, purty, purty ...
The way back led through the forest and was fairly flat. Perfect cross-country ski terrain, as you can see on this trail post.
Wisconsin for sure will look very different in the winter!
Afterward we drove into town for a little snack:
Hiking makes hungry! (that was excellent strawberry pie, by the way)
The next day we went for two more hikes! (I know, we were on a roll! (lol)
This time to Durward's and Palfrey's Glen, just down the road from us:
The 40-acre (16 ha) property includes a church, a grotto, residences, a barn, an outdoor way of the cross, and religious statues, including the Guardian of the Glen statue.
It's a very beautiful, peaceful place ...
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, Durward's Glen is owned by Our Lady of the Rosary Group and is used as a retreat center.
It took us a while to find our next hiking spot (note to self, get better local hiking maps!) but eventually we were on the right track, or trail, in this case ...
The glen is a deep gorge cut through the sandstone of the south flank of the Baraboo Hills. It was the first State Natural Area to be designated in Wisconsin.
The end of the trail cuts through some huge boulders, after which you reach a small waterfall.
There wasn't much water in Palfrey's Glenn creek, but nevertheless it was a pretty enough site to sit down and drink the coffee we had brought with us.
Tomorrow I'm gonna write the next one. Promise!
No more ifs and buts, no more dillydallying, no more procrastinating. I'm on a roll!
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