Wisconsin Dells or Branson Meets Gatlinburg

As I mentioned, there wasn't much of anything that interested us as we drove Wisconsin Dells Blvd. However, kids would love it and break the bank while they were at it.

The rain finally stopped mid-morning Saturday so Ted went to Baraboo to shoot skeet. He found out some info while he was down there so we left to attend St. Joseph Church in Baraboo at 4 pm, followed by dinner at The Farmer's Kitchen and then on to the Dickinson Family's Wisconsin Opry. It was a nice day that didn't involve trying to drive around north of where we are camped. At the restaurant, we happened to sit at a table next to a couple we had sat in the pew with at church. We spent a great deal of time talking to them. At the Opry, Mrs. Dickinson came over to tell us she attended Baylor University and visits Austin frequently. Very nice people here in Wisconsin.

Today we bit the bullet and drove into the mayhem to take an Original Wisconsin Duck Tour. Getting there wasn't bad and they had a good sized parking lot. We enjoyed the drive through the hardwood forests and on the Wisconsin River and Delton Lake. Most interesting to me was the area that collapsed in 2008 after 10 inches of rain. Delton Lake emptied over the road into the Wisconsin River destroying the highway and taking four houses with it. The driver showed us pictures of what it looked like then and we could see the new dam and repairs now in place. The roof of the "duck" made it difficult to take pictures but I got a few to share. The sandstone is very soft and the layers are easily visible.

When we left, the streets were like a parking lot. Ted turned around and headed back to Baraboo and we went to the Ho Chunk Indian casino. We stayed there several hours and came back with more than we went so that was good.

We stopped at the grocery on the way home. We've invited two couples that we traveled to Europe with to have dinner with us at the campground in Utica, IL on Tuesday evening. We are leaving here tomorrow morning.

Ted grilled steaks and I baked some potatoes for an early dinner. We've reworked our itinerary a little bit and are set now (until we change it again). Tom called and asked for our Cancun flight numbers so he can arrange airport transportation once we arrive. He said we are all pre-registered at the hotel and have a reservation for transportation so we can just go right to the hotel instead of waiting for their flight to arrive.

Here are the Wisconsin Dells pictures taken from the Wisconsin River portion of the tour.