Rallying And Other Such Activities

After driving up and out of the hole-in-the-ground campground, we headed east toward the Wisconsin Dells and our first RV rally of the season.  It wasn’t long before we were made aware of the fact that Wisconsin must purchase their roads, second-hand, from Minnesota.  We’d just barely crossed the Mississippi River when we hit a stretch of Interstate that shook, rattled and rolled us all the way to our campground in Lake Delton.  Rough roads seemed to be the norm all over the north central states and the states with the highest tax rates seemed to have to the worst roads. 

This was the first time we’ve attended a tri-chapter rally and the wagonmaster had selected a dandy campground for headquarters.  Unfortunately the weather was so hot and humid that we were warned to be careful using the air conditioners.  We could either run both air conditioners and run the refrigerator and water heater on propane or we could use one a/c and use shore power for the water heater and fridge.  So we “coped” as so often happens when you’re camping out.  Having only one air conditioner is our current benchmark for “roughing it”.  It still rankled, however, that we were paying for 50 amp service and wi-fi but getting neither. 

One of the perks of the rally was a lumberjack show at Paul Bunyan’s Restaurant where we watched four strapping young men ply the skills of the timbermen who once populated this area of Wisconsin.  They chopped and sawed, climbed and leapt about in a frenzy of activity and their antics kept us laughing and gasping for breath on their behalf.  Most of the audience was of such an age that such vim and vigor was only a distant memory. 

While a number of attendees at the rally went off to view The Dells from boats of various sorts, we took the opportunity to make the run to Baraboo to visit the International Crane Foundation.  The Foundation was originally established by some Cornell University graduates to save the Whooping Crane from extinction.  Their display facility on Shady Lane has every species of crane on exhibit.  Away from the prying eyes of tourists, the Foundation continues to work hard to save the several species which are still endangered.  We found the blue cranes to be almost ghostly in their appearance and the two species of crowned cranes absolutely regal with their golden spiked hair-dos.  The 120-acre facility has been seeded with wildflowers and native grasses and was a-bloom with flowers and a-buzz with bees.  The researchers at the Foundation have to do a great deal of manipulating in order to keep some of the species viable.  We were surprised to learn that cranes don’t reach breeding age until they are six or seven years old and can live on well into  their 60’s and 70’s.  However, a high percentage of the eggs laid are infertile and good parenting skills do not come naturally so there is a great deal of egg-swapping  involved in maintaining the population of several crane species.  And those pairs who exhibit good parenting skills are often called upon as surrogates for abandoned fledglings.  

Our next stop was Menominee Falls, a suburb of Milwaukee, where we visited with Cousin Judy and her husband Dave.  There being no affordable campgrounds available nearby, we spent two days (with permission, of course) in a church parking lot.  Judy and Dave squired us around to all the thrift stores and antique shops in a 50 mile radius and we acquired several new items of interest, not to mention a stack of irresistible books.  I find nearly all books irresistible, especially when they are in perfect condition and cost less than a dollar.  On our last evening in town, Judy and Dave took us to a restaurant ‘way out in the country.  The portions were so large that we had enough left-overs for two more evenings!  As we left the restaurant, Judy mentioned that we were close to Holy Hill which she wanted us to see.  Somehow, a wrong turn was made and we ended up laughing ourselves silly as we shot up hills and down dales in search of the illusive basilica which caps Holy Hill. 

It was necessary to have a full-service campground just prior to heading to the FMCA convention in Madison.  The tanks that should  be empty need to be empty and the tanks that should be full need to be full.  So we headed northward to the town of Two Rivers on Lake Michigan to a small campground with the necessary facilities but not much else in the way of amenities.  However, it  gave us an opportunity to visit our old friends, Harold and Ruthann, whom we met on our very first visit to Apache Junction some ten years ago.  Ruthann was slated to baby-sit for her great-grandbaby and so we headed off to see the sights on our own and returned in time for a pizza binge on Saturday night.  One of the most attractive spots we visited was the West of the Lake Gardens perched on the shores of Lake Michigan about midway between Two Rivers and Manitowoc.  This privately-funded garden is open to the public at no charge and was at the peak of its summer glory during our visit.  The allee of Queen Elizabeth roses looked and smelled delicious while off in the distance we caught a glimpse of the ferry, Badger, starting her cruise across the lake to a port in Michigan.  This wonderful garden is supported by funds provided by its founders, Ruth and John West, and it continues to flourish as a living memorial to their commitment to that neighborhood.              

On Sunday we hit a few antique shops in Manitowoc and wrapped up our visit with a stop at the Rahr West Art Museum.  Yes, the same Wests as the garden.  The Victorian style mansion was donated to the city of Manitowoc in 1941 for use as a museum and civic center.  In 1975 a modern wing was added to house the permanent collection with both permanent and rotating exhibits.  The mansion itself is open to the public and filled with art and artifacts, the upstairs rooms being given over to various collections, including the Simon Schwartz Chinese Ivories.  It was a pleasure to wander around the rooms of the mansion and inspect those displays which most interested us.            

We learned that Two Rivers lays claim to the invention of the ice cream sundae.  Unfortunately we got too busy doing other things and never got back to the visitors center to try the root beer float made with root beer ice cream.  They were dubbed sundaes because they were originally only served on Sundays – or so proclaimed the sign in the town square.

 

The weather had been borderline uncomfortable with heat and humidity and it only seemed to get worse as we made our way to Madison for the FMCA Family Reunion.  We learned our lesson some years back and sprang for the extra fee for an electrical hook-up.  Those big green generators may have been noisy but they did an excellent job of providing a steady supply of amperage, enough to keep one a/c going nearly constantly.  The convention was a flurry of meetings, happy hours, seminars and meeting and greeting friends and acquaintances we haven’t seen since the last convention.  It was so good to see folks again, especially those who’ve had serious illnesses recently and who have made wonderful recoveries.

By the end of the convention, all the tanks that should be full were empty and those that should be empty were full so we made our way back to the full-service campground in Lake Delton to remedy the situation and to attend another brief rally for the purpose of dumping holding tanks, doing laundry and resting.  We decided to extend our stay an extra day so we could make the 40 mile run to Spring Green for a visit to the House on the Rock.  Others who’ve visited have raved about the place and so we felt we’d be missing something if we by-passed it again.  To my mind, the admission fee would have been better spent elsewhere.  There was a lot of walking involved and by days’ end I was just about played out.  Many of the display cases were so poorly lit that we could barely see what they held, others weren’t labeled at all so we were left wondering what we were looking at.  And, in spite of the hefty admission fee, almost all of the animated musical displays required a token or two (four for a dollar) to activate them.  I  admit to being disappointed. 

We were advised to stop at a scenic overlook on the highway north of the House for a long-range look at the Infinity Room and the Rock after which the house was named.  It was another long trek on a hot and humid day.  The view was partially obscured by trees and by then I was singularly disinterested in the House on the Rock and anything connected to it.

Having barely rested from all that hiking, we hitched up the car and headed due south for a brief stop-over in Rockford, Illinois.  For as frenetic as the rallies had been, the campground on the banks of the Kishwaukee River was peaceful and serene.  Jackie and Roy were also stopped there, along with their friends Ramona and Gary, so we had a potluck feast Wednesday evening, featuring the trout that Jackie had caught on an outing at Two Rivers.  They went geocaching and we went antiquing and we all met again the second night for an instant replay of the previous potluck, this time with fish tacos. 

Our paths diverged on Thursday when we headed south to Bloomington/Normal and they headed east toward Fort Wayne.  The only reason we were stopping in Bloomington/Normal was so I could buy a t-shirt and/or coffee mug declaring we had visited Normal.  It turns out the residents thereof have absolutely no sense of humor about the name of their city.  The only commemorative t-shirts and mugs we could find touted Illinois State University and the ISU Redbirds without ever mentioning that the campus is located in Normal, Illinois.  But we did get in some antiquing, scoring a number of eggcups and other little treasures including an iron Boston terrier doorstop, one of the items on my “need to acquire” list.

And now begins our journey further south, following our noses to Louisiana and some of Rose’s good gumbo.