We drove 354 miles to make it to Country Roads Motorhome and RV Park in Lake Delton, Wisconsin. This was a beautiful RV park with large grassy lots perfect for us! They advertise their park is for “older kids” so we definitely qualify. Originally we stopped for just an overnight stay, but we decided to stay for the weekend so we could explore the area and iwe didn’t want to get to Elkhart, Indiana, until Monday so we could have some work done on the front drivers seat of the RV. It was a busy weekend because of the Wo-Zha-Wa Days Fall Festival, but we lucked out and could stay for the weekend as long as we moved to another site the following day. It didn’t take long to move the RV and we still had lots of time to explore the town and the festival. We didn’t buy much at the festival, except for some delicious fudge and a new purse for me to replace my damaged small blue cloth purse that I carry when I walk.
The next day we explored the Dells of the Wisconsin River, aka the Wisconsin Dells named from French dalles, or narrows. The dells are a 5 mile gorge on the Wisconsin River in south-central Wisconsin. The cliffs on the Dells, which can be over 100 feet high, and side canyons are closed to the public to protect the ecological features including Cambrian sandstone rock formations. Boat tours are the best way to view the Dells so we boarded the Dell’s Boat Tours in the morning for their 2-hour tour of the Upper Dells, the section of the Wisconsin River above the dam. We saw the sandstone formations Chimney Rock, Blackhawk’s Profile and Romance Cliff. We also made two stops to explore Witches Gulch and Stand Rock. Witches Gulch is a walk through a narrow canyon carved by wind and water and filled with fern glens, shadowy passages and hidden whirpool chambers. At Stand Rock we watched a dog jump from the cliff to Stand Rock. After lunch, we explored the Lower Dells. We started our 1-hour tour just below the dam. Once we got through the swift water from the dam, the river widens out and slowly meanders between tall sandstone cliffs. Twice we went around rock formations separated from the banks. The last one reminded me of our boat tour with Peter and Paulla last summer on the St. Lawrence. We saw the named rock formations, including the Baby Grand Piano, Hawk‘s Bill and the Rocky Islands before the water got to shallow for our tour boat to continue.
