Happy 4th of July...
Blogging from the road.....with more tales .... from the road. What a whirlwind since I left Michigan! From being around so many friends and family to... now....knowing no one is quite a contrast....which is one of the many reasons I love this life style.
From Kalamazoo, got through Chicago (won't write about that) into Wisconsin. A new state for me and it is so much more than:::the beer, the cheese, and the Packers!
Baraboo...home of "The Ringling Brothers" now the Circus World Museum on a 51 acre site alongside the Baraboo River, displays thousands of artifacts, from circus wagons and clown costumes to sideshow posters. I didn't go but Circus America is performed in summers under an old fashioned big top. The Sauk County Historical Museum is filled with exhibits from native peoples' artifacts to Civil War momentos to old househould items. The town of Baraboo is such a charmer, with an old fashioned business district built around a courthouse square. It's picture-pretty and I run out of adjectives trying to describe it. The state parks geology marks the southernmost advance of the last Ice Age. The converging forces of glaciers, rivers and erosion have created one of the Midwest's most diverse earth science sites.
Wisconsin Dells....is the state's most popular visitor attraction. I would have enjoyed it more if I'd had kids with me.,,,maybe! I stayed at a KOA right in the middle of the "new DisneyWorld". With the water world, rides, etc ... get the picture?! One night was plenty!
The Apostle Islands...step aboard a boat with your car and your dog in Bayfield and you're off in a Ferry to Madeline Island on gigantic Lake Superior.
I stayed overnight on the island. It was pretty busy but the ferry goes every half hour in the summer. The island is a classic example of how people can restore a wilderness destroyed by their predecessors. So close to shore, vulnerable, the islands were over-trapped, over-hunted, over-fished and over-logged. Local conservationists, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore was created in 1970, and the healing process began. Today we see recovery of everything from the forests to renewed populations of deer, bald eagles, and bears. Lots of hiking trails, kayaking, primitive campsites and then.....there is the Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua (a large tent theatre). I didn't get to see him but on July 3rd, BB King was there. I have seen him several times and he's a site to see and hear.
Minnesota... rain/thunder/lightning storms and tornado watches was what it was all about yesterday 7-3...Tuesday. Had to pull over several times and wait but I wasn't alone. Not drivable! Arrived in...
Red Wing......now at Treasure Island Resort & Casino. Haven't been gambling but it's a great resort....$16 bucks/night with all amenities. If Red Wing sounds familiar and you're thinking of sensible shoes - then you're in the right place. Red Wing is not just ShoeTown, USA. It's called Minnesota's most handsome town & I concur. The downtown area is adorned with old-fashioned lamp posts hung with flower baskets, the grand Victorian and Tudor style mansions bask beneath ancient trees in the neighborhood. The business district was built or remodeled during a nationwide "Beautiful City" movement near the turn of the last century and was inspired by a model city built for Chicago's 1893 Columbia Exposition. Many parks, boutiques, antique shops, coffee houses. cafes, restaurants.....& on & on
Last night, here at the casino resort, we had an incredible show of fireworks.
Watched them from "Phoebe McGee" (my RV) with TaZzi freaking out...believing at any minute she would be blown up....Phoebe McGee was shaking!. They were so close. Tonight, being the 4th, have no idea what to expect. Tomorrow to Lake City, home of the inventor of water skiing in 1922, then Wabasha, one of the state's oldest towns, dating from the 1830s...........all this along the beautiful Mississippi River...................& then to Amish country (Harmony) also called "Spam" Country....because of Hormel Foods????
then on to South Dakota and will have plenty to say about that.....I'm sure.
this blog is waaaay tooooooo loooooonnnnnggggg, so I will
S T O P! Til next time.
Gypsy Mama can't get the smile off my face!
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