Day 9: Welcome to Wisconsin!

On June 17 we finally arrived in Wisconsin. As we were still a few hours away from Milwaukee, we decided to stop in the Wisconsin Dells area. We camped at "Rocky Arbor" state campground - a welcome change from the "campground/RV parks" we encountered off the highway in Saskatchewan & ND. Lots of trees, the ability to have a campfire, & limited highway noise.







As usual - the evening was very pleasant - clear skies & nice temperatures. However, sometime in the night that changed. I woke up to wind & water blowing into the van (we sleep with the back up so as to have fresh air - similar to a tent atmosphere; the boys sleep up top). I told Wade that rain was blowing in, to which he replied "Oh - it can't be that bad" (basically "suck it up"). He soon realized the wind was picking up & the rain turned into a downpour - complete with *you guessed it* thunder & lightening. So - my knight in shining armor got out of the van to shut the back. This entails a bit more work as you have to first swing the bike rack out of the way. Add to the scenario the torrential downpour & lightening & you have a recipe for a very irritated hubby. We had to speedily shut windows & zip up the "upstairs" vents to keep the water out. It was pretty amazing how quickly the storm came through. We were very happy to be in a vehicle & not in a tent.

Being "south" in the summer is very different from Alaska. For example - it gets dark here!


We chose to spend most of Day 10 visiting a popular attraction of the Wisconsin Dells - the water parks! We went to "Noah's Ark" which is apparently the largest water park in the U.S. No photos from that outing: digital cameras & water don't mix. We had a great time riding the waves - a nice break from the car & fun way to spend the day in the warm temperatures. After fun at the park, we loaded up the van & headed to our first major destination: Casa de Sivils in Milwaukee, WI

Ciao & Happy Travels!

Mileage Begin: 109,245
Mileage End: 109,778
Total Miles Day 9: 533 (finally - a 500 mile day!!)
Miles from home: 3,145
Tunes du Jour: "Prey" by Michael Crichton audiobook (oy-vay: lot's of "f-bombs!")
Knitting Project: More of Kiama
Gas Total: 32.342 gallons
Total Cost: $88.41 US