Wisconsin Dells

Last week my family (Mom, Dad, Steph, Kris, Marie, Rob, and I) went to the Wisconsin Dells to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. We all met in Minneapolis on Saturday and had a barbecue with family. On Sunday we headed towards the Dells and stopped in Osseo at the Norske Nook (a Norwegian themed Diner that has national award winning pies and lots of things wrapped in lefse) for lunch. It was delicious. We drove through some very slow road construction and made it to the Dells. After getting checked in to the hotel and making a trip to Walmart for groceries--the day was pretty much spent.

Day 2 in the Dells started with an Upper Dells Boat Tour. It last 2 and a half hours and included two shore landings. It was well worth the money. I'd recommend that Upper Dells tour to anyone going to Wisconsin Dells. After our lengthy tour on a hot day, Kris, Marie, Rob, and I decided to head over to the Hotel's Water parks. We all enjoyed "America's largest indoor wave pool" and the more adventurous (i.e. not me) enjoyed all of the water slides.

Day 3 began with a rain storm. Afterwards we went on a Duck Boat tour. These are military ambhibious vehicles from WWII and the Korean War that have been refurbished to run tours of the woods and the waters of the Dells. Dad really enjoyed this tour--but it wasn't nearly as interesting as the Upper Dells Boat Tour. That afternoon we went to Devil's Lake State Park (which is South of the Dells) and hiked Parfrey's Glen. All of my research online said this would be well worth the short hike, but they failed to mention that many of the paths towards the end of the glen had been washed out in the floods of 2008 and the glen had been closed down for a whole year, etc...It was still worth the hike, but we couldn't make it to the end where the waterfall was at (Rob did, and was a bit of a muddy mess for it). After Parfrey's Glen we went to the State Park and debated whether we wanted to make one of the hikes to a rock formation in the park. It was warm and the closest hike involved steep inclines (really really steep inclines), so we decided to just sit and enjoy the lake scenery a bit before heading back to the Dells. On our way back we stopped at the Outlet Mall.

Day 4 was our last full day in the Dells. Kris, Marie, and Dad went to the House on the Rock (which is about an hour and a half away). Mom, Stephanie, Rob, and I stayed in the Dells and started our day off with the Lost Canyon tour. The tour through the Lost Canyon is a wagon ride pulled by draft horses. The wagons were specially designed to fit through the canyon. There were several places where we were ducking or leaning to avoid the canyon walls as we went through. It was a very picturesque tour--but you do smell the horses :). After the Lost Canyon Tour, we went back to the Outlet Mall (as we had only stopped to check it out the night before). After returning from the Outlet Mall, Rob and I went to a few shops downtown to find my magnet (my souvenir collection). After supper, Dad, Marie, Kris, Rob, and I went miniature golfing--Dad said it had probably been 40 years since he had been mini golfing. We were glad to take him. :).

Our 5th day was filled with driving--we headed back to Minneapolis. In the afternoon, Stephanie, Rob, and I made the pilgrimage to Ikea. It was a great trip! :)

Photos can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahjanesetnes/sets/