{"id":1219,"date":"2012-07-05T12:54:03","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T12:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=1219"},"modified":"2012-07-05T12:54:03","modified_gmt":"2012-07-05T12:54:03","slug":"2012-summer-vacation-day-5-the-wisconsin-dells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/2012\/07\/05\/2012-summer-vacation-day-5-the-wisconsin-dells\/","title":{"rendered":"2012 Summer Vacation, Day 5: The Wisconsin Dells"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A view of the Wisconsin Dells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is a ‘dell?’ \u00a0According to the dictionary:<\/p>\n

dell\u00a0|del|<\/p>\n

noun\u00a0literary<\/p>\n

a small valley, usually among trees:\u00a0lush\u00a0green\u00a0valleys\u00a0and\u00a0wooded dells.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we were planning this trip, when people heard we were going to The Wisconsin Dells, they would either nod in agreement or say that it was too touristy and that we should stay away. \u00a0Both were right. \u00a0The Dells are where the Wisconsin River cuts through layers of Potsdam sandstone to create some picturesque views. \u00a0Boat tours of The Dells have been offered here for over a hundred years. \u00a0Over time, amusement parks, water parks (including the largest one in the world), miniature golf courses (included the largest in the world, containing five 36-hole courses), Ripley’s Believe It or Not, T-shirt shops, and other attractions have grown up in the area. \u00a0It has a feel much like Gattlinburg and Pidgin Forge. \u00a0The main street has a lot of shops, but they have more of a beach feel than a Gattlinburg, crafty feel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/a>
Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We began the day with an all-you-can-eat, family-style breakfast of pancakes, eggs, potatoes, sausages, ham, and biscuits with gravy at Paul Bunyan’s. \u00a0I really enjoy the Phineas and Ferb cartoon. \u00a0Those who watch the show will remember the episode Greece Lightning, in which the kids race chariots past a restaurant, called Paul Bunyan’s and the song that plays, “Paul Bunyan’s, where the food is good, but not too good, eh.” \u00a0So, we just had to eat here. \u00a0The food was good, the price was reasonable, and the services was excellent.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>
One of the rock formations in the Upper Dells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After breakfast we took a two hour boat trip to the Upper Dells. \u00a0This included two opportunities to get out and walk through some of the interesting rock formations. \u00a0At one of the stops, a trained German Shepherd leaped from a cliff to a tall rock formation, called Standing Rock. \u00a0It was pretty silly, but fun, and it happened so fast, I missed taking a picture of it.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a>
Now THAT is a handsome family!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The boat tour was very hot. \u00a0When we got off the boat to wander around, the sandstone formations provided some natural air conditioning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Riding<\/a>
Riding in a WWII "Duck" to get to the first zip line tower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the boat ride, we went on the Bigfoot Zip Line “Tour.” \u00a0This was crazy expensive, but we had a great, three-hour adventure. \u00a0After a safety briefing and having our equipment triple checked, we boarded a “Duck” to get us to the first tower. \u00a0There were six towers with slides that ranged from 580 to 1300 feet in length. \u00a0The folks running the place were personable but professional. \u00a0This was a quality outfit.<\/p>\n

\"Candy<\/a>
Candy coming in for a landing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There were fifteen of us in our tour group, so we never had to wait too long. \u00a0We had the same pair of guides with us the whole time, one hooking us in at the top, and the other one “catching” at the bottom.<\/p>\n

\"Who<\/a>
Who IS that handsome devil?!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All of us had been on a zip line before, but some of the other folks in our group were petrified for the first few runs. \u00a0A couple of people panicked and got caught in the middle, so one of the guides had to slide out to them and pull them to the landing tower by hand.<\/p>\n

\"Daredevil<\/a>
Daredevil Sam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because of Sam’s weight, she didn’t have to break on the way down. \u00a0She could just enjoy the ride. \u00a0This place even encouraged us to “do tricks.” \u00a0We took running leaps off the tower to start our runs. \u00a0We rode upside down. \u00a0We leaped backward off the tower.<\/p>\n

\"Tom,<\/a>
Tom, the pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the end I felt bad, because a larger percentage of our guides’ pay is based on tips, and most of our group stiffed them.<\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>
At the pool with Chief Blackhawk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By this time, we were very hot, so we went back to the motel to spend an hour in the pool. \u00a0The pool had two things you don’t often see at motel pools any more: slides and a diving board.<\/p>\n

\"Sammy<\/a>
Sammy coming down the slide<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The water was a very comfortable temperature and was welcome after a hot morning on the boat and a hot afternoon (about 106 degrees) on the zip line.<\/p>\n

\"Tommy<\/a>
Tommy diving into the pool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because the pool had a diving board, it offered the kids a chance to practice diving.<\/p>\n

\"Sammy<\/a>
Sammy looking like a pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the pool, we went to dinner and then drove down to the main part of the town to walk around the various junk shops. \u00a0We also had to get our obligatory old-time photo taken. \u00a0It wouldn’t be a vacation without the old-time photo! \u00a0One store we found was called Root Beer Revelry. \u00a0The entire store was dedicated to different kinds of root beer from different vendors, most in glass bottles. \u00a0Tommy and I bought a six-pack of assorted root beers. \u00a0Candy and Sam also bought a four pack of assorted other nostalgic pops. \u00a0As we were walking back to the car with these packs of glass bottles, we got LOTS of strange looks from the passersby who obviously thought Tom was carrying real beer. \u00a0In fact, at one point we saw a policeman rushing toward us, and I thought someone had called the cops on us! \u00a0It was very funny.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A daylight view of the front of our motel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, were the Wisconsin Dells touristy? \u00a0Certainly. \u00a0Did we have a great time. \u00a0Absolutely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is a ‘dell?’ \u00a0According to the dictionary: dell\u00a0|del| noun\u00a0literary a small valley, usually among trees:\u00a0lush\u00a0green\u00a0valleys\u00a0and\u00a0wooded dells.   As we were planning this trip, when people heard we were going to The Wisconsin Dells, they would either nod in agreement or say that it was too touristy and that we should stay away. \u00a0Both were … Continue reading 2012 Summer Vacation, Day 5: The Wisconsin Dells<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}