Wisconsin Dells     July  10, 2012   

The city takes its name from the dells of the Wisconsin River, a scenic, a glacially formed gorge that features striking sandstone formations along the banks of the Wisconsin River.  Because has numerous indoor waterparks and outdoor waterparks, proclaiming itself the "Waterpark Capital of the World".   It is home to the largest outdoor waterpark in the U.S., Noah's Ark; an indoor waterpark resort, Kalahari Resort; and America's largest water and theme park resort, Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park.  The town sort of takes on a Branson type atmosphere.

We were fortunate to find a pizza restaurant that served gluten free crust so of course we had to give it a try.  It was very good.  All the toppings (sausage and vegetables) were all in large chunks.  It was Moosejaw.

As we were headed to the Dell boat for a trip up the river there was some excitement.  Four lanes of traffic was stopped for us in the crosswalk.  The Dells are kind of like being at the dam.  Not many lights though people do stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.  I scurried across the road so as to not hold up traffic.  Once I passed the last car I slowed down before stepping onto the curb.  I turned right and there was this young woman on a bike barreling into me.  Guess all this weight I gained held me in good stead.  She bounced off me like I was a tree and I didn’t go down but my head hit her face and my right wrist took the force of the impact from her handlebars.  I had tread marks down both legs but were just brushed by the tires.  The young lady was dazed and mouth was bleeding.  We were both in shock.  Of course, we both said “I’m fine”.  Hope she is.  Tried to get her to wait a minute but wouldn’t. She said her hand brake didn’t work as she was coming down the hill.  After impact, I immediately looked at my wrist because of the pain.  There was a knot about an inch high sticking out.  At first I thought it was a bone but guess it broke veins and just immediately gushed into skin.  I have a bruise on my hip, and my forearm is bruised and swollen.  Had my wrist and elbow x – rayed and they are ok but still VERY sore.  My shoulder and elbow are still a little sore from being jammed.  It could have been much worse.  The people on the sidewalk were so funny.  They all said they had never seen anything like it and that the girls didn’t even slow down.  They all looked shocked too.  We walked up the hill to Dairy Queen and got ice to put on wrist and kept it elevated the rest of day.  We were on our way to the boat to take the river cruise so we went ahead and got on the boat.  It was great and sights were beautiful.  Love hearing the history.  Would have like it better without the pain but still enjoyed it.  (I did get xrays later and nothing was broken)

Wedding Rock - Said that Indians were married there then jumped into the water together

Because of the scenery provided by the dells of the Wisconsin River, Kilbourn City quickly became a popular travel destination in the Midwest. In 1875, early landscape photographer H. H. Bennett (who has an interesting story of photography if you care to read about him) established a studio in the city and took many photos of the sandstone formations in the dells

Bennett developed the shutter concept on cameras.  Before that, only still photos could be taken. 

 This is his first successful action photo of his son jumping the huge rock formations

Several times a day, they have a German Shepherd make the jump for the tourist and the trick is to try to catch him

in mid air.

 This is a natural rock overhang - not a constructed platform