Wisconsin Dells

We journeyed to the Wisconsin Dells for a few days this past week to go cross-country skiing. The first day was by far the better day, with temperatures being more bearable, in the 20s. We all agreed that the state park we skiied at reminded us of the tree farm we went to in MI many years ago. I seem to be the only one who falls while skiing, mainly because I can't turn very well, so going down the hills and having to turn doesn't work out so well. I fell twice, once on each hip to even out the bruising. The second day of skiing wasn't nearly as enjoyable as the temps dropped to -4 with windchills in the -10ish area. Normally our hands and feet get warm once we get moving, but not this day. After 30 mins of moving I still could not feel my hands or my feet and after we got back to the car I noticed that the hair that had been near my nose and mouth was covered in droplets of ice, so I felt it was imperative that I document it.

In addition to going skiing, the timeshare we stayed at was connected to 3 different indoor waterparks and we had option of using them if we wanted, though 1 was closed for cleaning and maintenance. The other 2 were equally elaborate in its own way. The Wild West waterpark was also connected to a HUGE arcade and giant jungle gym where you could shoot nerf balls at people. We didn't go in there but we heard about it from Aunt Susie. In the Wild West park there were several tube rides, a jungle gym pool, wave pool and hot tub--that went outside. We chose to go on a tube ride called the Black Hole. It was a single person ride that sent you through a pitch black tube and then suddenly dropped you into a large circular contraption that spun you around like you were getting flushed down the toilet before spitting you out at the end of the ride. Not my favorite as I got a gush of water in my eyes and thought I may have lost a contact (I didn't). We also went on a family ride, also pitch black, that sent you through spraying water, swirling and twirling the whole way down. All of the rides started inside, but the tubes all were outside, somehow, despite them not being insulated, the water stayed warm. After several turns on the tube rides, we headed to the wave pool, where Dad jumped around with the tube over his head and looked like he had a donut sitting on his shoulders. Then we decided to hang out in the hot tub and even dared to venture to the outside portion of it, where it was snowing!

Once the water no longer felt warm, we dried off a bit and headed to the other waterpark Klondike Cavern. We had heard a lot about a ride called the Hurricane from Aunt Susie, so we decided to give it a try. We climbed what felt like 10 flights of stairs before reaching the entrance where they played background sounds of a thunderstorm (not my favorite sound in the world). It was a four person ride, though you could go with 2 or 3 as long as you met weight requirements--they had you stand on a scale as a group before allowing you to get situated. When we sat down in the tube, I couldn't help noticing that the seats were awfully small, but I wedged myself in. I was sent BACKWARDS into ANOTHER pitch black tube where we whipped and turned and all of a sudden...DROPPED--I left my stomach several feet above me as it felt like I free-fell to the brightly lit funnel below. We ended up in an ENORMOUS funnel shapped structure that you dropped into and slid up one side till you thought you'd flip, then slid you to the other side, even higher up the wall. Then you got slowed down by a jet of water that sent you down the rapids and out. Mom and I screamed the whole way down. After wiggling our way out of the tube, I understood why the seat was so small, they wanted you wedged in tight enough that you wouldn't fall out. We all looked at each other and decided to do it again and again (we made Dad go down backwards the next time). Then we grabbed some tubes and floated on the lazy river before jumping into another hot tub. Just before we were going to leave, we heard a bell ringing, signaling that a giant bucket that had been filling with water was about to tip and dump the water over everyone's heads. Mom and I looked in its direction and when we looked back, Dad was gone and racing across the bridge, throwing children out of his way to be one of the kids to get dumped on, some guy even brought his infant over to be cascaded with water. Dad said the kid next to him got hit by the water and then disappeared from the force. Clearly he's the biggest kid in the crowd. We called it a night as we hadn't had dinner yet and went back to heat up the lasagna...Mom and Dad took their second nap of the day during the wait.

We found it very strange to see snow out the window while we walked around in bathing suits and towels, so we captured a picture of dad with his swim trunks and flannel shirt...what you can't see is that he's also wearing his moccasins--very shnazzy. We realized that winter is really the best time to come because summer would be a mad house! So we'll have to make another trip sometime, hopefully with more opportunities to cross-country ski.