We took the three grandchildren camping for a week at Mirror Lake State Park at Lake Delton (the "Dells" area). They enjoyed several days at the beach, camp fires, hikes and other good fun. We did not get hooked into the Dells commercial activities but roughed it in the campground.
We did a little yoga:
And ate a little ice cream:
We travelled a few miles south to Devil's Lake State Park to use their beach. It is significantly better than the small one at Mirror Lake.
The campgrounds at Mirror Lake are, however, much nicer than at Devil's Lake. Of course our brand new water pump did not work on its first use. We survived without running water.
From there we moved backed to Deforest and suffered through a week of near 100 degree temperatures and very high humidity (82% and over). Water pump replaced.
Last weekend we stayed at the Vista Royale Campground in Bancroft WI. The Lemkes, Haugs and Sterns have spent the last weekend of July there for the last three years. The camping, like many private campgrounds, is crowded and somewhat disorganized. The sites don't have designated boundaries and shade is at a premium. Temperatures were in the upper 80s with cloudless skies for the most part. It was good sunburn weather. Severe storms fortunately missed us though there were many in the area. The kids enjoyed playing in the water. The adults enjoyed staying out of the sun.
Last Sunday we travelled from Bancroft to Amerst Junction about 30 miles northeast. We camped at Lake Emily County Park. The park was beautiful and relaxing.
It sits on the Tomorrow River Bicycle Trail. Unfortunately, our bicycles did not make the trip. We did, however, watch a bald eagle fish in the Lake while we set up camp. And, yes, the newer water pump worked.
On Thursday we travelled 100 miles south back to Mirror Lake. We are enjoying the quiet even though there is no vacancy in the park. Thursday night we celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary dining at the Cheese Factory Restaurant in Lake Delton. It is a highly rated vegetarian/vegan restaurant. Great food. And topped the meal off with a slice of chocolate cake for two that was bigger than my head (in other words, darn big.) Life goes on.
