5/23/2021 Wisconsin Dells – Playing Tourist
Well, who woulda thunk that I would end up in a brand new RV park behind Ho Chunk Casino in the Dells? This was a coincidence, to say the least. I had planned to visit family there and made a reservation at the Ho Chunk RV Park and Resort. Little did I know that when I arrived at the casino, the RV park was right behind the hotel. I had come in a day early and spent the night in the truck/RV/bus lot that was nice and quiet. The casino required masks, and everyone wore them, as far as I could tell. I spent $5 playing at a video poker machine for an hour. I am such a big spender! I bought a glass of wine to make up for my lack of interest in gambling.
The next morning I went to the hotel where I had to check in and there was no record of my reservation. The attendant thought that I might have made it at the other RV park in Lyndon Station (which btw was where I called to reserve a spot), but I made my reservation at this one in Baraboo instead, intending to cancel my other reservation later.
My spot was near the restrooms and this building looked brand new. It’s a small park with less than 50 spots and were well spaced out. All of them had electric, and most had full hook ups. Apparently the roads are 2-way and it was a little confusing to navigate at first. This is a wide open campground with a few trees, so I had to be aware of my neighbors. Not much privacy, but everyone pretty much kept to themselves. I camped near a group with a loud barking dog, and the owners did little to quiet the puppy and just told it to shut up. So, the next day I changed my spot to the end of another road that was much better. Each site had a round picnic table that I had to move to line up the van with the electric box and a nice man gave me a hand with it.
Friday, I visited my aunt and uncle, and toured their new home and then toured my cousin’s. We just hung around my aunts house and I left when it started getting dark. The next day I planned to go hiking, but the trail I wanted to go to was longer drive than than I thought. We had talked about going to the auto show in the Dells on Saturday and I decided to join my cousin and uncle there instead. I had to back track and ended up on a road that I thought lead to nowhere, but it actually lead right into the Dells.
The Automation Show in the Dells was jammed with cars trying to get there. It took an hour and a half sitting in traffic and my cousin and I texted back and forth with updates, since we were in different vehicles. Eventually, we met at Mt. Olympic Water Park, where hordes of crowds gathered to see the antique cars. Some of these cars brought back a lot of memories and it was a great way to spend the afternoon in spite of traffic. I took pics and had a great time, but got tired, and headed back to my campsite after.
Just as I pulled in to my new spot, the security guard drove over. I had noticed that my water jug and step stool were moved and assumed that someone moved them to keep things out of the way. Turns out that a couple of people walked over to my site and were looking at my stuff. Apparently, they were planning to take it and the security guard told them that the site was occupied and told them to leave. This is the first time that anyone approached my campsite intending to steal. That was an eye opener. The guard told me to make sure I took my stuff with me when I leave my site. I was a little miffed that I even had to think about this. My aunt warned me about crime in the Dells, and I learned my lesson quickly. My antennas are up!