Devil's Lake

We were expecting our mail today, but it didn't show. So, instead of heading north we hung around Wisconsin Dells for another day. It would have been a beautiful day to drive, but since we weren't driving anywhere we opted for a hike around Devil's Lake, just south of Baraboo. Devil's Lake State Park is a welcome respite from the very touristy Dells. Today's weather brought out quite a crowd...and lots of mosquitos. We hiked along the western bluff of the lake, on part of the Ice Age Trail, some 500 feet above the water. We started our hike waaay down there, near the beach.

The views from the top of bluff were definitely worth the climb. The towering quartzite is beautiful against the clear blue water and the green Wisconsin hills.

Back down at lake level, we enjoyed the scenery for a bit before heading back toward the beach.

The lakeside trail was aptly named Tumbled Rocks. Huge quartzite boulders lined the trail. Thankfully we didn't have to climb over them!

We searched for three geocaches along the trails and found none. It was just one of those days. Shortly after Paul zeroed in on this cache location we were literally swarmed by about a dozen kids, who for some unknown reason decided they needed to explore this spot off the trail. We aborted our search and called it an 0-for-3 day.

We didn't find any caches, but we got some much-needed exercise and enjoyed some amazing views. Not a bad way to spend a day waiting for mail!

Baraboo

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls! Spending a few days near Wisconsin Dells has been fun. Except, we don't really like places like Wisconsin Dells. So, we headed south a few miles to visit the town of Baraboo, which is home to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. The Circus World Museum in Baraboo has an amazing collection of circus posters and other paraphernalia.

One display of circus wardrobe depicted the opulence of the 1980s. (Remember that?) This costume is from the "King Tut" production, circa 1986.

The museum is home to more than 200 circus wagons, which have been painstakingly preserved. Back in the day, when the circus came to town it was a real event, and these wagons were a big part of the parade.

This wagon, decked in silver leaf, has been dubbed the "Wedding Cake Wagon". Whoever sat on top of this triple decker was in for quite a ride!

Special attention was paid to the wagon wheels. The classic "sunburst" design makes quite a flare as it turns. Anything to add a little bit more excitement to the parade!

This is one of the corner details of a wagon covered in gold leaf. Very shiny! And, a bit scary. Don't know if this wagon would make us want to run to the circus.

This Jimmy Durante car features a wonderful quote from the comedian. "Where can you find one form of amusement that suits grand-dad, ma, pa and kids except the circus." How true. Ha-cha-cha-cha!

Our trip to Circus World also included an amazing magic show and an entertaining tiger show. Between all of the circus acts, we managed to keep ourselves entertained.

Yep, there's something about spending an afternoon at the circus that brings out the kid in everybody!

Yowza! What's that? We'll just leave it to you circus types to figure that one one out.

If you find yourself in Wisconsin Dells with nothing that tickles your fancy, head south to Baraboo and check out the circus. It's still The Greatest Show on Earth.