Another summer in Wisconsin Dells has ended

more cat pictures

LAST NIGHT, WITH THE TRAIN DELAYED BY OVER AN HOUR OR SO because of connexions in Chicago from a New York train being delayed by same hitting a pedestrian somewhere in Indiana, Your Correspondent returned from his annual trip to the Waterpark Capital of the World.

Otherwise known as Wisconsin Dells, for the uneducate.

This, I will admit, is perhaps my way of marking my return to the world of blogging, which will have to be in somewhat tenuous steps for the time being; it may be a little while more before I return to full-on daily blogging schedules. So bear with me.

In any event, there can be no mistaking the fact that the Dells can only get to be rather interesting, even if Lake Delton suddenly drained dry in a flood's opening a new spillway on 9 June ... followed exactly one month to the day later (Ripley, take note) by a mysterious fire in the summer-worker housing @ the Tommy Bartlett complex, whose flagship show has been modified to reflect the fact of Lake Delton's now having no water for the time being. (Fortunately, though, Your Correspondent was able to see the modified edition, and was not disappointed with the end result. Even if one of the chestnuts called in to compensate for the loss of the waterski portion, Dieter "You like it, I'll do it again!" Tasso, acknowledged where his age was making his act a little more difficult to pull off.

(Especially that of balancing several cups and saucers, and a teapot as the crown, on his head.)

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AS IT TURNED OUT, THE EVENING I ATTENDED THIS MODIFIED PERFORMANCE OF "THE SHOW" saw a rather potent thunderstorm pass through, with attendant loss of electric power while @ the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory as forced standby lighting to be resorted to during the outage. (The 4:30 performance had to be cancelled in consequence of the said storm, only the tenth time since covered grandstands went up in 1966 that a performance had to be cancelled.)

And while on the storm front, Friday morning saw a rather potent one kick up as I started walking down to Noah's Ark during a lull in a thunderstorm as prevailed much of that morning; luckily, though, I found shelter in a convenience store @ the Lower Dells junction just as the skies grew all the darker. And it took around an hour or so to wait before getting a taxicab to go to Mr. Pancake, where I usually have brekkie before going to Noah's. Luckily, though, the storm broke and my day @ Noah's went off without a hitch.

(But could you call the smaller-than-average crowds as made waits for the likes of Black Anaconda, Kowabunga or StingRay shorter than average a serious hitch, let alone the Big Kahuna wavepool being a little easier to navigate?)

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STILL, THOUGH, HIGH-SPF SUNBLOCK MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE in a place like Wisconsin Dells, even considering where summers there can get to be hot and muggy; in my own case, I prefer the likes of Hawaiian Tropic O-Zone Sport (SPF 60+) on the body, while the face got Banana Boat Faces, Etc. (SPF 40)--this particular fondness for high-SPF sunblock on my part being explained by past episodes on my part of really awful sunburns as led to peeling of the skin, particularly on the back.

The which surfah types like referring to as "delamination."

Not to mention a super-absorbent towel of the kind you can find @ outdoor supply shops instead of the so-last-Wednesday traditional beach towel as can get smelly and difficult to handle after awhile.

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RECOMMENDATIONS MATTER, AND THEN SOME, DEPARTMENT, SHOOBIE-TRAP DIVISION: Riverview Park and Waterworld broke in a new mascot character this season, going by the name of Duncan Dragon--blue throughout, can't quite swim but enjoys a nice splasharound every now and then.

Had a chance to meet up with him during his walkabout on Monday, when I called there. And after calling it a day, Duncan, through his handler, suggested Famous Dave's for dinner. And what a dinner it was: A Two-Meat Combi (I chose beef brisket and rib tips, not to mention sides of baked beans and wedge fries), corn on the cob, a corn muffin, what seems like gallons of sweet tea--and, for dessert, a hot fudge Kahlua brownie.

Sat next to a couple who managed to drive all the way from Winnipeg, Manitoba (CDN) to vacation in the Waterpark Capital--come to think of it, found plenty of shoobies from Friendly Manitoba there, as well as from the likes of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado and even Washington state. And plenty of summer workers from Eastern Europe, Bulgaria being especially well represented; Pakistan and Turkey saw their share as well.

I even ran into a visitor from South Africa.

No wonder the Dells are getting quite the global reputation ... and come to think of it, could you just imagine a Wisconsin Dells T-shirt appearing on that (in)famous Brussels statue of the Peeing Boy?

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ANYWAY, AS I SAID @ THE BEGINNING, MY RETURN TO BLOGGING WILL LIKELY BE TENATIVE AND SPORADIC FOR THE TIME BEING; I just need the time to readjust before going back to daily form.