The smoke and heat in The Wisconsin Dells

We made the 35-mile trip from Madison through central Wisconsin to our next campground. That's 35 miles through dairy land and right past the Headquarters of the Culver's burger and ice cream franchise. We were in the middle of cheese country! We had been snacking on cheese curds and string cheese from local shops since we hit the Wisconsin border!

We stayed at Double K-D campground, a family-owned place that doesn't have many rules and no one to greet you and lead you to your site when you arrive. When we finally got settled into a camp site, we couldn't wait to turn the air-conditioner on. Wisconsin was welcoming us with an unusually hot stretch of days, and this was another weather-aware-heat-wave day. 

Between the humidity and the heat, we spent more time than usual inside with the AC on. We ventured out after we fixed dinner, and explored Mirror Lake State Park. While the pictures on the web site showed a clear lake that mirrors the trees around it, we instead found a green algae bloom that didn't tempt us to get out our kayak.

Wisconsin State Parks charge vehicles with out-of-state license plates $16 for a one-day parking pass. Since we plan to visit several state parks, we invested in the $50 out-of-state annual parking pass as we drove into our first park. Because we couldn't kayak and because the heat was oppressive, the ranger suggested a short, flat hike in the shade to Echo Rock. So we parked and headed into the forest.

It was a one-mile hike to the big rock overlooking the water's edge. Of course, we had to climb to the top of Echo Rock.

We could see commotion through the trees, and realized that we were very close to the Ishnala Supper Club--in business here since 1953.

We had just eaten dinner, and we didn't have reservations, but we were curious what a Wisconsin Supper Club looked like.

The supper club was named for the Ishnala tribe from this area. Several teepees and other Native American art pieces decorated the outdoor area.

The big parking lot was full, and guests were dressed nicely. The billboard at the parking lot pictured some pretty fancy entree options. Supper clubs serve things like North Atlantic Salmon, 24-ounce Ribeye, Prime Rib, Butterflied Prawns, Lobster Tails, or a Filet Mignon. We couldn't help but notice that no prices were included on that billboard. When we looked it up, we found those entrees ranged in price from $55 to $80. We were glad that we weren't hungry!

Another sign reminded customers that they would have a good time, because Ishnala was the state's best Supper Club, and was voted Wisconsin's "best destination restaurant" every year from 2016 to the present. Because we were getting all our information from signs around the property, we should also point out that another one said they have served 42,004 "old fashioneds" this season. Wow! That's a lot of alcohol! We peeked inside, to see what the interior of a Wisconsin Supper Club looked like.

It was too warm for anyone to enjoy the patio seating, but the lake here didn't have the green algae that we saw earlier.

After checking out the supper club, we took a different trail back to the car. It was longer and less flat, and we were both sweating profusely by the time we got finished with our 2.7-mile hike this day.

We assumed that it would cool off this evening, but we had also heard that the smoke from the Canada and Minnesota wild fires was on its way to Wisconsin. They predicted it would reach us at 8:00 this evening, and their estimate was spot on. As we drove into the town of The Wisconsin Dells, we were engulfed by the edge of the smoke.  The sun was low in the sky when we got there, and the smoke had turned it into a neon orange orb.

We were also engulfed by the tourist mecca of The Wisconsin Dells. There were miniature golf courses on steroids, Ripley's Believe-it-or-not museum, escape rooms, and fudge shops by the dozens. Their main claim to fame, however, is that they have the most water parks in the world. It's a summer vacation hot spot for families! We hadn't planned to spend much time in The Wisconsin Dells, but we wanted to see it for ourselves.

We drove into town this evening to see the live entertainment on Elm Plaza. This touristy town hosts live music every evening from 7-9, and we were treated to a performance by "The Swing Crew."

Denisa was perfectly content to relax in her adirondack chair and listem to the music. But Mark "volunteered" her to play the maracas during the next number. It turned out to be the longest song ever performed on the Elm Plaza--at least that's what Denisa thought.

We stayed until their last favorite song, and then made the 15-mile trip back to our campground. We weren't excited about the heat or the smoke, but we were still having a good time near The Wisconsin Dells!