Summer Vacation

Because both Rick and I are working part-time this summer, we haven’t taken as much time off as we did last summer. However, we did manage a week in central Wisconsin. Fortunately, for us, it was the week with the lowest temperatures of the past three. We don’t have air conditioning in the camping trailer but were still comfortable during the night.

We've added a couple of birds to our "pat" of flamingos.

One of our neatest finds was the Rudolph Grotto Gardens a few miles north of Wisconsin Rapids in the small town of Rudolph. This grotto was built by Father Phillip Wagner with extensive help from his right-hand man, Edmund Rybicki. One terrific feature of this grotto is the lush garden that surrounds the various shrines. An actual stone hill with a catacomb-like tunnel one-fifth of a mile long lined with statues and Bible passages is another element. Father Wagner used local lava rock and melted glass to build his grotto.

A close-up of some of the melted glass used in only a few places.

Connie Jagodzinski, a long-time volunteer at the Grotto, was adamant that Rudolph’s Grotto was much better than the Dickeyville Grotto because of the use of the natural materials. The Dickeyville Grotto is just brighter and shinier because of the rock crystals, semi-precious stones, and glass that are embedded in the concrete structures. Both are great examples of folk art. Both are tributes to God and country.

The Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company is just around the corner from the Grotto in Rudolph. Cheese curds are made daily so we were obliged to buy some. Much better price than at our local Farmers’ Market, I might add.

One of the employees bagging strings of cheese.

We ended one day of total relaxation by checking out the Shermalot Water Ski Show Team that performed on Lake Arrowhead. The team is the third longest continuous running water ski show in the state. Some of the youngest skiers looked to be about 8-10 years old.

Final act in the show - a triple pyramid executed perfectly.

The second half of the week included the Iola Old Car Show. That’s a post for next week. Stay tuned.