The first night of our honeymoon, we stayed the night at a B&B outside of Plymouth, WI. Our honeymoon was a driving/camping tour of Northern Wisconsin, and that first night was the starting point of our adventures. So, to celebrate our anniversary each year, we have tried to either go back and re-visit the original B&B, or to take a trip somewhere in the area and do some more exploring.
We never know what to expect when we are trying a new place -- some years we have been disappointed, but I think we both really liked this place!
We started off the trip by dropping the boys' off at my parent's house for their own 'Stay-cation" or "Acation" as little Max put it (he was pretty stoked to get to sleep over at Granna and Grumps for 2 nights). After lots of hugs and kisses, we got back into our car and headed into the wilderness.
Our first stop was a little out of our way at a small cheese shop in Theresa, WI, Widmer's. They weren't doing any tours with it being the weekend and all, but we stopped and got some cheese to enjoy during the weekend.
Since we couldn't check in to the B&B until after 4pm, we decided our next stop would be the LedgeView Nature Center in Chilton, WI. I'm not exactly sure WHERE I found the information on the Internet about their 'cave tours', but I wish I would've done a little bit more searching first. There were a few things that would've been nice to know ahead of time:
1. Flashlights were recommended (bring your own) - as there is no lighting set-up in the cave
2. Crawling is optional (um...crawling?)
3. Boots are recommended -- the caves are pretty muddy
4. Cave tours last ~ 2 hours (don't all caves start to look the same after 1/2 hour?)
So, we had no flashlights, poor footwear choices and we had no intentions of 'crawling'. Looking back, it is laughable. We still had a good time, and we learned a little bit about Wisconsin caves in the process. Overall, these trips are about re-bonding and spending time together. We sure bonded over the absurdity of this one!
Here is the entrance to the main cave. We were in a group with a bunch of highschoolers. These boys were making us laugh on the walk to the cave -- at one point I turned to Max and said to him "so this is what I should be preparing for in a couple of years?" Surprisingly, these boys were really into the caves and were sliding around from one room to the next on their stomachs and getting all muddy and dirty -- and LOVING it. Boys will be boys!
See my footwear (and the muddy floor right next to me?) I managed to stay mostly clean. And, it was pretty interesting....
A view of the interior of the 'cave'. All of these caves were excavated by hand by volunteers. All caves in WI were filled in during the glacial period -- so they were all filled in with mud. 'Sinkholes', or depressions in the earth are usually a sign that there is a cave below. Several sinkholes were found in this area, and so they decided to start excavating some of them -- revealing the caves below.
This was our 'guide'. She was a very non-social guide -- but once she started talking about caves, she really opened up and you could see that she was very passionate about geology. I have to be thankful to her that she found us two spare flashlights...
The forest was literally growing on top of this cave (and all the caves), so in some spots you could actually see the tree roots creeping through cracks in the rocks...
More mud...and puddles...and mud. The caves were pretty neat, but as you can see -- once you've seen one, there isn't that much more to see. At least, not for those of us who weren't using it as a big slip and slide....
I believe this cave was nicknames 'Whale's throat"...it should be pretty obvious why. Again, notice the water and mud. I did not venture down into the whales throat...and I do not regret that decision...
At one point (about 45 mins into the tour) we were given the option of sliding on our bellies into another section of the cave or climbing the ladder up and going back down another ladder. We chose at that point to cut our tour short and let our guide know to go on without us...
We took a small hike back through the forest instead...
Saw some trillium.
And this weird fungus/bug disease...
And then we climbed this cool tower and got a panoramic view of the countryside. It really was beautiful!
It was pretty windy at the top...
But we took our obligatory pictures...
And even managed to get a semi-decent one of us together!!
We then headed to the B&B, checked in, took a little nap and leisurely got ready for dinner out.
In the middle of getting ready, Max surprised me with my anniversary gift...
The best things don't always come in big boxes...
Apparently this is the face I make when I am really happy about something...
Beautiful diamond earrings! I am such a lucky lady!!
Day two is up next...
3 comments:
Nothing says I love you like crawling in muddy caves, right? Glad it turned out well.
I really should take a cue from you and start an annual trip with my beloved. Smart lady, you are. And such a knock out, too. Yellow and sparkly are a good combo on you.
What an inspiration your anniversary weekend is to me. I think it is wonderful how you two make this an annual tradition. Romantic and grounding all at the same time. We could definitely learn a lesson there. Happy belated anniversary (and b-day to you!) Max did mighty well with the earrings. Yippee for sparkly!
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