Our son’s car is in the shop and we aren’t optimistic that it will be coming out soon. A diagnosis is promised within a week, so we are going to explore nearby in case we need to return to the Madison, Wisconsin area to help him shop for a replacement vehicle.

Having stayed at most of the campgrounds in the immediate Madison area, we headed west to explore some new ground.

With bicycles on board, our first stop was the cute village of Mount Horeb.

The village offers good access to the Military Ridge Bike Trail, free parking, clean restrooms, 

and bicycle stations with air and basic tools.

After a morning bike ride we enjoyed lunch at the Grumpy Troll Brew Pub. Despite being founded by an englishman, the village has adopted a Norwegian theme featuring troll sculptures. Here’s a link to the Troll Map in case you want to see how many you can find.  We’ve wandered the “trollway” a couple of times and it can be great fun.

an old feed mill that is now an event space,

and a cozy looking Inn. 

Here’s the highway sign version of the town’s history. 

Unadvertised is the “Midwest Micro Car Museum” which, unfortunately, wasn’t open. That’s now on our list of places to visit.

Our next stop was in Spring Green and is also relegated to a future visit. We were a little late in the day to tour Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin  summer home and studios, though we did get to visit the visitor’s center.

That evening we found a site at the Fireside Campground in Lone Rock. Mature trees screened the spaces between large sites for $35.87 per night inclusive of taxes.

09 July

The campground provided easy access to the Pine River Trail where we enjoyed the former railroad right-of-way as it followed the river.

Farmland and a nearby ridge provided pleasant views along the trail.

Just northwest of the campground we passed through Gotham, home to the “Bat Cave” bar and grill. Only opened Friday-Sunday, we didn’t get a chance to try out any Batman themed refreshments.

10 July

Checking out of  Fireside we stopped for a photo of our Lexor next to the sign pointing to Saskatoon where it was born in 2018 at Pleasure-Way. New campground owners Cal & Donna Anderson chatted with us about the area and their love of camping. They have a beautiful campground and we highly recommend a stop here.

  

Driving south we stopped to see the Muscoda Village Campground at Victoria Park. Perched between the highway bridge and the village boat launch, campers have direct access to the Wisconsin River.

Paddlers looked like they were having a good time on the river. Sandbars and a fair current would make boating interesting.

Landed at Governor Dodge State Park for the remainder of the day and an overnight. The large park has two campgrounds. We had site 311 in Twin Valley campground for $33.

Enjoyed the wildflowers along the shoreline of Cox Lake along a pretty trail for just under two miles.

Geologically, this area of Wisconsin is unique in that it wasn’t covered by glaciers. That allows features like this rock formation to peak out above the trees at Enee Point. With 5,300 acres, there is a lot to explore in this State Park. It is open year round and even offers winter camping.

Back at Twin Valley Campground by 1600 we enjoyed a quiet night. The cell signal was good, but the showers weren’t very clean. The campground has lots of double sites, so would be a fine place to meet friends for a campout.

11 July 

Left our campsite in light rain.

Still in Governor Dodge SP, we hiked an easy half-mile trail to Stephens’ Falls. It is probably very pretty in the springtime, but there was just a trickle of water in July.

Heading back towards Madison, we spotted a large plane on the side of the road so had to pull over and check it out. 

This Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter sits on the grounds of the Don Q Inn and is open to the public. 

Unexpectedly, we had free reign of the aircraft and could even explore the cockpit. Here’s a link to the Wikipedia page about these planes for more info.

The Don Q is in Dodgeville and something about that town name seemed to niggle at my brain. Pulling up Google maps, a bunch of buildings labeled Land’s End made the connection; we’ve been buying clothing from this mail order firm for years. We found their outlet store and picked up a couple of bargains to take home. Don’t go there expecting an experience like at Freeport Maine’s huge LL Bean store. It is only a small store in an old shopping center. The staff recommended visiting their outlet store in Madison for a better selection. 

From Dodgeville we headed back east to Verona where we parked at the end of  Epic Lane. From there we could see the building, disguised as a barn, where our son works in R&D.

Here we could access the Military Ridge bike trail where we peddled west six miles from the edge of Epic’s campus through rolling farmland.

That night we landed back in Madison for another night at Lake Mendota County Park for $33.  Looks like we will be here for a few more days helping our son find a new car.  We are definitely fans of the Dane County parks and campgrounds.