HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
Our youngest daughter offered us the opportunity to use her time share points at the Wisconsin Dells — 10 nights but in three different rooms or locations. Sounded great to us. Trip planned.
When we arrive at our destination, I always search for the Catholic church and a supper market, which can be a Wal-Mart. Arriving in town, I learned the location of the church before we even checked into our first room. Since I knew we were changing rooms, I only brought frozen chili for one night.
For the cook of the family, a vacation is an opportunity to eat out. I have cooked daily for more years than I want to count. In case you are new to my writing, I am sodium restricted. We stopped at an Arby’s on the way to the Dell’s and I quickly learned that it would be better for not only my health but our pocket book if I cooked. The sandwich that I ate, was so salty my leg swelled.
The only trouble with changing rooms and locations is that we had to check out at 10:00AM and not check in until 4:00. I was concerned that fresh food would spoil even if it was in a cooler. Thankfully, the time share worked with us.
I discovered a lovely grocery town in the Dells that had meat that WAS NOT sodium enhanced for flavor. The prices were reasonable. The meat was excellent. We learned the location of the Wal-Mart.
The major attractions in the Dells closed two weeks before. Neither my husband nor I were interested in the water parks or theme parks. He is from Maryland, a country boy at heart, stuck in the city, We investigated the State Parks in the area. We bought a year pass for the parks, even though it was late September, and got our money’s worth. The colors were beautiful.
On my birthday, the weather service warned of a cold front moving in, preceded by rain. The rain was supposed to arrive in early afternoon. We got up and out, early that day to beat the weather. In late morning, we were on a trail in Rocky Arbor State Park. It was closest to the Dells. We thought the trail was the most beautiful of the ones that we had walked. Dark clouds passed over about 11:00 but then the sun came out. The temperature remained in the 60’s until night fall. Happy Birthday to me.
At Devil’s State Park, I asked a group of hikers about the trails. Although many heads of hair were grey, they wore hiking boots. They mentioned they had been on the trails for 4 hours. When they saw the shoes I was wearing, they suggested I walk the paved trail by the lake. I listened.
We planned to go out for dinner for my birthday. Two places that we thought of were closed. The day before my birthday, we stopped at a family restaurant for lunch, which had a buffet. The waitress could only suggest the salad bar. I was HUNGRY, but everything I tasted was too salty! We wandered the strip asking questions that evening. At the House Of Embers, I asked a young man working outside if the fish was battered, which would mean high in sodium. He couldn’t answer my question but he fetched the owner. I have to admit, I was impressed. I learned that meals were cooked to order, fish NOT BREADED. I ordered wall eye, it was delicious. Our waitress recognized us when we arrived. Someone told her we were coming.
Wandering With Spirit 