Okay, I admit it; Michigan doesn’t have a lock on the color green. Wisconsin is downright verdant, lush, burgeoning, bosky and just plain outrageously green.
Well, what would you expect from a town named Spring Green, on the banks of the Wisconsin River?
Actually, the closest place to Spring Green I could find to camp was in Avoca, about 15 miles away. I called the town office to see if they had any spaces in the campground I found on one of the aps I use. She said they had plenty of room – no one was down there, except for some long term folks. That did give me pause. I have seen a few camps with “long term” residents, and some of them were a bit sketchy. However, it was the closest option with electricity, so I decided to give it a look-see.
It was fine, and there really weren’t any other people there. There were a few trailers off to the side, but they looked like trailers belonging to people who came down for the weekends. Since no one was there, I decided to make my own pull through spot. I occupied sites 26, 27, 28 and 29!
My first night there, I went for a drive to see what was just a little further down the road. I got to Muscoda, gassed up and then saw a sign for a city campground. I was already set up, so I wasn’t planning to move, but I thought I’d check it out.
What a surprise! I found two Airstreams parked side by side, with some folks sitting together at the picnic table between them. I decided to stop and chat with my fellow lovers of the silver trailer.
I walked up, and I said hello. One of the women stuck out her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Sharon. You must be Kim.”
Well, I was mightily puzzled by that. I am Kim, but how would she know that? It turns out that they were expecting the woman who collected the money from the campground, and her name is also Kim.
We had a good chuckle about that and then they invited me to join them for a beer. It turns out that the couple in the larger model were also full timers who were from Chicago. The couple in the Bambi were from California and they were traveling together. They were planning to travel along the Mississippi.
Just as the bugs were starting to come out, the campfire wood salesman came by.
What service! Campfire wood delivered to your campsite. He was quite the raconteur and full of fish stories. But the bugs were biting so I bid the gathering adieu and headed back to my own Airstream.
The next day, I went to The House on the Rock. Believe it or not, this was a place I remember Sister Jeanne talking about in art history class back at Daemen College.
What is The House on the Rock? Well, in addition to being a house on a rock, it is a display of the builder’s extensive and eccentric collections.
The House on the Rock was started in 1945, when Alex Jordan Jr. blasted off the top of Deer Shelter Rock to create a flat platform for his dwelling. He talked to the farmer who owned the rock, but didn’t obtain the land outright until later. He started out modestly, and built by carrying up materials by hand until 1952 when he finally installed an electric winch. He opened up to paying visitors in 1959.
Mr. Jordan collected everything under the sun and his House was stuffed with his treasures. He created small spaces with sitting areas and fireplaces abounding. The first mechanical orchestra I came across was playing Ravel’s Bolero. Given the dampness and mustiness of the building, it was remarkably in tune.
It was difficult to get pictures, but I did my best.
I wound my way through the House, I came across multiple sitting areas and nooks. It didn’t seem like it would have functioned well as a dwelling, but it was interesting to see what a man working by whim could create.
One of his whims was the Infinity Room. It extended out over the valley and looked like it disappeared into the distance. In fact, I remember Sister Jeanne showing a drawing of the proposed room. It wasn’t constructed until 1985. That Sister Jeanne! She knew about things that hadn’t even happened yet.
As you walk down the room, there is a window in the floor that allows you to look down onto the treetops.
And, here is a view of the room from the outside.
I ‘ll bet that it is an outstanding experience in the fall!
Right outside the Infinity Room, there is an interesting mechanical orchestra that is built to look like a cubist painting. It played Lara’s Theme and the theme from The Godfather. 
As I made my way out of the House portion. There was an interesting wall of windows, reminiscent of a Japanese shoji screen.
As I made my way to the rest of the attractions, I looked down on the tops of the covered walkways that wormed their ways around the landscape.
Okay, I have to admit it; I didn’t much care for The House on the Rock. The Infinity Room was the best part of it, in my opinion. The rest of it didn’t work well as a building. But, don’t take my word for it – visit it for yourself.
As much as I didn’t care for The House on the Rock, I really didn’t like the rest of the attraction. Mr. Jordan was really into collecting. REALLY into it. In fact, I would say he was more into amassing things than collecting. There was just too much. Too much of everything. For the most part, is was all very dark and poorly lit. It was hard to make out what I was looking at.
In one section, he had loads of old musical devices that could be played with one of the tokens you received when you paid your admission.
I never used my tokens because I got to listen to everyone else’s music. With all those machines running at once, it sounded like the soundtrack to a nightmare.
Speaking of nightmare, how about the world’s largest carrousel?
Whirling and whirling without passengers.
Not to worry, however. There were smaller carrousels with dolls riding them. And things hanging all over. I was never more happy to see a sign like this before.
Well, actually, there were two gift shops to pass though before I got to leave.
The grounds were very well kept. There were dozens of these enormous planters, as well as dozens of smaller ones. Well, smaller only in comparison to the larger ones.
Hey, well, I’ve done it. And my next visit will be to Taliesin! Oh, I can’t wait!
P.S. Look what I just found on my news feed!
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/the-strangest-tourist-attraction-in-the-world-is-124547332207.html