Day 9 - 6/29

Today we went on a hike to Stephens' Falls near our campsite. I, however, was extremely disappointed with the falls. Instead of being a gushing grandeur water feature, it was simply a trickling stream down a 12 foot drop. The girls though enjoyed seeing it. After viewing the "waterfall" we continued on the trail to enjoy the rest of the scenery. We saw some giant mushrooms growing on the trees, and tree branches bent so much that they looked like upside-down "U"s.  We also saw many meadows (that were probably filled with ticks.) I joked with Blake, who is allergic to peanuts, that he should cover his body in nothing but peanut butter and run in the middle of the night through the meadows. I'm sure the raccoons and ticks would love that! Of course he declined, but then again, who would do that? After the hike, we went to a lake in a more secluded area. We had fun playing in the water and eating lunch. I was beginning to think that camping here wasn't too bad, until I discovered I had leeches all over my body. I guess the Wisconsin wilderness hasn't taken a fancy to me.

Later, we joyously said good-bye to the camp and headed for Erin Township in Washington County, Wisconsin. There we went to the St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery to do some more grave rubbings. This cemetery is special to our family because our ancestors that were buried here were the first generation immigrants from Ireland. Denis Hines is as far back as we know on that side. The Russell's and Culey's are also located at this cemetery. Across the street from the cemetery is the St. Patrick Church that was established in 1855 and was attended by our Catholic ancestors. Visiting these cemeteries has been especially meaningful for my mom because she has done research and cataloging of many of the people we saw. Late tonight we reached our hotel that is about 45 minutes away from Chicago. It had a swimming pool, which we took advantage of immediately. After swimming for a while, we called it a night.