Camping in Cassville on the Mississippi

Last Friday Nicolas arrived from London on his way to visit his brother in Las Vegas. We had decided a little camping trip would be fab, and so I had booked a campsite in Nelson Dewey State Park in Cassville. We left on Saturday and after picking up some camping necessities along the way we arrived in very sleepy and beautiful Cassville on Saturday evening. It had taken us much longer than planned as the gorgeous scenic route I had mapped out was closed and so we ended up on a massive detour. Seeing all the farms was very interesting, most of them are still owned and run by the same families who emigrated to Wisconsin generations ago from Norway and Germany. When we got to the park we pitched the tent, built a fire and had hot dogs and salad for dinner.

We discovered that the weekend we had chosen to be in Cassville was also the weekend of the annual Twin-o-Rama when "twin's from all over the world" (as the sign on the door of the supermarket boasted - sic) descended upon Cassville (population: 2003) for a parade. In the morning we had wandered past the fire station and found firemen cleaning and shining the fire trucks that were going to be heading the parade. Lucas managed to charm his way into a fire truck and also the fire boat, as you can see in the pics below. The parade itself was Americana at its very best, with army bands and a lot of flag waving. Every car threw some sweets at us and so we ended up with a mountain of sugar - which Mummy cleverly got rid of when Lucas was asleep later in the day.

After this unexpected touristic delight we drove over to a town called Fennimore as it was overcast and so an indoor-activity seemed appropriate. Fennimore is very cute and also home to a quaint Railroad Museum, the real reason we went there. They have a tiny train that drives around the garden there, and inside there are models going around as well. Lucas of course had the best of times, and the tantrum he threw when we left will remain in my memory for some time yet as the undisputed low-light of 2009. About half an hour later he was about to go into another one in the car park of a supermarket but we were saved by the Amish. A horse-and-cart went by just as he was going to lose it (as was I) but the horsey managed to take Lucas' mind of the indescribable injustice that had just been inflicted on him. (I had said 'no' to his request to buy a Thomas DVD - not because we were in a tent and not because I felt like depriving him of this pleasure, but because we already own it.) That night Nicolas and I had flame-grilled hamburgers for dinner, and Lucas licked tomato ketchup off a bun. Yum.

Monday the weather was glorious and so we decided to go out on the river in a canoe. The Mississippi is split at Cassville, and where we were is considered a 'backwater'. This means there is less current and less heavy traffic. We (read: Nicolas) paddled to a little island where we swam and Lucas played with the worms we had bought for fishing. It was a totally fab outing.

Tuesday it rained and so we packed up the tent in the pouring rain while Lucas was good as gold and played in the car with his trains. We had wanted to go for a long walk before heading back to Madison but we ended up driving straight home, with only one stop at a fabulous family-run diner for a very late breakfast. Nicolas ordered two pancakes (he later told me he had wanted to order 3, expecting a small stack like you get in New York), these pancakes were the size of a pizza and of course being American they were thick as well (unlike Dutch pancakes which are, like everything in Holland, flat) and I don't think I have ever seen Nicolas not finish a plate of pancakes!

That evening Lucas' aunt Jane invited us for dinner and so our homecoming was easy. It never stopped raining that day - very unusual for a Wisconsin summer.