Cave House

Left: House in sandstone bluff.
I'm not sure what's inside, but this looks like my dream house. A nice fenced patio courtyard with steps leading up to a home in a cliff.

We caught a glimpse of this cliff cave home when stopping for lunch in McGregor, Iowa, after hiking Effigy Mounds National Monument on the Mississippi River.

McGregor is one of those touristy river towns. Buildings from the late 19th Century line the main drag, where visitors can munch a blue gill fillet or a fish taco on the sidewalk under a cafe awning. There's a riverboat casino upstream and a handfull of antique shops.

According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, McGregor residents used to carve storage rooms into the sandstone bluffs to refrigerate their foodstuffs. Breweries were also set up in these manmade caverns.

Usually, homes and offices were built in front of the cliffs, and the storage caves were a backyard feature. If I read the info right, the cave in the picture was outfitted with its facade in the 1970s.

I have to wonder if it has utilities or modern plumbing. What about ventilation. My guess is there is no wifi.

Storybook endnote

After a little bit of hunting, I finally found the message below acknowledging the closure of Storybook Gardens on the Timbavati/Storybook website.
 
"Storybook Gardens, has closed. Built in the early 1950's, Storybook Gardens was one of the first tourist attractions in the Wisconsin Dells Area and has brought wonderful memories to generations after generations. Timbavati Wild Life Park has moved to the new location and is opening this summer of 2011."

When the closing was first announced in a Wisconsin newspaper, I had checked the site but wasn't able to find any mention. It appears this notice was recently added.
 
Sections of the website (http://www.storybookgardens.net/fairytale.html) still have photos and info about the park. Check them out while you have a chance. I'm not sure how long these will be up.
 
Our earlier Storybook Gardens post (http://blog.skulldiggersguild.com/2011/05/28/storybook-gardens.aspx).
 
 
 
 

Mounds Hike

View of the Mississippi River and train tracks north of Marquette, Iowa, from the Effigy Mounds National Park trail.

Over the weekend, we headed to Effigy Mounds National Park on the banks of the Mississippi River. The mounds themselves weren't that interesting, most of them were no taller than knee high. But the hike was good and the views were spectacular.
We hit the Little Bear Mound trail loop, which started right next to the visitor center. The first leg was a climb up to the top of the cliffs. I was surprised that our 4 year old walked most of the way herself.

Wildlife encountered in the area included hawks and frogs.

We rounded out the day with dinner outside on McGregor's main street and a geocache in Marquette.



Domestic high-altitude afternoon

I spent the afternoon in a high-altitude adventure, putting all my climbing skills to good use. Yeah, I finally got around to cleaning out the gutters at home.

I know it's late in the season, but I prefer to wait for all of the whirly-bird seeds to work their way out of our two maple trees before I go up and start digging around. There's also a healthy haul of tiny needles from the neighbor's pine.

The task actually went pretty quick. There wasn't a lot of problems with clogs in the downspout elbows. Most of it was just freeing up the debris in the gutters.

Photo: Puppets

Puppets at local taco place.

Photo of the week: Vintage VW

We were at a downtown carnival over the weekend, and while the kids were zipping around on rides, I spotted this rundown 1963 VW bug in a nearby parking lot.

I liked how the rust spots contrasted with the faded (but original, according to the for-sale notice) turquoise paint job. I loved the missing headlight chrome and the bracket for the absent bumper.

The technical challenge was getting good light. It was a bright, cloudless day with harsh sunlight. Half of the bug was in the shade under a tree. I took a few frames at different angles and returned for a few more when the sun had shifted and more was in the shadow.

Skull Appreciation Day

Cool swag from the folks at Skull A Day.

Happy Skull Appreciation Day --- June 4.

We received a special edition button (pictured above with envelope) from Skull-A-Day, the website that spearheaded Skull Appreciation Day.

For more info, go to Skull-A-Day.com.