One of the good things about low cost hotels in the USA is the fact that most offer free continental breakfasts – the bad news is that they are not very tasty or nutritious. Today’s breakfast was no exception (the best place – or at least the most consistent is Holiday Inn Express) we had the usual selection of sugary cereals, toast, English muffins and pastries all to be washed down with barely drinkable coffee, which is weak to the point of being tasteless. Nether the less it is free so we guzzle it down, hoping speed of consumption will take away the sensation of blandness.
In planning this journey Mark had scoured the internet and one sight had captured his attention – Dr Evermore’s Sculpture park just south of Baraboo, Wisconsin (on route 12 towards Wisconsin, Dells). On route from Dodgeville we happened across the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitors center. Wisconsin born Wright is probably the most influential and famous US architect of the 20th Century. The visitors centre is the base of tours to his Taliesin country estate which has five properties that he designed and had built over several decades. Jack who has always loved design and architecture was inspired by the models on display and the 10 minute video showing Lloyd Wrights work on the Taliesin estate and he ended up buying a book on Lloyd Wrights famous designs and soon set about doing some building designs of his own. Karen was less interested in the architecture than the interior design work of Lloyd Wright (she has long been a fan) in particular the furniture and the designs that had been captured in fabric and glass. There were tours on offer but all but one you had to be over 12 years old and cost $50.00 per person so we ended up not taking them this time around.
We easily found the Evermore sculptures park as its entrance is marked on the side of the road by some of his sculptures, so we of course pull off to see what is going on. The sign on the gate stated the park opened at 12 noon and as it was 11:45am we decided to wait it out for a few minutes to see what happened. In the parking lot there was one other car, which was empty and as forlorn as we were. A few minutes after 12 our hopes rose as some people appeared from the side of the fence that runs around the sculpture park covered in grass, thistles and other types of vegetative detritus and Karen (who is much more suspicious of such things than I) suspected they had been in the bushes for a romp. As is turned out they were 
also hoping to visit the sculptures and had been around the back where you can see some through the fence. They also told us they believed the creator, Tom Evermore, had passed away and had heard that there were stories of the site closing. We of course we sad and disappointed at the news but decided to follow on in their footsteps and set off through the undergrowth like intrepid explorers – and as our predecessors had warned we were met with thorns, thistles and brambles. None the less we continued and reached the back of the lot, where you could see through the cracks in (and, for the loftier of us, over) the fence. There were some amazing sculptures of various sizes such as the centre piece which is entitled the Forevertron, an orchestra of strange metallic creatures and a huge creepy spider. Karen mused how fantastic this was looking though the fence into this secret world. After a few minutes gazing on this strange landscape we decided to return through the Wisconsin jungle to our van. Just as we near the end of our journey I notice some people in the park wandering around and as we get to the van I see more. Our hopes are raised (although the gate we’re at is still locked) that we’ll be able to get into our secret (not so secret now) garden. The entrance to the sculpture park is most bizarre as you pass through a graveyard of dead radiators, industrial equipment of all shape and size and large sections of broken cars. As you clear this mayhem you enter the park, which seems most natural in this context, with it’s weird collection of creatures and mechanical aberrations (in an artistic sense). As we wander we come across an elderly gentleman wearing a large floppy hat, scurrying around in a wheel chair. He encourages Jack and Emily to pick up some metal beaters and hit these against some cylindrical pipes welded along the back of a curling length of metal with scales – somewhat like a dragon’s tail. The sounds are clear and shrill – but are obviously tuned. Karen gets talking to this gentleman, as she does, and says how wonderful this all is and whether he gets to come here often. He says most days. It turns out that this is the man who built all these wonderful structures – Tom Evermore- and contrary to rumours he was very much alive, although clearly not well (he had suffered a stroke). For several minutes we chatted and he told us about some of his work pieces such as the Forevetron – he regaled Jack with a story of how you could climb up into the capsule on the top and be beamed to wherever you desired to go. Whilst he was telling these stories, he rose above his crippled body and became like PeterPan– it was wonderful to see his living through his art. He also told us of the one trip he made to England. It turned out he stayed in Eggington, near Leighton Buzzard, and had gone to Mentmore Tower when they were auctioning off the estate. An amazingly small world this – Karen is a great believer in the six degrees of separation.Mark has spent most of his younger years in L.B.itself!!!! After a minute or two Tom called across his wife who was a bit reluctant to talk at first – after while she warmed up and we we spent some two hours talking to the Evermores – it was a fascinating visit.After this we called in to Sky Hi apple farms where we picked up some delicious caramel apples and a wonderful apple pie. Completely satisfied it was time to continue our journey onto Preston, Minnesota – some 180 miles in the distance. The countryside continued to be made up of lovely rolling hills, farms and livestock and as we approached Minnesota and the Mississippi River the hills got somewhat larger, complemented by sandstone bluffs and pillars carved out by millennia of natures forces acting upon them. We finally cross the Mississippi River, which glinted in the late day sunlight. At this crossing point the river is wide and is perfectly set amongst the gentle hills. This scene continues until we reach our final destination – the historic Jail House Inn in Preston, MN. This stay had been planned some weeks ahead and the main feature of these days was the accommodation itself – our rooms for the night was the old cell block. We had four rooms in our cell block complete with bars. It was spectacular and we looked forward to our first night in the cells.
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