2024 Camping Retro

We love the convenience of storing the camper at the State Fair, but they give you a pickup time window (this year at 10:30 on Wed April 3) that you just have to make work. We made it work.

First up was back to Whitewater state park the last weekend of April. We made the chicken and parsnip stew cooked in beer again- so delicious. It rained on Sunday so we left early. April camping is dicey with the weather, but we're so eager to get out there.

Lunch at Whitewater

Chicken and parsnip stew with carrots and celery

The trim on the ceiling was coming down in the same spot as last year. Last year the dealer fixed a few things for us including this trim but for some reason it was sagging again. I used a toothpick to work epoxy under the bowing area, then got creative with our extendable window washing wand to apply pressure to the epoxy for 3 days. I actually had to do this twice, because I don't think I used quite enough glue the first time and it sagged again after a couple of weeks. 

Gluing loose ceiling trim

For Memorial Day, we went to Lac Qui Parle state park in western MN for the first time. It's in the prairie, so not a lot of trees. We were up on a bluff which was quite windy (which turned out to be a benefit because there were so many mosquitos and the wind helped keep them away). Andy did a little kayak fishing in the sag area of the lake, and I tried to hammock, but it was so windy we both had to bail. We had Sat dinner in Montevideo because Andy was suddenly craving broasted chicken. We decided to leave early Sunday afternoon to get home so Andy could continue with his garden-building project and so we could watch the Wolves v. Mavs playoffs game with Will and Cara (we lost the 3rd game in a row). On the way home, we stopped and toured Historic Chippewa City in Montevideo. It's a little recreated village with 24 historic buildings moved there. The nice lady let us take Harriet with us.

Peach crisp

June 21-23 we went to Rice Lake State Park for the first time. It's only 53 miles away, near Owatonna. We've been in a real rainy jag, and it was forecast to rain over the weekend but since we weren't going far, we decided to go for it and we could always return home if it got bad. We ate dinner at home Friday then got there and set up camp and turned in just before it started raining. On Sat, we tried to take a walk, all of the trails were very muddy and even partially submerged. There isn't a lot to do in this park, but there are a lot of nice trees in the campsites. Sat afternoon I drove to Faribault for the 1 PM tour of the Faribault Woolen Mill, Andy stayed back and had a fire and a roasted hotdog before the rain came. Sat evening we ate a wonderful dinner at the Hubbell House, which opened in 1854 in Mantorville while the dog waited patiently in the car (it was not hot out). We left right after breakfast on Sunday, and came home to wash the muddy dog, camper and car.

The usual blueberry pancakes

Mudpit Harriet

Over Labor Day weekend (Aug 30-Sep 2) we enjoyed another stay at Cascade State Park. We spent Sat in Grand Marais where we ate lunch at Hungry Hippie Tacos, got donuts at World's Best, bought a Superior rock lamp at an outdoor craft fair, and took a guided walking tour put on by the local museum. Sat night we ate at Cascade Lodge, and Sunday we had a lazy day at the campground, hiking, taking a nap, reading in the hammock and cooking dinner over the fire. I tried making brownies for the first time, the bottom and edges got a bit burnt as the fire was so hot. Andy made dutch oven pork chops with mushrooms and a nice gravy.