St Francois St Park (Dec 21-23, 2020)

 12/21

I was going to leave on the 20th but decided not to rush after church and to leave the next day....good decision.  After all, there is not need to rush since the whole idea is to take it easy.  Nice drive down since it is only a little over an hour away.   Turns out I am the only one here.  The park ranger came by about 7:30 pm to tell me the code to the gate just in case I wanted to leave....they would be back in the morning.  Turns out I have a problem with the elect to the tv and also the electric to the refrig.  Might have done that when I was installing the cell phone booster.  have to check it out.  Ended up running an extension cord to the tv and another to the refrig....glad I had them.

Didn't have a fire as I was trying to get everything set up with the elect.   I hooked up the booster and it seems to work well.  Had 4 bars but not able to stream very well.  With the booster I am able to stream qute well.  The sound bar is working well too....playing music with both the phone and Dish music... really nice.

Temps got up to 59 but still chilly as the winds are quite strong. 

12/22

Slept well...temps got down to 29 but stayed warm enough.....especially in bed.  Elect heater ran all night and set the thermostat to 60....it kicked on at least a couple of times.  

Started a fire and cooked eggs and bacon....still love it.  Cooking setup is working well.

Took a nice long bike ride this morning and it really felt good.  My legs are getting use to it again...need to do more of it at home to keep them strong.    Took my picture after the ride...you can see I was prepared for cold but the temp was 40 so not too bad.

Fixed some hot dogs for lunch, over the fire of course....just can't beat it.  

I did manage to finish installing the cell booster.  Although I had 4 bars on the phone I was having some problems streaming tv, but after installing it I did not have any real problems with streaming.  Seemed to be able to stream better through the T-Mobile broadband vs the phone hot spot.

I camped near a trailhead and there are a lot of people who came down to the campground and parked in some camping spots to hike the trail.  I went for a hike this afternoon and although it was only about a mile it was through the woods.  I actually got off the trail and it was a little rough...especially getting to the top of a cliff from the Big River below. Pictures tell a better story. 

This is from the top of the cliff...notice I did not climb the cliff but took the 'easy' way up, although this picture was taken before I reached the top.

There are some apparent caves in the cliff, but I did not attempt to get to them.

This is the Big River that is apparently prone to flooding as they had warning signs in the campground which will flood.  

Got back to camp and decide to just sit back and enjoy...since I was also rather tired from the hike.  God is so good to me....certainly undeserved....but I am so thankful for his blessings!!

Since I had both chicken and ground beef I decided to fix both for supper and take some home

12/23

Morning and I again had a great night.

Fixed some keto pancakes and bacon for breakfast over the fire, of course, and they were pretty good.

Started packing up to get ready to go.  Took the time there to winterize it again and glad I did....always hard to do after getting home.  Everything for the trip really went well.  Had a mouse that I am going to have to take care after I get home.  Made sure I took all garbage out because that is where it was.

Temps didn't really get that cold and feel I could stand colder but don't think it would be good to go with highs less that 45.  Not having hot water tank worked well...just heated water in a crock pot and even then didn't really use it until dishes on the last day.

Mark Twain Lake, Indian Creek COE (Nov 18 - 21)

 After a greet day at Bible Study, and lunch with Cari & Jessica I took off for Indian Creek campground.  It was a nice ride because I actually had a tail wind for most of the trip.  When I got to the gate the attendant said I was the last one...for a total of 7 sites taken.  Considering there are 250 sites at the campground, it was really wide open.  Got to my site 31 and loved the view.

It was not real level but managed to get it level with my blocks.   The wind was still blowing but with all the trees it wasn't too bad.  Took a short bike ride before coming back and met my closest neighbor several sites up....they were in a tent.  Then I just fixed a leftover steak from my last camping trip.  

Got up the next morning and really slept well considering it was the first night when I usually don't sleep that well.  The sunrise was just beautiful...don't ever seem to be able to catch God's glory in a picture, but:

Fixed eggs & bacon over the fire and again really enjoying my new grill.  Took a really long bike ride to the different parts of the Indian Creek campground....probably the best COE campground I have been to.  There are many full hook up site, some with water/elect, and a lot with just elect which is what I am on.  There are many sites, I think 250, and many have great views of the lake.  During Halloween they require two sections of the campground to decorate and pictures show they really do a great job with it.  I was kind of tired when I got back so just fixed BBQ for supper.  

Slept well again and watched another beautiful sunrise.  Took another bike ride down to the beach and boat ramp. Really a very large beach:

I don't think they have anything there but the beach which really looks pretty nice.  Coming back to the camper I took a gravel trail which was OK but then it is the close of the season. Sill some nice views:

Got back and fixed some hamburgers for lunch which I will take a couple of them home.  They just taste so good....  Didn't do much else but got some new neighbors and he brought a chain saw.....who brings a chain saw to a campground???????  Trying to just ignore....but it sure messes with a peaceful setting.....  It got cloudy and a front is/has going thru so while the winds are less it is getting cooler thru this afternoon.

Slept good last night but still kind of sad that it is ending.  God is still so good to give me these precious memories. Fixed some cinnamon rolls in the stove this morning, but burnt them.....Oh well, ate them anyhow.  Just taking it easy as I slowly start to pack things away.  Side note:  I was not able to get satellite initially but tried again later and it hooked up.....just never know...maybe wind was a problem initially.  I was sitting in the camper when I noticed a camping trailer go by with the door swinging open.  I got up and out and 'ran' waving my arms.  They saw me and waited and I told them about the door.  Evidently they had reserved my site for the next two nights when the campground closes.  They told me not to hurry but I went ahead and finished packing up and left.  They had pulled into another site to wait.  Just took my time coming home and enjoyed the trip back.  Got to St Peters about 1:00 pm so went to Lakeside and parked, fixed and ate lunch, before continuing on home.  This was another great trip.  

Rend Lake, Gun Creek COE (Nov 4 - 7, 2020)

 Nov 4 - Day 1

Came after Bible class and having lunch with Cari.  Nice trip here with no problems.  Got set up and nice view of the lake. 

Nov 5 - Day 2

Fixed breakfast over a fire and really enjoyed it.  I really do love the grill I got as long as I am able to hammer in the post close to the fire.  

Took a ride around the campground.  There is a golf club nearby and rode over there. They have  driving range and there is a driving range that I rode on a rock rode that goes through it.  But it turns out that there wasn't really anything interestin at the end of it.

Came back and fixed some hot dogs over a small fire.  Had a guy come by to look at the bike because his wife thought that it would be neat for her.  

Fixed bacon wrapped steak over the fire, with baked potato and corn-on-cob.....delicious.

Still following stuff election....don't know why..just makes for a downer.

Took another shorter bike ride and saw a beautiful sunset.

Nov 6 - Day 3

Had pancakes again over the fire.  Sure is a lot of fun.  While I was cooking the guy that was interested in my bike came over and brought me some wood.  His name is Dennis.  We talked for a pretty long time and I think I have found my duplicate.....He is the Sunday School Super at his church and can't understand how 70 million Americans can be so stupid....voting for Biden.  We talked about just trusting God....even when we don't understand.  We both agreed that American is going the way Israel went....but still trusting.  We just agreed about everything.  Too bad they were leaving today I sure could have talked with him for a longer time.  

Took a nice long...really long, about 2 hours...bike ride.    Turns out there is a long trail, paved, that goes along I57 as it goes around the golf course.  Then cuts back down toward the lake.  It was really a great ride and I didn't even go all the way to the end.  Saw some really tall pine trees....sure felt small under them.

The ride really wore me out so fixed some coffee and just sat in my lounger just enjoying the view.  Since I had more wood, I fixed a fire just for the fun of it.  Decided to fix some hamburgers and corn-on-cob, & fruit.  Again, delicious.  

Watched a movie since I had good connections.   Then in the evening had a fire again and roasted marshmallows....tried eating them right off the fork and it worked really well. 

 Turned out to be a really super day.

Nov 7 - Day 4

Well, today is when I return home.....guess I am ready but sure could bear to stay longer.  

Fixed French Toast over the fire for breakfast with scrambled eggs and bacon.  So delicious.  I think...I know I have eaten too much.  

Took off for home about 10:30...stopped to dump tanks...and then left for the rest area that is about 1 hour from there.  Stopped and had a chicken sandwich which I fixed in the oven.  A little different, but good.  The gas tank was running low, but got to Costco at home and filled it up.  Got things unpack and looking back it was really a great trip.

Mississippi River North (Day 10 Oct 6, 2020)

 Woke up after a great night's sleep and fixed some pancakes....on the stove.  Only 45 min to the next campground so I have plenty of time.  Took another bike ride and came back...took another nap....sure is a relaxing trip coming back home.  

Got to the Frank Russell campground and found my site that I had reserved.  They all just have electric, which is fine with me.  They only take reservations online so there was no one there to check me in.  Got set up and the site was not very good, not very level, but would do...so I got my bike off and took a ride.  Noticed that there were not very many people in the campground and came to the end of the road which had a great view of the Mark Twain Lake through the trees and there was a site there which looked pretty level.  So I got online and found out it was not reserved for this evening.  They allow you to make changes online and it doesn't cost anything....can you imagine that.....  Changed sites and went back and loaded up the bike and drove the to new site...much better:  

Would have been a great place to stay for awhile, but going to try to make it back for Bible study, so really didn't do much more. I figure I need to leave by 7:00 am tomorrow.  

There is also an equestrian part to the campground as well.  

Mississippi River North (Day 9 Oct 5, 2020)

 After a good nights sleep got up early and fixed some breakfast.  Have plenty of time because Wakonda St Park is only about 2 1/2 hours.  It was just that it looked so good and I was enjoying it so much I had to take a picture.  Another great memory.

The trip down to Wakonda was pretty much uneventful except I had headwinds again....gust up to 35 according to weather forecasts.  It is just that it would be nice to have a tailwind, but God still got me here safely so I am not really griping....just wishing and taking whatever He gives me.

Got to Wakonda in spite of the headwind and set up again where I started this trip.  I do love this place. It is really quite large and took another bike ride to the other part of the campground which just have electric sites.  It really is a nice campground and not too far from home.

Fixed chicken strips over the fire and tried some different ways....one had a parmesan coating and another just BBQ sauce, and finally tired a bacon wrapped strip.  All came out pretty good but haven't been able try all of them yet....the BBQ and parmesan I did and both are good.

Even had time to take a nap....now that is really relaxing. 

Mississippi River North (Day 8 Oct 4, 2020)

 These days of returning home have really been relaxing.  The drive has been great but I did notice that today I traveled on I35 and I have not done much travel on interstate highways.  I have been traveling a lot of 2 lane highways going through small towns and seeing America's grass roots.  It has really been wonderful compared to the sterilized travel on the interstates....a lot slower, but the trip is about the journey and not the destination.  I have really enjoyed it.  There is one thing that I have noticed on my trip through Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, and that is there are about 50 signs for Trump for every 1 sign for Biden....and I may be conservative with that estimate.  Makes my heart feel good...

The Coralville Lake COE campground is really nice.  They have sites on the Lake and then layered going up the side of a small hill and it is all well maintained.  There is even a very large beach right next to the campground.  

There is even some color in the trees but not as much a Minnesota.

Got my grill out again and made some more hamburgers over the fire and hope to have breakfast over the fire tomorrow since I don't have far to go to get to Wakonda State Park.  Still on track to get back on Wednesday morning....hoping to make Bible study.

Mississippi River North (Day 7 Oct 3, 2020)

Slept very good last night.   Left St Cloud Campground after having some eggs & bacon and drove to Oakwood Campground.  Driving these last two days has really been great.  I don't think I realized how difficult driving into that strong headwind really was because these two days have been so easy.  

Getting back down to where the leaves are just getting into the change....

This campground is pretty nice and laid out different than most campgrounds....they are all pull-through but are double so that one pulls in from one direction and the other pulls in from the other....then the hook-ups are between the two.....and they are all full hook-ups.  I don't think they put anyone on the site next to you until they run out of spots and they have a lot of them..

Took a nice bike ride into the town which is along the lake.  They really have a lot of neat house and most, if not all, have boats because they are right on the lake.

Took an evening walk and went to an old church that I thought had been converted into a laundry, but that was the building next door.  This church had been build in 1879 and the original owner of the RV campground had it moved to the campground because it was going to be torn down.  I opened the door and there was a guy with a broad brim hat standing at the podium.  He invited me on in and turns out he was rehearsing the sermon that he was going to give tomorrow.  Of course he invited me to come, but I will be leaving before then, so he basically gave the sermon then, which he said he gives twice per year.  Turns out he is a minister and the original owner of the campground.  We talked for about an hour....very interesting.  

Heading out to a COE campground at Coralville Lake, IA tomorrow.  Just love those $10 camping sites...hope it is nice??? 

Mississippi River North (Day 6 Oct 2, 2020)

 Got up and had pancakes and bacon before setting out for the Mississippi Headwaters. Commuication is still spotty with no internet.   Didn't realize how much I use it....kind of feel lost without it....not sure what that says.

Turns out that the Headwaters were very close to the campground, but naturally I turned left when I should have turned right in Itasca State Park, so I took a tour through the park.   This turned out that to be a great thing because there were some beautiful trees.....also there was almost no traffic.  Stopped at visitors center which was closed, but they had a map of where the Headwaters are located.  So I turned around and headed back.  Took some good photos of this trip.

Also came to the location where the Great Mississippi Road begins.  I also turned around just to be able to take this picture....and that is not easy with an RV.

Finally got to the Headwaters and again, there were only a couple of people there....I did get there about 9:30 in the morning and as I was leaving there were more people coming.  The facility was closed but not the Headwaters area.  Took some pictures:

These are steps where you can walk through the Mississippi.  Of course it was 35F so I didn't.

This is the Mississippi Headwaters

They also had a lot of other displays there were outside the visitors center.

After I finished with this I then took another trip to a location that had the sign Mississippi River but I couldn't get a good picture.

After I got back to the campground it was only about 11:30 so while I had intended to stay 2 days I decided to just head South.  I hadn't made any reservations so I started looking at campgrounds I found that the ones I had planned on staying at were already full.  So I had to find some new ones which I found rather difficult until I go to the next campground because of lack of internet.   So I made reservations for the rest of the trip, and I did have some problems finding places that were not full.  Lots of people are camping....and of course it is the weekend.  

Mississippi River North (Day 5 Oct 1, 2020)

Got up and took a bike ride along the Mississippi which was really nice.

The drive today was absolutely beautiful.  Still fought headwinds but just slowed down a bit so it took longer. This was another day that the trees really showed good color.  So I took a lot of pictures again including some video.

 Also took some videos  (Not sure this loaded?????)

This was really a great trip until I got to the MN State Recreation campground.   I think the spot that I reserved was terrible.  Not at all what I saw in the picture they had of it when I reserved it.  Lots of weeds and not even near level enough for me to be able to level the RV.  I talked with the camp hosts who were really nice but they couldn't do anything because it is all handled online or by phone which did help me because I didn't have either.  I initially moved to another site because they said it wasn't reserved but if someone did reserve it I would have to move.  I guess I just had it, so I left and found another campground that was closer to the headwatters of the Mississippi.  So I spent the night there....it wasn't too bad, but again no internet, but I did have phone most of the time, but not data, so again I couldn't even use it.  

Mississippi River North (Day 4 - Sep 30, 2020)

 Got up pretty early and the wind was still blowing, so I just decided to just have some cereal and take off.  The trip was really pretty nice except for the wind again, and rain into some rain showers as well.  But going right along the Mississippi was really nice.  

Really nice surprise when Pastor Mike called from the Bible class this morning just to see how things were going.  Really enjoyed the conversation but did make me miss the class.

Did get to see God changing the trees to the fall colors and managed to get a few pictures.

Went through/around Minneapolis/St Paul so had to deal with a lot of traffic but not too bad...I sure thank God for Google Maps.....BTW...I downloaded the maps just incase I lost internet again...lesson learned...I hope.

Got to Camp Ripley about 2:30 in the afternoon because I drove slower due to the strong head winds...Just seems like I can't get away from them.....Maybe God's way of slowing me down....

This is really a nice military camp which is right on the Mississippi but can't see the river from the camp because of all the tall pine trees.  There is a trail/road that goes along the Mississippi.  

They have a military museum here that I want through.  Turns out there is rich history here as it used to be Fort Ripley established in the 1800s to fight the indian wars...primarily the Dakotas.  The museum had displays from the Civil Way and every conflict up to today.  They have a huge outdoor display of tanks, helicopters, and other military equipment. They even had QRs that you could use to watch videos about the display or equipment.  I could have spent a lot more time but it was getting late so left to beat a thunderstorm moving in....I was on my trike.  Got a few pictures:

Hard to believe that I was 7 years old when the Air Force was formed

They also offer free firewood so I got some and had a campfire late at night before going to bed.  Really nice, but got a little lonely remembering our campfires with family and the church campers.