kinda lonely out there
kinda lonely out there, in a non-electric site late in the season and in the middle of the week.
another site 39, only at council grounds state park in wisconsin. one night, 10/14/2010.
bigger than the average manhattan studio apartment, the vw westfalia gives us a home where we park.
kinda lonely out there, in a non-electric site late in the season and in the middle of the week.
another site 39, only at council grounds state park in wisconsin. one night, 10/14/2010.
as in potawatomi state park. the wisconsin dnr may not like it, but all the locals called it that after they discovered we were staying there. one night only, 11/13/2010. site 39E.
wisconsin's peninsula state park, site 566 (!?!?) but quiet and actually felt quite secluded, probably because there were only three campers in the ground during the week. october 10th-13th, 2010.
we ran away for two nights, even though we didn't run far. (william o'brien state park, site 36e, one site over from the visit this past spring) two nights only, 9/10 and 9/11.
view of "the guest room" from the cabin at gogebic. june 23-25th, 2010
minnesota's whitewater state park. a very pleasant state park, surrounded by bluffs and with zero cell service, which was a plus for this longer weekend, may 13-16, 2010. site 27.
2 nights at william o'brien state park, spot #34 in the riverway campground.
(april 30 & may 1, 2010)
we didn't stay the entire evening at wild river state park, but headed home in the dark. the campground is refined and the trails look nice. site 10e on the 'd' loop is prime, though.
we needed to get away for a night. interstate state park. 17e was the commute-close space for the night. 4/20/2010
can't imagine why not, after visiting it. book the wisconsin ridge sites early, because they command a view that cannot be beat. we stayed in the homestead campground, which was quiet and cool. site 222 cool. one night only.
in minnesota's great river bluffs state park. i can only imagine this park is absolutely amazing at peak fall foliage, because it has a fabulous mix of hardwoods and extensive views of the river and surrounding bluffs. one night only, 09/11/2009
from july 31st to august 2nd, 2009, the only sun we really caught at minnesota's mccarthy beach state park (site 48) happened during this moment. we also caught some sunnies (and perch) on side lake. but hands down we'd visit this park again. it was a nice blend of pines and lakes, near chisholm and hibbing. we stayed here for one weekend pre-westy back in 1998 but didn't spend much time on site. now that we have, it is on my short list for a return.
we sacked out at minnesota's banning state park, site 15, on thursday july 30, 2009. it was far enough from the twin cities to get a head start on the long weekend and close enough that we didn't have to leave straightaway from work to get caught in traffic.
from july 22nd to the morning of july 26, 2009 i took up residence at the 10klf vip campground in detroit lakes, minnesota.
my westy served as a private hotel room for one (me) and a mobile office for media folks. we enjoyed our work: the current @ 10klf.
site 71 at minnesota's father hennepin state park, right on the south shore of mille lacs. spent a lot of time reading, walking, and relaxing, even though it was a single night, 7/1/09.
savannah campground site #73 in minnesota's william o'brien state park. despite the rain the campground was packed, and perhaps due to the rain and low activity i spotted a ton of birds & wildlife, including a mink. one night 6/6/2009.
site 21 served us - and our tent campin' friends - well the nights of 10/10 - 10/11/08 at Perrot State Park in Wisconsin.
camping at site 18 of Wisconsin's Rib Mountain, 9/27/08. this is a sweet, small park near Wausau. as in you can look off the mountain and see the town's lights below. but quite pretty, and actually reasonably quiet, considering a saturday night stay.
we're at 12-mile beach campground (site 9) at the beautiful pictured rocks. 09/26/08 - perfect weather, perfect view, perfectly pretty campground.
one night facing the big superior lake at http://www.munisingtouristpark.com/ 09/25/08. it is just a quick drive down from the party store.
really, the van is the official guest room on the shores of lake gogebic. 09/24/08.
time for the annual big-dog trip! two nights for ripley and me in the van, 07/25 & 07/26/2008. kurt was there too, but he was quite literally a cabin boy in his little house on the lake.
we took the van up to kurt's cabin on lake gogebic. it was the perfect guest room for our visit. two nights 06/20 & 06/21/2008.
dellystone? while we usually stick to state parks and the like, when the kidlet is involved our priorities change. a pool or other swimming option + mini-golf + teens dressed as big talking bears = happy kid.
this is site 132 (on cindy circle!) of the Yogi Bear's Wisconsin Dells Camp-Resort & Water Playground or generally simply called... jellystone. the bathrooms were clean, the staff here from overseas for an american summer, and we could hear the ocean* from our campsite for two nights, 06/16/2008 and 06/17/2008.
*"the ocean" is our code word for "interstate"
site # 8 in olson campground, worthington, mn. one night only, may 20, 2008. convenient and quiet.
the first trip with the three-window pop-top at minnesota's sakatah lake state park. site #20 (october 12 - 14, 2007) had electricity (which meant we had electric heat...decadent!) and a little bit of color. the sakatah singing hills trail runs through it - a thoroughly pleasant way to get into town (waterville, mn) or just to ride easily past farms and near lakes.
an oversize electric site gave me enough room to park the westy "sideways" (and west-ways!) facing the fire and the shore of petenwell lake. (september 21-22, 2007) this was part of the newly developed"section of petenwell county park.
no moat jokes, please. at site#25 (september 20, 2007) sundown at wisconsin's castle mound campground. just outside of black river falls, this is a pleasant place to stay that is near interstate 94 (you can hear it...) but not on the freeway.
site #35 in minnesota's glacial lakes state park (oakridge campground, natch)
the rain drove most people out, but several of us rode it out for a quiet, pleasant, bug-free weekend.
Top popped (Site #68 July 12, 13, and 14 2007) at River's End Campground on Tybee Island, Georgia.
photo credit Lisa Axell
There goes the neighborhood! That's the wanderwagen on the right, close to Bryan and Lisa's '77 (Sadie) and their new '89 (Blue).
Bryan and Lisa convinced us - well, it didn't take much convincing, actually - that the Chippewa Valley Volkswagen Club (thecvvc.com/) puts on a terrific show. We camped one night on the grounds at the Eau Claire Expo Center in the heart of Wisconsin. Nice digs: close to I94 but terrific amenities. One of the nicest campground showers I've ever used, and the not-pictured neighbor happened to be John, author of "A Bus Takes You There"
For One! Night! Only! (Site #6, 05/19/07) We stayed at the St. Croix Campground in Wisconsin's Governor Knowles State Forest. Small, quiet, and clean, it was a sweet little campground near Grantsburg, Wisconsin.
camping at pettibone resort, which kindly let us stay in an overflow space and take over a cancellation. with oktoberfest being a holiday weekend for lacrosse, this was no small thing. (site 502 the nights of 9/29/06 and 9/30/06)
In 2006 I lucked out nabbing site 106 at the Minnesota State Fair. This year, site 110. If you have a high tolerance for noise and love food on a stick, this is a nice way to spend a day or two at the fair. (08/25/06)
A wedding on the shores of Lake Superior brought us up to Cascade River State Park for the night of 08/12/06, site b08. It was a one-night trip and we didn't spend much time in the park, but it was the perfect landing pad. (pssst Congratulations, Tracy and Roger!)
Minnesota's Frontenac State Park sits on the bluffs above Lake Pepin. The trail down to the lake is cleared and complete with stairs, oh, and just happens to be a calf-burner to boot. Just south of Red Wing, Minnesota this is a nice get-away park. (Site 44, for one night only 07/22/06)
Site 29 in the lower campground at Minnesota's Camden State Park. The lower campground is a very short stroll from a spring-fed swimming hole, perfect for a cool-down after a quick mountain biking run. Visitors from the Twin Cities can and should veer off to take the East Section of the Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway. (07/07/06 - 07/09/06)
Site 21 of Minnesota’s Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. 04/28/06. Located just south of Minneapolis/St. Paul and outside of Northfield, MN.
Site 43 (which conveniently puts the "e" in electricity!) of Minnesota’s St. Croix State Park. According to the DNR Web site this park boasts 21 miles of the St. Croix River as a boundary and has 180,501 annual visits.
At site b4 in Minnesota's Cascade River State Park 9/23/05-9/24/05. Just outside of Grand Marais this park is not only pretty for a visit, but makes a good homebase for exploring Minnesota's North Shore.
Again with site #17, technically a walk in site. This just meant a little jaunt to get to the fire. the parking felt like a site by itself. Amnicon Falls state park is very conveniently located off hwy 2 just west of Duluth/Superior. The park is pretty, which translates into quite busy on the weekends. Camping neighbors were quiet but light sleepers may not like the traffic sounds - they didn't bug me a bit.
At site 17 in Wisconsin's Big Bay State Park Campground on Madeline Island 07/15/05-07/20/05. Cindy and Kitty moved the van to site 31 from 07/20/05-07/22/05, sorry no pics of that site.
At The French Broad River Campground on the Old Marshall Hwy outside Asheville, NC 10/13/04 and 10/14/04. Just a quick drive to downtown Asheville and right on the river.
We try for State and National Parks but oddly enough, everything around Sturgis during the rally was rather booked. The Rapid City KOA was our temporary home for the evening 08/13/04. I wish I had video from this site so folks could hear the cycle racing's revving engines.
Grant Village is the jellystonest of Yellowstone 08/12/04. Here we are on the inner ring right next to the bathroom, site 202.
At the Lewis Lake campground in Yellowstone National Park 08/11/04. Site C26. Nicely wooded, clean pit toilets, self-registration, and lotsa bear boxes for food storage.
At National Park Service North Rim Campground of the Grand Canyon 08/08/04 and 08/09/04. Site #21, gorgeous, wooded, ideal.
At Kaibab CampeRVillage in the Kaibab National Forest near Jacob Lake, AZ 08/06/04.
