Thursday, May 30, 2013

Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money!

 

So I’m kicking back at my campsite having trail mix for breakfast after walking Big Sioux Recreation Area in South Dakota.

I hear an SUV pull up in front of my site. I don’t turn around. Then it backs up a bit and stops. The engine turns off. I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around. It’s a policeman.

The exchange went something like this:

“Is this your trailer?”

“Nope. Never seen it before. Don’t know how it got here. Maybe someone forgot it.”

He gave me a strange look.

“The reason I stopped was to check out the trailer.”

“Take it, it’s yours. Nothing in there is mine. Well, except for my clothes. And my sleeping bag and pillows. But I don’t know how that happened.”

“Um, I just wanted to look at the trailer. It’s cute.”

Cute. Really? I have heard that comment three times in the past week. I definitely need to put some pirate flags on it. Relaxing some I said,

“Would you like a peek inside?”

“You don’t mind?”

“No.”

I finally looked at his badge. Chief. Brandon PD. South Dakota. Great. But I knew nothing incriminating was inside and the statute of limitations had run out on the other stuff.

“Wow, this is pretty sweet.”

“And manly, not cute,” I added.

The ice was broken and we started talking about camping, my trip, photography, and eventually, bicycles. I really want to pick up a bike for the rest of this trip. Lots of Rails to Trails coming up.

I ask him about bike shops.

“Well, there is one that I go to in Sioux Falls. Good place.”

“Will you go with me tomorrow?”

“No. Why?”

“So I can get a deal. With you wearing your uniform I should get a good price.”

“No.”

“You could dress plainclothes then. Stand in the doorway and fire a few rounds into the ceiling if they’re not being cooperative.”

He looks at me.

“You’re from California, right?”

“Maybe.”

He laughs, shakes my hand, and says “Have a great day.”

That was yesterday, Wednesday. Let’s go back to the long weekend at Camden State Park in Minnesota.

I learned that habanero sauce and worms do not mix. My stomach felt like I had swallowed a live cat.

It rained Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Tuesday morning as well. Which was sad because the campground was full.

Camden Crowds 1

Camden Crowds 2

The kids didn’t seem to mind too much but the parents were a tad disgruntled. I heard that last year at this time it was 85 degrees and sunny. And if you rode a bike and opened your mouth you would fill up on mosquitos. The late cold spring should portend less of them this year.

I made a big batch of trail mix. Really big.

Trail Mix

I had a pancake breakfast on Sunday and fireside tacos on Monday. The fire never really got going.

Pancake Breakfast

Fireside Tacos

I left Tuesday morning.

I have reservations for most of the Minnesota State Parks but they don’t start until the last day of May. So I decided to pop back in to South Dakota and stay at Big Sioux Recreation Area in Brandon, about five miles from Sioux Falls.

I stopped at two campgrounds on the way there. The first one was still in the land of 10,000 lakes.

Split Rock Creek Sign

Split Rock is a small place with only 28 campsites.

Split Rock Creek_025

But they are good ones. It has lake number 4893 out of 10,000 and the obligatory canoe rentals.

Split Rock Creek Lake

Split Rock Creek Boat Ramp

Crossing the border into South Dakota I checked out Palisades State Park.

Palisades Sign

Another smaller spot with just 37 sites.

Palisades_032

No lake here, just a beautiful river. And an old bridge over it.

Palisades Bridge Sign

I didn’t take a photo of the other side of the sign. Go there and read it yourself.

Palisades Bridge

Yeah, it was still dark and cloudy. Here is a look east from the bridge.

Palisades River 1

And a little closer.

Palisades River 2

Love it! Looking west we get the ominous sky again.

Palisades River 3

Twelve miles south is my spot for three nights, Tuesday through Thursday.

Big Sioux Sign

It had this:

Big Sioux Power

Very exciting. I set up my screen house again.

Big Sioux Campsite 1

And my office.

Big Sioux Office

The sun started to come out from hiding on Tuesday afternoon.

Big Sioux Campsite 2

This was the view from my campsite.

Big Sioux Sun

I was so excited I ruined a freshly laundered pair of underwear.

After a quick shower I made dinner.

Burgers 1

Yep.

Burgers 2

Stop drooling. They tasted as good as they looked.

On Wednesday morning I walked the campground and checked out the river.

Big Sioux River

And the suspension bridge.

Big Sioux Suspension Bridge

It is built in about 8 sections that move independently of each other. So the sections shifted underfoot like the goofy walkway in a funhouse. Interesting.

One of the things I like to do while travelling is pick up the local Nickel Ads. It gives you a feel for the different towns and their residents.

This guy is obviously hungry.

AD-5

Maybe he should hook up with this person.

AD-2

Wait. I can have all the horse poop I want for free? All I have to do is shovel and bag it? What a deal!

If this travelling gig ever goes away, I found something that I am qualified to do.

AD-3

Looks like the competition is fierce though. Plus I would only pick the pretty ones and would probably get fired.

Sometimes an ad tells a tale in a few words. Like this one.

AD-4

It makes one wonder about the backstory. What a great beginning for a novel. And the words she wrote in the small amount allowed. Modest. Maybe that was his mistake. Under $100. Not over. Hmm.

Well, I have her number. Maybe she wants to go camping.

Regards,

Greg

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Hot Banana!

 

Ok, where was I? Ah yes. After posting the last blog on Sunday I headed a few miles away below Gavins Point Dam on Lewis and Clark Lake to visit three campgrounds. I managed to get two.

Drive by Dam

The weather was not being friendly again. That is the dam to the right. Right before you reach it is Pierson Ranch RA.

Pierson Ranch Sign

This was the first campground built in the area after the Missouri River was dammed. Only 67 sites but it has tennis courts and a nice day use area.

Pierson Ranch Day Use Area

The sites are big and so were the raindrops that started to fall.

Pierson Ranch_020

About a mile below the dam is Chief White Crane RA.

Chief White Crane Sign

The colored pine needles look like the popcorn balls some people put on Christmas trees. I continued onward, walking the campground with my trusty umbrella.

Chief White Crane is on the south side of Lake Yankton, the afterbay below the dam, while Pierson Ranch is across the street from the lake on the east side.

Quite a few sites here are lakefront.

Chief White Crane_127

Both campgrounds share the boat ramp and the lake.

Boat Ramp

Lake Yankton

Immediately after this photo the skies opened up and the rain started pouring down again. I headed back to camp at Lewis and Clark.

The Missouri River south of the dam is designated a National Wild Recreation River or something like that for about 40 miles. Meaning there is no development allowed and it looks like it did back in 1804 when Bill and Meri passed by. In fact, Chief White Crane was the first Indian they encountered after leaving Kansas City. They met at the spot the where campground is now located.

I headed out Monday morning. I planned to spend a few days in the Spirit Lake area of Iowa before going to Minnesota. Again, Iowa let me down. I am not going to disparage a State’s parks but they need to do better. That sentiment was echoed to me by the campers I met when I continued on that same day to the land of 10,000 lakes.

200 miles after leaving Lewis and Clark RA in SD I ended up at Lake Shetek State Park in Minnesota.

Lake Shetek Sign

I arrived late, around 5:30pm, so I didn’t set anything up.

Lake Shetek_015

Just parked, ate a sandwich, and went to bed. Tuesday morning was beautiful. I walked around for a little bit.

Lake Shetek View 1

There are houses alongside the lake outside the park. A popular area for summer homes.

Lake Shetek View 2

An old settler’s cabin is right next to the campground.

Koch Cabin

I could live there.There is also an island you can walk to. Think about that. Loon Island.

Loon Island

You just walk over the convenient path they built. There is a boat ramp and canoe rentals.

Lake Shetek Boat Ramp

Lake Shetek Canoe Rentals

Looking at my Minnesota State Parks book I think they all offer canoe rentals. I will definitely take advantage of that.

But what I needed right now was a place to hang out for the holiday weekend. I left Tuesday and headed to Camden State Park.

Camden Sign

At Minnesota State Parks about 2/3’s of the sites are reservable, which is why I wanted to snag one of the non-reservable ones before the weekend. I found a good spot, #35. They had snow here just a few weeks ago so the grass had not been cut yet. I was talking with Bill, the park manager, (he also manages Lake Shetek), and told him I was going to set up my screen house and maybe they would want to mow my site before I did since I was the only one there so far.

And they did.

Mown Grass 1

Here is a better (somewhat), look.

Mown Grass 2

Just my campsite. I had to put up the screen house because the forecast was for, you guessed it, thunderstorms throughout the weekend.

Camden_035

And I needed a place to cook…

Tacos

Tacos!

Rain started pouring on Tuesday night and continued all day Wednesday. No big deal. It was time to do laundry anyway. I mean, you can only turn your underwear inside out and backwards so many times. When you take your socks off and they retain the shape of your foot and try to walk off on their own, yep, laundry time. So that was Wednesday in Marshall, Minnesota.

The forecast was for Thursday sunshine. And it was. So I made some soup for breakfast, something hot and chickeny.

Salsa

Chicken Soup 1

Yep. Made the color a wee bit redder than normal.

Chicken Soup 2

The trick to using soup crackers is to add just a few at a time and scoop them up right away. Keeps ‘em crunchy.

After breakfast I took a shower. The only reason I mention this is because of the actual shower itself. Not because I really needed one. (OK, I did)

Here is the entrance to an individual shower.

Camden Shower 2

And the stall.

Camden Shower 1

I think I will like the next two months in Minnesota.

I skipped back to my campsite and took a photo while the sun was out.

Camden Campsite 2

Yeah, Baby! This is what I like. 80 degrees. Sunny. Time to walk around. There is a path right behind my campsite that leads to the Redwood River.

Path to Beach

300 yards away is the swimming hole.

Camden Swimming Hole

With a bridge to the picnic area.

Redwood Bridge 1

Redwood Bridge 2

Camden Picnic Area

The river was a little off-colored due to the rains, but it is stocked with brown trout. I might have to find some fishing gear because I forgot my trout tackle at home.

Redwood River 1

Redwood River 3

Redwood River 2

Two miles south of the campground is a lake where you can rent paddleboats and, yes, canoes.

Camden Lake

Camden Boat Ramp

My good friend, let’s call him EE, noticed in my last blog post that I used habanero salsa on my tacos. That’s why I featured it kinda predominately in this one. But I will go a step further. What else do I have laying around…

Hot Banana 1

Delicious!

Hot Banana 2

What Else? Wait, there is a robin yanking a fat worm from the ground right next to me. Maybe I can scare him off and try that…

Regards,

Greg