Itasca State Park and the Mighty (Little) Mississippi

As an addendum to my last post entitled “My Bucket List is Overflowing,” I thought I’d share with you that yet another item has been added to our Bucket List.  Last week I received an email from our friend, Kevin, which included a comment that he and his wife, Maddison, had added the Rocky Mountaineer to their list.  Of course, Kevin included a link to the website so that Alan and I would start drooling over the company’s train excursions through the Canadian Rockies.  The domed rail cars of the Rocky Mountaineer offer superb views of the dramatic and magnificent mountain scenery, and several different route options are available.  So, our Bucket List runneth over even more, but this time it’s Kevin’s fault, not mine.

When it comes time to write a post, I am easily distracted by anything even remotely related to RVing – or regular travel, for that matter – so I wasn’t surprised to see that my last post documenting our 2015 trip to Minnesota and Michigan was published more than three months ago.  Today’s post will get me back in the saddle, so to speak, and it details our visit to the headwaters of the Mississippi River – the actual destination around which the entire trip was built.  Yes, it was a Bucket List item and, yes, we decided that it was absolutely, positively worthwhile.  Come along, my friends, and join us on the adventure!

My Bucket List is Overflowing

Hey!  Didja miss me?!  I have been in Technology Hell, struggling with internet, modem, cell phone and wireless carrier issues for almost a month.   Each was having an impact on the others making this a frustrating, tail-chasing repair job of the grandest proportions.  Technology – the gift that keeps on giving in all kinds of wonderful and awful ways.  Just yesterday, I think I finally got the last of the problems cleared up and I’m hoping for clear sailing from here on in.

I want to get back to documenting our M&M trip – our travels to Minnesota and Michigan in 2015 – but, first, a comment Joe made (he blogs over at Easin’ Along) on Laurel and Eric’s blog (Raven & Chickadee) got me thinking about the current edition of our Bucket List.  It seems like the start of a new year might be a good time to review the ol’ list.  The photos in this post are of some of the Bucket List items Alan and I have been able to cross off our list over the years.

The Secret Santa Run

Despite the fact that our travel trailer is safely tucked away for the winter, Alan and I continue to embrace adventures, large and small, whenever we have the opportunity.  We’ve been tackling them together since day one when we set out on a month-long cross-country camping honeymoon with a two-person mountain tent, a Coleman cooler and our hearts full of love and wanderlust.

When our son, Ryan, was working at our local Tractor Supply Company store some years back, I’d sometimes stop in after running errands to drop off a bagel or some cookies from the bakery.  That habit of delivering treats like Santa himself led to a fairly recent tradition at our house – The Secret Santa Run.  Come along with Alan and me this year to see how it went and decide for yourselves whether or not we’re an embarrassment to our kids.

Introducing Jim - the Best Campground Host Ever!

The photos in this post were taken in and around the Sawtooth Mountains in central Idaho.  Since it’s an area of such exceptional beauty, don’t be surprised if they turn up again in future posts.

When you camp at privately owned RV parks, there is often an office on the premises that’s staffed by the campground owners, managers or paid staff.  Frequently you’ll find a small store on site and, perhaps, a laundry room and recreation room.  Various staff members are usually available to direct you to your campsite, take charge of campground activities and keep public areas like pools and playgrounds clean.

When you camp in public campgrounds, you don’t usually find a campground with staff or services like that unless you’re camping in a well-funded State Park.  Often all duties fall to a Campground Host, especially in federal facilities like those under the U.S. Forest Service or Army Corps of Engineers umbrellas.  Hosts are typically hired by the public agency that operates the campground or by a concessionaire that's responsible for staffing and maybe operations.  In exchange for a list of chores and a specified number of “on duty” hours, hosts may receive compensation in the form of actual pay, a free campsite for the duration of their tenure or some combination of the two.  As a result of this arrangement, the Campground Host is often the only contact the camping public has with the “owners” of the public campground – meaning the state or federal agency, city, county or region that operates it.  Just as a single server in a restaurant can make or break your dining experience, a Campground Host can positively or negatively impact your camping experience.

(More Than) Idaho in Our Rear View Mirror (Part 2 of 2)

I find it intriguing how every expedition takes on a personality of its own.  On this particular trip, the bothersome issues we had with our GPS unit, the hot spot in the truck, one of the sensors on our tire pressure monitoring system and our portable generator definitely added a level of frustration to our travels.  On the other hand, discovering the exceptional beauty of Idaho’s parks, mountains, lakes and rivers made for excellent explorations of the natural world that were, somehow, both soothing and exciting.  Focusing on the many positive aspects of the trip makes it memorable for all the right reasons.

In my previous post, I spoke of enjoying the amazing campsites and beautiful bike trails that resulted in a most enjoyable and fun-filled adventure in Idaho.  But wait!  There’s more – plenty more!

Idaho in Our Rear View Mirror (Part 1 of 2)

I promised at the end of my last post that the following post would be a summary of our recent 5+ week camping expedition.  Well, I lied.  Not intentionally, though.  As it turns out, I didn’t have it in me to summarize a trip of nearly six weeks in just one post.  I needed two.  So, welcome to Idaho - Part 1!

Last year, at the height of the COVID pandemic, Alan and I spent a total of about six weeks camping at State Park campgrounds within our home state.  Because we’re self-contained with our own kitchen, bathroom and sleeping quarters, our only necessary contact with others occurred when we checked in at the gate or office of each Park.  There were, of course, gas and grocery stops, but we would have made those same stops if we had stayed at home.  So, we felt completely safe in our State Parks and had quite the enjoyable camping season in 2020.

This year, Alan and I obtained COVID vaccines early in the spring, but we remained concerned about traveling since so many attractions hadn’t yet fully opened and we were still uncomfortable with restaurant dining.  We examined our bucket list looking for an appropriate destination and came up with . . . Idaho!  Even though the number of COVID cases in the state was rising, we knew that we planned to keep to ourselves as much as possible, plus mask up and use sanitizer whenever we needed to access groceries or gas.  We agreed that we were both comfortable with our decision and happy with our destination.  The focus in Idaho would be on the magnificent scenery and outdoor activities that would allow us to enjoy it, and we ended up with a perfect combination of camping and biking.

Lake Bemidji State Park - An "Exciting" Experience!

This post is another installment in the series documenting our trip to the states of Minnesota and Michigan back in the summer of 2015.  Our daughter, Kyra, was 16 and out of school on summer vacation, so she joined us on our two week whirlwind tour of the M&M states.

One of the disadvantages of documenting a trip long after it was taken is the inability to remember why certain decisions were made.  As I look back on our trip to Minnesota and Michigan, I find myself wondering why we camped at Lake Bemidji State Park in Minnesota instead of Itasca State Park.  You might recall that I mentioned in a previous post that this entire trip was based upon a desire to visit the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and those headwaters are located within Itasca.  Hmm.  I’m thinking that we might have stayed at Lake Bemidji to better position ourselves for our day trip to Voyageurs National Park which was a two hour drive north from Lake Bemidji.  It would have been close to three hours from Lake Itasca, hence my deduction.  In any event, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Lake Bemidji except for one teeny tiny thing.

Two New Additions!

I’m interrupting our regular programming (meaning my recounting of our Minnesota and Michigan Trip) to alert you to two new additions to my sidebar.  I apologize for keeping you in suspense about our frightening experience at Lake Bemidji.  That’s up next – I promise!

In my previous post I had mentioned the World’s Largest Boot in Red Wing, Minnesota, and commented on how much we enjoyed unique stops like this.  Man-made oddities like the World’s Largest Ketchup Bottle, the Blue Whale of Catoosa and the World’s Largest Highboy represent individual stories of life in America and reflect the details of a particular company’s or region’s history or a family’s special legacy.  I find all of that fascinating.

The Twin Cities - Minneapolis and St. Paul (The M&M Trip)

This is another post in the series documenting our trip to the states of Minnesota and Michigan back in the summer of 2015.  Our daughter, Kyra, was 16 and out of school on summer vacation, so she joined us on our two week whirlwind tour of the M&M states.

Here in the northeast, you’ll find mostly privately owned RV parks or campgrounds operated by State Parks Departments.  Camping travelers don’t seem to have the support of city, county and regional governments like they do in other areas of the country.  So I’m always pleasantly surprised to find these gems when I’m on the hunt for a base camp for our explorations or a place to land for an overnight stop as we crisscross the country.

The M&M Trip - Minnesota and Michigan

This is the first post in a series documenting a two week trip to the states of Minnesota and Michigan back in the summer of 2015.  Alan had already escaped the workforce, but I was still working full time, so we had to be content with an expedition that would fit within my two weeks of vacation.  Our son Ryan was working full time and had aged out of traveling with us on a regular basis.  Our daughter, Kyra, was 16 and out of school on summer vacation, so she joined us on a whirlwind tour of these two states.

How do you pick a vacation destination?  Do you follow a tradition that has been in your family for generations and go to a beloved cabin in the mountains or cottage by the sea?  Do you have a prioritized list of future vacation spots and just go down the list in order?  Do you base vacations on the location of family members or friends you wish to visit across the country or around the globe?  Do you tape a map to the wall and throw a dart at it?

Little Free Libraries

I grew up in a middle class home in a city of about 25,000 people.  My Dad was a machine operator on a railroad; my Mom stayed at home to raise my older brother and me until I started school.  After that, she worked part time in the local school district so that she’d be home when my brother and I were.  There wasn’t much discretionary income left after their paychecks were divvied up to pay the bills, but our lives were rich in all of the ways that mattered.

The Colchester Causeway - A Rail Trail with Magnificent Views in Every Direction

When Alan and I were in Burlington, Vermont, nearly three years ago, one of the activities we enjoyed was biking the Burlington Greenway.  The Greenway is the City of Burlington’s portion of the 13.4 mile Island Line Rail Trail.  We began at North Beach Park which, if I remember correctly, is roughly in the middle of the Greenway.  We continued north until the Greenway transitioned into the Colchester Bike Path and Causeway.  At the time, we were just interested in the Burlington Greenway BUT, if I had only plunged a little bit deeper into my research, I would have discovered that the Causeway is actually the highlight of the Island Line Rail Trail.