Autumn Woods RV Park, Rochester MN – High School Reunion

Did he invent the Post-it Note? No. Did he become a world-famous baseball player? No. But he did get an RV and that made Jamey the coolest guy at his high school reunion!

It’s been (ahem) 20 years since Jamey graduated high school so it was time for an obligatory reunion. Jamey went to Byron High School, so we got a camping spot in our old stomping grounds in the big city of Rochester, MN (about 10 miles outside of small-town Byron) at Autumn Woods RV Park as home base for the festivities.

Autumn Woods RV Park Review

We’ve stayed at a couple different campgrounds around Rochester, MN and none have been super great. Autumn Woods RV Park isn’t much different. It was fine, made a good spot as a place to park the camper and sleep, but as far as campgrounds go, it was quite overpriced for what you get.

I lived in the Rochester area for about 10 years, Jamey lived in the area until we moved to the Twin Cities in 2010. We get it; Rochester isn’t a tourism Mecca – it’s where people go to get world-class medical care at the Mayo Clinic.

Autumn Woods RV Park caters to clinic visitors, and when you’re in town for some speciality treatment, you don’t always know how long the stay will be, so being able to bring your home away from home, and stay as long as you need is a real bonus. Believe me, I spent years working in the hospitality industry in town, the crappiest motel rooms are at least $125/night. So in that perspective, no hard checkout dates for clinic patients, in their “home” is priceless.

The sites are small, but they had full hookups and a great pet walking area. Since they cater to Mayo patients, there are no fire pits, no one is sitting outside, relaxing here, and quiet time starts at 8pm.

This isn’t a place to bring your family for a fun camping trip. It’s a place to hookup your camper and do things in Rochester (or Byron). A bit spendy compared to other RV Parks for what you get, but again, a good place as home base.

Breweries

When we lived in Rochester, Whistle Binkies Rusty Red Truck was the best beer in town, and it was just a Schells Red Ale with a different label. Today, it’s got a vibrant beer scene!

So before we headed to the reunion Saturday evening, we spent time hanging out with friends (and their dogs!) at a couple breweries in town.

First up was a hearty lunch at John Hardy’s BBQ. Then over to Little Thistle Brewing and later Forager Brewing.

Little Thistle Brewing

Beer with friends in Rochester, MN

Dudes. Have you heard about Little Thistle Brewing? It’s kinda out of the way, but I assure you, it’s worth the drive. Brewery got game. They opened about a year ago, have a great motto “Be Humble, Drink Local” and a fabulous patio.

I settled in on the Adirondack chairs with a Foreign Culture with Guava and Passion Fruit and Jamey enjoyed the Raspberry Beret – Fruited IPA. The Foreign Culture was a very tasty sour, nice and jammy (is that a word? I’m declaring it a word) and not too tart. Very easy drinking! The Raspberry Beret, a tribute to Prince and the Revolution (his backup band). The Revolution plays at Down by the Riverside, Rochester’s outdoor music series, next weekend. I also found the fruited IPA almost drinkable as someone who hates IPAs – the blackberry and especially the raspberry flavors were distinct. Still too hoppy for me, but Jamey really, really liked it.

A few friends came to join us and share another round. Then we all headed over to Forager Brewing.

Forager Brewing

Dog bar!

We’ve visited Forager Brewing in the past and found it a little over hyped. But we wanted to give it another chance and I’m glad we did. Located in a former People’s Co-op store, it almost feels like a hipster catering, trying too hard to be authentic, inauthentic. But it is actually super cool, laid back and their outdoor patio is amazing. Whether you come in by bike wearing skinny jeans, on a motorcycle wearing leather, or (like me) with dogs and wearing yoga pants, you’ll feel at home at Forager.

Have I mentioned my love of sour beers? Summer is a great time for IPAs, but if you’re not a fan of punch-you-in-the-face hops, it’s lonely out in craft beer land. Welcome, sours. Drinkable, fruity, not hoppy … the stuff of hot weather dreams. And Forager has lots of sours to choose from!

I settled on the Gummies Make us Likable: Stonefruit and Jamey went with the Swerve IPA. This sour was tart and made me pucker at the first sip, but I quickly adapted to the flavor and it was gone far too quickly. If we didn’t have to rush out for the reunion, I would’ve loved to stay and try all the sours.

Jamey liked the Swerve, but found it “pretty standard.”

The dogs enjoyed the “dog bar” with all-you-can-drink water and the free treats! And of course I had to pose them on the stage. A band would be playing there in a few hours, but for those few minutes, all eyes were on the cute dogs on stage.

Live on stage, two cute dogs!

Reunion Time

We said goodbye to our friends, took the boys back to the camper, and headed to Byron for Jamey’s high school reunion.

Jamey has a great time catching up with old friends and reminiscing about the glory days of yore. He was able to chat with people he hasn’t seen in years, show off his trophy wife, and brag about our RV adventures. And he really enjoyed the small town beer prices!

Brunch with Friends

Sunday morning and Jamey was surprisingly not hung over! Sobering up while watching the Twins game helped.

We got the camper all torn down in record time and headed over to our friends house for lunch. Lon and Rachel have two dogs and our dogs all love to hangout together. And of course since Nikita is also German Shepherd, the twinning makes great photos! Throw in the cone of shame (Nikita has some kind of allergy) and the photos are extra cute!

Twinsies!

After a good brunch and play time for the dogs we headed home. And now we have 11 days until we head to Okoboji for the annual anniversary trip.