Birthday Week in Detroit Lakes
Fun fact, Jamey and I have birthday’s two days apart. And while I’m one year (and two days) older than him, for those two days each year, he loves that I’m two years older and takes the opportunity to call me a cougar. Well, lucky for Jamey, we’re in different decades now that I’m 40 (and he’s 39).
I was born in Denver, Colorado. So for this milestone birthday the original plan was to return to where it all began and spend the week in Denver. So many plans! My friends were going to fly out, we were going to take some epic hikes, mountain bike on a real mountain, eat at La Casa Bonita where they cliff dive inside (also spoofed on South Park)! COVID-19 changed all that.
We considered going anyway, but Minnesota was still under a stay-at-home order, and if we’re driving 12 hours/day for two days, I want to do all the things. So we went to our seasonal site (I prefer to call it The Lake Place) in Detroit Lakes.
Winterization Problems
Last year, since we couldn’t get the camper out of the yard due to ongoing road construction, we had a mobile RV guy come winterize it for us. It didn’t go well. To be fair to him, we waited until the middle of October and we had several days below freezing, so he was up front that there could have been some damage.
So when we got set up our first weekend, we discovered the water pipe under the sink was cracked from the expanding ice and we had no water. We called Wolds RV to come do what we thought was a quick fix.
It wasn’t. They weren’t able to come for two weeks, and once they got there, they discovered much more damage. Expect another post about this nightmare. The damage was bad enough, the communication from Wold was non-existent.
Roughing It
I was not about to stand by and let my birthday be ruined further. The campground bathroom is locked up entirely since they can’t keep up with the COVID-19 enhanced cleaning guidelines (to be honest, they couldn’t keep up with the bare minimum cleaning pre-COVID, those bathrooms are awful) – so we couldn’t just use their shower and bathroom.
So we roughed it! We used a couple five-gallon water jugs for the sinks, a bucket for flushing the toilet and a solar shower for hot (warmish) showers. It wasn’t bad at all, but it was as close to “camping” as we’ve come.
A Birthday Gift to Myself
I’ve wanted to buy an LED palm tree to get keep in front of the camper for a few years. Why? Because I’m a weirdo. But that would take up space in the storage and probably break with all the traveling, so I never did get one. But since we’re (mostly) stationary this year, I got myself an early birthday present and bought myself one.
Detroit Lake
On Memorial Day, we biked around the big lake, Detroit Lake. We both expected this to be a longer ride, it was only about 11 miles. Great lake views most of the way, and huge houses to admire as well.
Once we went all the way around, we stopped for beer and nachos from Lakeside Tavern with a picnic on the lake. Patios open next week, but really lakeside dining is always better.
Glendalough State Park
The best part of remaining stationary most of this year is really exploring and getting to know a new area. We know Okoboji well from our many years going there, so I’m hopeful we’ll get as familiar with the Detroit Lakes area as well. There are lots of great destinations within an hour from the lake.
The first place we visited was Glendalough State Park in Battle Lake. The city map detailed a great bike trail that went around half the lake and through the state park. Unfortunately, a big section of trail and road was under construction, but we managed to find an alternate route to the trail.
It also started raining while we were there. We hid out in a shelter for a while, but the radar indicated it was going to rain all day, so we finished the ride in road construction and rain.
The state park was gorgeous! We’ll be back, when the weather is better.
On the way back, we stopped for beer to go at Disgrunted Brewing. The All Together IPA is a joint brewing venture of breweries around the country to support the hospitality professionals who have been hard hit by the impact of COVID-19.
Someday, I can’t wait to visit this place again and sit on that cool patio. I hate COVID-19.
Lordy, I’m NOT turning 40
Best laid plans and everything … We were going to visit Itasca State Park for my birthday, but Buddy got into something and was up every two hours to go outside. So leaving him alone for many hours wasn’t really the best idea.
Thankfully the weather was perfect, so we rented a pontoon and spent the day on the boat. It wasn’t hiking in Colorado, but it was a pretty good day.
A full day of fun in the sun left us all hot and tired. Buddy’s stomach was better (and empty, except some white bread and water). We wound up falling asleep in the recliners before calling it an early night. I’m old now, I’m allowed to go to bed early.
Itasca State Park
Since Buddy was feeling better, and blessedly let us sleep through the night, we headed up to Itasca State Park to see the headwaters of the Mississippi.
We did some hiking around the state park before getting on the bikes and exploring the beautiful trails. This state park is a must visit, and I have no doubt we’ll be there many times this year.
Jamey’s birthday
Jamey is required to add this year to his age! Since his family is only 45 minutes away from The Lake Place, he went into Fargo to go golfing with his dad and brother. He later went over to the house to see his mom as well, from a safe distance.
Social distancing on a golf course is pretty easy. It’s outdoors, it’s easy to stay away from each other. I’m glad he was able to spend the day with his family, while I spent the afternoon sitting by the lake, reading and napping.
A friend from work, who lives in Canada, but has been sheltering with a coworker in Wisconsin, finally decided to head home across the border and hunker down for his 14 day required quarantine. Phil stopped by on his way up to America’s hat and we all enjoyed dinner for Jamey’s birthday and one last hurrah for Phil before he’s isolated for two weeks.
One Last Day of Vacation
For our final full day of vacation, we took our bikes the short distance over to Dunton Locks County Park and biked around Lake Sallie.
This was probably my favorite day of biking. We got a mix of off-road trails and beautiful paved trails. It was great!
We spent the evening by the bonfire and trying to relax before we had to pack up and go home the next day.
Protests and Riots at Home
I want to briefly address the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis that happened while we were on vacation. We were horrified at the shocking police brutality and glued to the television and Twitter as we watched our city delve into protests that later turned into riots.
From the distance and safety of The Lake Place, I learned from a hysterical Facebook neighborhood group and NextDoor (seriously, why does that app still exist, it’s the most racist, stupidest place on the internet outside of 4chan) that businesses close to our house (in a first ring suburb, about 10 miles away from where Floyd was killed) were being looted. Some people on the Facebook group were insisting homes were being broken into, it was hard to know what was true. It was hard to relax. My dad went over to our house and assured us everything there was normal, while the businesses a couple miles away had been broken into or boarded up.
Our address is technically Brooklyn Center, but our zip code is both Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center. We love Minneapolis, it’s our home. I have always felt safer and more welcome in Minneapolis than in Rochester where we used to live. No one should be afraid of Minneapolis, and no one should lose their life at the hands of out of control police.
Justice for George Floyd. Black Lives Matter.
