A long weekend calls for a fun trip in the RV, so we headed up to Brainerd for the Fourth of July break.

Flat Tire

About half way to Brainerd, we blew a camper tire. We’ve made it across the country twice without issue, so I guess we were due. Unfortunately, neither of us are comfortable changing the RV tire so we had to wait for roadside assistance. On a busy holiday weekend, we faced a long wait. I was on hold with Good Sam when a police officer came over and offered to help. Since we had a spare, we just needed someone with the right jack and bravery to swap the tire out. He was able to call someone from the area to get there much faster than the 2+ hours Good Sam was estimating.

Huge thank you to the local police who made sure we stayed safe on the busy highway, radioed a local tow truck guy who could change the tire in less than 10 minutes and big thanks to that guy who did the work fast and cheap. The fender of the RV blew off (as designed) and we have a little damage on the underside of the trailer, but nothing major, so we were able to continue on our way to Brainerd and get to relaxing (and drinking!).

Cautiously back on the road, we arrived about 45 minutes later to the /campground, Lum Park.

Lum Park is a Brainerd city park with a small campground. The park is on a small lake with great space for picnics and family gatherings. The bathrooms are atrociously dirty. It was a good location and we could see fireworks from a few different cities in one location.

He Lost

The camper in the first site in the park had a giant Trump 2020 flag. He lost. He tried to stage a coup to stay in power. He’s corrupt to the core. PUT IT AWAY AND MOVE ON. I am so sick of hearing about this guy. You may have questions about the 2020 election because you mainline media that panders to your bias, but please for the love of God, accept reality and move on. Put away the divisive flags that just show you’re an asshole, not a patriot.

The Jan 6 committee has made it abundantly clear that Trump knew he lost, his staff kept telling him he lost, and yet he still attempted to keep power by encouraging a violent insurrection. Put your stupid flag away and find someone who can pass conservative legislation without being a douche canoe, who is less corrupt. GET A PERSONALITY. Did this rant offend you? Good. Your flags and refusal to accept reality offend me.

Beer Time

The Brainerd Lakes area has several breweries and cideries. Unfortunately that area is large, so with high gas prices and a gas guzzling truck, we stuck pretty close to Brainerd proper.

Jack Pines Brewing was the first brewery we visited. What a great outdoor space! I loved sitting outside here, among the trees, listening to the live music. The beer was great, too, so great I grabbed a crowler of the blueberry pastry sour to go. Dang that was delicious. We visited this brewery twice, once with the dogs. Barley loved being the center of attention.

Round House Brewery was the other one we visited in the Brainerd Lakes area. Another great outdoor space and lots of good beer and seltzer to choose from. We took the dogs on a nice, long hike before we visited here in hopes they’d be a little more mellow. They did great as the only dogs on the patio, but once someone else showed up with their dog, we had some barking drama.

I’m sorry, I’m working with them, but it’s slow going training two dogs. Hazy isn’t/wasn’t reactive, but loves to reinforce Barley’s bad choices, so I end up with two barking dogs. We’re going to keep working on it, and thank you for your patience.

Happy Birthday, America

On the Fourth of July we took the dogs on a nice long walk to get them good and tired, biked to the Brainerd parade and stayed inside during the fireworks to help the dogs stay calm.

The small town parade was cute, fun and also full of Trump flags (honestly people, if your platform is “I’m like Trump” that’s not a platform) and had a cute kid riding a camel (I won’t post that photo since I don’t have her parents permission).

While the fireworks were fairly loud, the dogs seem unconcerned, so we were able to go outside and watch some from the parking lot of the city park. Once the fireworks were over, we went back inside to for puppy snuggles.

We left Brainerd on Tuesday, went home for a few hours while I did some laundry and Jamey worked for half a day, and then it was off to Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park where we are spending the month of July as camp hosts. Are you in the area? Come visit us!