Hot and Windy Camping Trip

If I could describe this camping trip with just two words, they would be HOT and WINDY! Being a MSU-Mankato graduate, I was excited to revisit my old stomping grounds and bike on a trail I’ve watched go past through the car window for years.

The Campground

We arrived at Roberds Lake Resort and Campground in Faribault, MN and began our setup.  We needed two cars for this camping trip since we planned to bike from the  campground to Mankato (not back as to limit the amount of alone time the dogs had to spend in the camper) , so we would have to to drive back from Mankato when the bike ride was done.  Setup was a bit difficult at this campground  as the sites were a bit narrow.  I’m still working on my backup skills, so it took a couple tries to get the camper backed into our site. We still wound up pretty far to one side, so that the neighboring campers slide-out basically came right up to our picnic table.

Brews to Consume

Once the setup was complete, we decided to take the doggos with us as we drove to

MMMMMM … beer

Mankato to drop off the car for the next day’s bike ride. Naturally, we decided to check out Mankato Brewery while there.  I had a couple IPAs and Sam had her usual porter while we sat out on the patio.  They were OK, not great, not terrible, but drinkable.  It was much better than a few years ago, when I bought a sampler pack.  After the brewery, we quickly grabbed dinner at the Hardee’s drive-thru and cruised back to the campground in Faribault.

DRAMA

Once we arrived back at the campsite, the dogs were more than ready for dinner and started barking their heads off, so things got a little hectic. We quickly discovered that we had locked the keys in the Envoy (vehicle and camper keys) and, even worse, the beer we had waiting in the outdoor kitchen was even locked up! Sam called AAA to come unlock the Envoy so we could get all the keys. I think they only took about 30 minutes to arrive, but at the time, with impatient, hungry dogs and no access to beer, it felt like a year before we could get into the camper.  Needless to say, our weekend was not off to a great start.

We did finally manage to feed the dogs, build a fire, generally relax and enjoy the camping trip.

The bike ride

On Saturday morning, we got up, had breakfast, walked the boys, and got ready to ride the Sakatah Singing Hills Trail from Faribault to Mankato for a total of about 38 miles.  The wind was so strong (easily 40 MPH) and it was SO hot (over 90 degrees) that the combination was just miserable. We only made it about 10 miles into the ride before turning back to the campground.  We stopped at Dairy Queen on the way back though for ice cream.  Upon our return to the campground, we got cleaned up and drove back to Mankato to pick up the car we left there the night before.

We had lunch and beer at NaKato Bar and Grill before returning to the campground with both cars.  We brought the dogs with us, so we sat outside on the patio. The waitress was nice enough to bring them a giant bucket of water as they lounged in the shade.

Watersports and Visitors

When it’s 90 degrees, and you’re camping across the street from a lake, the choice is obvious. We decided to take the stand up paddle boards out for a couple hours.  Our good friends Rachel and Lon made the 40 minute drive from Rochester on Saturday night to join us for steaks on the grill and drinks around the campfire.  Once again, another delicious camping meal.  Lon and I shared a case of Surly Xtra Citra Pale Ale and were feeling great by the end of the night.  Sam and Rachel enjoyed their wine and we all had great conversation until I fell asleep in the lawn chair.

Homeward Bound

On Sunday morning, we got out of bed and took care of the dogs and had breakfast.  We were about to start our tear down of the campsite for the return trip home but the Faribault area was blasted by a severe thunderstorm.  I used this time to get a short nap in and Sam used the time to read her book and snuggle with Buddy

Quality time with my dog and my camping bed

while we waited for the storm to pass.  Once the storm passed and I woke up from the nap,  we began our tear down which went off without a hitch.  The only problem was all of our gear was wet from the storm.  Small price to pay for fun!  After we finished our tear down we jumped back in the cars for the short hour drive back home.  Another successful camping trip in the books!