Anything boys can do girls can do better. So this woman headed out for a solo camping trip last week. I don’t need no stinking man!

Woman Traveling Alone

There remains a stereotype in the RV community that men do all the things like driving, towing the camper, and all the set up and tear down; while women do things like yell, nag and sweep. Not these weirdos. 

We are both perfectly capable of hooking the truck up to the camper and driving while towing. Sharing the duty of driving made our cross-country road trip manageable. We’ve got the set up and tear down process pretty well divided, and either of us can do any of the steps along the way. And while Jamey and I have both towed the camper for separate girls and guys weekends, I am the only one who has ever done a solo camping trip.

Guys Weekend

Jamey’s college friend lives in California, but came back to Minnesota for a guys weekend full of beer, sports, farting and general dude-ing. I knew I had to make myself scarce. 

I was planning on visiting my sister at her cabin, but she double-booked herself so I had scramble for a camping site and do my first, but not last, solo camping trip. Treasure Island RV Park had space for me, so I booked it and hooked up the truck, all by myself (thanks to the backup cam).

The very first time we took our old camper out, it was to Treasure Island, so this was almost like a trip down memory lane. The place is more parking lot than campground – the sites are pavement with some gravel in the middle, but they’re pull-through and already level, so that made it easy enough. I got everything set-up in less than 30 minutes, about the same amount of time it takes two of us to get set up. 

I just treated it like a hotel room – no sitting outside, but a great place to relax inside with the AC, TV and dogs.

Red Wing Beer and Pizza

Once I had everything set up, I took the dogs for a walk around the campground before heading out to visit the local brewery. Red Wing Brewing is the first, and only, brewery in town. The location is a little hole-in-the-wall among other tourist shops, restaurants and bars.

I bellied-up to the bar and ordered a beer, when the day hit me like a ton of bricks. So instead of lingering, I had one beer and ordered a pizza to go. Unfortunately they only offered two sizes – personal or ginormous. I was tired and hungry so went with the large pizza. It was delicious. And I ate it for dinner Friday, lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday – and I still had to toss a couple slices. It was great to get a pizza covered in green olives since Jamey won’t eat them!

After eating my pizza and drinking beer, I was dozing in the recliner, so I headed to bed. While Toby usually sleeps on his couch, he demanded the bed this time, following me into the bedroom and “awoo”-ing at me until I hoisted him into bed. Buddy hopped in on my other side and I was glad to be in the middle of two big dogs. I feel asleep in no time and slept a solid 9 hours. No snoring husband, no one hogging the covers. It was glorious!

Barn Bluff Hike

Saturday morning I was well rested and up early. I had plans for a bike ride that day, but the boys needed some exercise before being left alone for a few hours, so we hiked up Barn Bluff. Making sure they’re good and tired is an important step when camping with dogs.

In order to get to the hiking trail, there was some steep stairs to climb. I was about to call it quits and just walk around the parking lot, but sensing my hesitation, Toby just headed straight up those stairs. I’m surprised how well the old guy did, that was a lot of stairs! 

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We hiked the narrow trail for a while, but after I nearly fell a couple times on the loose rocks (with no guard rail) and the dogs tried dragging each other off the cliff, we turned around, returned to the truck and drove across the bridge into Wisconsin and visited Harbor Bar in Hager City.

Now that the boys were good and tired, I took them home to the camper, ate some left over pizza, and hopped on my bike and pedaled the Cannon Valley Trail.

River City Days

I rode my bike toward Bay Point Park and wound up in River City Days. I got a photo of the #OnlyInMN monument covered in Mayflies, had a couple cheap beers, listened to a band and visited some vendors before heading back out the other direction.

The Cannon Valley trail is gorgeous and I wish I had spent less time drinking cheap beer and more time biking, but I’ll just have to make another trip to the area to revisit the trail!

Homeward Bound

Sunday morning I got everything torn down, I even drained the sewer without issue, and hooked-up the truck (again, thanks to the backup cam!) and headed home.

I really enjoyed the freedom to do what I want, when I want, on my pace. I’m already thinking about my next solo camping trip!