Well friends, once again I failed to keep the blog updated.

Big change, we got a seasonal site in Okoboji. It was more of a practical decision than a heartfelt one.

Home is where we park it

In the old house, we had a weird, long, side yard and a corner lot. The result was we had space to park the camper in the yard, which was so nice. I could visit it during the winter, use it as a guesthouse and a second office as need. That isn’t an option in the new place. Here we just have a regular square yard in between other houses and no third garage stall. So the camper had to go to storage. Holy hades, I didn’t know how much RV storage cost. For a unit our size (34 feet bumper to tongue) it was going to cost around $300/month. JUST TO PARK IT OUTSIDE SOMEWHERE!

I used neighbor.com to find a dude renting space on his land for $75/month. If I’m honest, it looked like a working junkyard. There were tons of dead cars, year old RVs, old farm equipment, and a few RVs that seemed to still be in use. It was … fine … but not ideal. It was also 30 minutes away.

Our street is no parking on one side (our side of course) so even if i went to pick up the camper Friday morning and leave it on the street while Jamey was at work, we’d be taking up a lot of parking space. And now that Jamey has a regular job he can’t just work half days on Friday while I work from the truck.

All that to say, we could have made it work, but it would have been a big pain in the ass each time. And, our camper is 5 years old now, things started breaking every time we towed it somewhere. Planned obsolesce – manufacturers count on owners buying a new RV every 4-5 years. Nothing major was breaking, but enough to be annoying and after the tire explosion of last year, enough to make us nervous about what else could go catastrophically wrong.

So during our annual anniversary trip to Okoboji, we got serious about leaving it there. We visited all the seasonal campgrounds to find the right one. None are right on any of the main lakes. There was one on a small (man-made, I think) lake. Almost all of the sites are right on top of each other! RV parks aren’t famous for their wide open space, but these were ridiculous, you could touch your neighbor’s RV from the stairs of you own.

Fieldstone RV

We landed at Fieldstone RV. They just added more sites to accommodate the demand, so we could get in right away. We have a decent size spot, and it’s less than a quarter mile from Lower Gar. It’s an easy walk to a little hidden area where the dogs can play in the lake. Now we can honestly say “we have a little place just off the lake.”

We had a month and a half of being stationary in Okoboji before the campground closed for the season.

I admit it is pretty nice to just get in the car and go. No more hooking up the camper, no more driving 60 mph and pissing off everyone behind us, no more set up and tear down. It’s like having a cabin, but without the property maintenance. And unlike our seasonal spot in Detroit Lakes, we don’t even have to mow our tiny slice of land.

Our neighbors are great! Lots of fun. The people directly behind us and next to us – the men are cousins and their families do everything together. They were nice enough to welcome us to the party. And boy do I mean party! I have a hangover just thinking about them. Swansons, if you’re reading this, I can’t wait to see you next season!

Lots of people at Fieldstone do take their RVs off their site to go somewhere. So we will be doing at least one or two trips next year too. Maybe a two week long trip – I proposed giving New Orleans another try. This time we know to avoid Bourbon Street.

As for the downside? It’s a 3.5 hour drive. And I was leaving half an hour earlier to go pick Jamey up from work so we can go right when he is done with work, which made my time in the car 4 hours. WOOF.

Jamey already has plans to spend most of the summer living in Okoboji and working as a boat driver for Parks Marina. We do the siesta cruise most days when we vacation there, why not get paid for it, right?

And so here is where our disagreement on the very best place rears it’s ugly head. Jamey adores Okoboji. When he imagines his happy place, it’s on a boat on West Lake Okoboji. For me, it’s walking along Lake Superior in Duluth.

I confess during our last trip there, I was sick of Okoboji and already dreading a full season there next summer. I miss the thrill of the next adventure. Planning trips, exploring new places, doing new things … those days are gone. Now it’s the comfort of the familiar.

I’m sure we will manage to have an amazing summer next year and I do appreciate the ease of having a single spot, versus all the things that can go wrong when towing.

Our compromise is that in 2025, we’ll try to find a seasonal spot in Duluth. I better get on the waiting list now!

So now it’s time to gather nuts and prepare to winter hibernation. I won’t spend this winter dreaming of all the new places, but I will spend it thinking of fun new things we can try in our old favorite place.

I do love Okoboji. I’ve had a huge year of changing almost everything, so maybe a year of steady, predictability is just what I need. Until next year, stay weird!