Sunday, July 19, 2009

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park - Camping

The non-reservable walk-in site at Big Woods is quite close to the “main” road. It has turned to gravel by the time you get to the turn in for the walk-in and group sites. But that doesn’t seem to slow people down. A lot of trucks use the route. I’m not sure why. Even with that, the site is still quiet peaceful. And the site itself is quite large and has a good distance between it and W-I #2. I liked that! There isn’t much space between W-I #2 and #3 so those worked well in the past when we were there with Nancy and she had #2 and we had #3. W-I #4 is, by the ranger’s report, the favorite. But it’s pretty close to #3 as well as the hiking trail. We’ll have to try it out one of these times. But #1 was actually great… and we didn’t have to pay that stupid $8.50 reservation fee. Don’t get me started on that one!

Lorrie and I got up early to go into Northfield so I could watch part of the the Tour de France stage around 8am. The connection didn’t work so I didn’t get to watch it live. Disappointing! We also went into Nerstrand to get some gas, ice, and water. While we were driving in, we saw a cyclist near the campground. Strange… the gravel and all. As we got closer to the main intersection, I saw a familiar yellow sign. The Red Ribbon Ride, which I had ridden last year, was in town. The rest stop is near the little gas station in town and my theory is that the rider we saw missed a turn. We did a quick scan to see if there was anyone we knew. There wasn’t. So off we went again. Made me realize that I need to do another ride this year. Even if it’s not as long as the ones I’ve done in the past.

Spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing… and stoking the fire. Packed up and headed home around 4pm, which is check out time. We were likely the last people leaving as it seemed pretty cleared out.

I’m starting to wish the State Parks Passport program was still in effect. I’d never thought about it before. But it would be a fun goal to camp at each of the parks. We’ve definitely got a good start!

The Kingdom 6... heretofore known as Queendom 6... was awesome! It was great having so much space. Emma Blue even seemed to sleep better in it. Though the temperature was also warmer than when we've camped earlier this year. It was just nice not stepping on stuff everytime we needed to walk around. It feels a little strange having such a huge tent but we're car camping and we do plenty of time in tiny backpacking and 2-person tents. So this feels like a reward for all that scrunching. My lower back gets a little achy trying to dress in a half bend. Though, I found myself doing the half bend this weekend anyway because that's what I'm used to. Then I'd look up and realize I could stand up straight! Sweet!! More foot room at the end of our sleeping pads as well so we have room to put our bags and such. It didn't rain, so I can't say how it handles that. But it handled beautiful weather and sunshine just fine! (=

No comments: