That hurt

 

I put our rPod in storage last weekend. The good part is that our friends recently bought a hobby ranch with some huge outbuildings, and they invited us to store our camper there. That way, we have access to it whenever we need to ease our postpartem depression.

 

Our last camping trip was the best of the season. We drove a little more than a hundred miles north to William O'Brien State Park. Colors were just slightly past peak, and we took a scenic route that was intermittantly gorgeous. The weather turned a bit sour as we got closer to the park; but we were able to setup without any rain. Shortly after, the sky looked pretty threatening.

 

We took our dogs for a short walk in sort of a cold drizzle that helped us decide to treat ourselves to a restaurant meal rather than preparing food at our soggy campsite. So, we put the dogs in their crates under the rDome, where they would stay nice and dry, and drove the short distance that we would normally ride our bikes to the tiny neighboring town of Marine On St. Croix.

 

There are about 5 or 6 commercial establishments in this little town, including a tavern, a general store, an ice cream parlor, a coffee shop, and Olive's.

 

Olive's serves delicious stone-fired pizza, salads, wine and beer. It was an absolutely perfect place to come in from the cold night air.

 

By the time we finished dinner and returned to camp, the sky had cleared and things had dried enough to light a campfire. So, we sat around some reluctant flames that put out just enough heat to let us enjoy a couple more glasses of fermented favorites before turning in.

 

The rPod was toasty.

 

That was Saturday...certainly not bad, but pretty cold and damp in the middle. Sunday was a perfect Fall day from dawn 'til dusk, though it was still pretty brisk when we first woke up. My wife brewed coffee on the rPod stove while I prepared bacon and eggs on the Coleman outside.

 

After breakfast, we took the dogs for a walk, then got on our bicycles and rode just beyond the north edge of the park to a great roadside gift shop. We've probably camped at this park and visited this shop about a half-dozen times. They're always faithful about serving free sip-while-you-shop wine that lubricates those areas of our brains that make spontaneous buying decisions. Theresa bought a bird feeder as a housewarming gift for our friends (the folks with the new hobby ranch), and I bought a pair of expandable forks for the campfire.

 

From there, we rode the bike trail back south through the park and into Marine On St Croix again. This time we got some coffees and sat on the cafe patio to soak in as much of that beautiful day as we could. A couple bikers joined us at our table, and we swapped motorcycle stories until I could hardly stand the fact that I was nearing the end of my second season without one. Before leaving town, we stopped in the general store and bought a package of hotdogs.

 

Back at camp, we took another short walk or two with Tanner and Presley; but, mostly we just kicked back. We kept things simple for supper, too. Theresa heated some beans on the rPod stove, and I roasted hotdogs over the campfire with our handy new forks fully extended.

 

The fire did a more respectable job of warming things this time around; but, the nights are long in mid-October, so there was still time for a movie after the final flames burned out. We popped LOVE ACTUALLY into our micro-mini entertainment system and made ourselves comfortable around the dinette. It helped that we'd watched this movie a couple times before, because the tiny screen that can't quite tilt to the optimal angle only provides a suggestive glimps at what's really going on.

 

For once, our timing was perfect. Monday morning was so gray and cold that we didn't mind leaving. Still, we were able to break camp without even a sprinkle.

 

For two-nighters, this is a formula we should use more often: make camping reservations for Saturday and Sunday, and take Monday off for the trip home. That leaves the park almost completely to ourselves on Sunday. We'll just have to try that again next year.

 

Sam

 

 

 

 

Do take your rDome out of its box. An rPod without its rDome is like a pole without a flag.

 

Sam