Frontenac State Park
Winona & Frontenac, MN
Thursday, September 27th to Sunday, September 30th, 2007
Thursday
Arrived at Pla-Mor Campground and Marina. What a dump. Sorry, but you’d think we’d have learned by now. No more private campgrounds!
This place is split in half by Highway 61 and a rail road track. The lower campground, where we stayed, is just slightly better than the upper campground. We chose the lower as it has a pull through site. We knew, as soon as we get here, that it was a mistake.
We unhitched and did the bare minimum to setup camp. As soon as that was done we headed into Winona for dinner. While there we called the Minnesota State Parks reservation center and luckily, very luckily, got a site at Frontenac State Park for Friday to Sunday.
Friday
Packed up and headed out. Frontenac was an about an hours drive north. It’s located just north of Lake City so it sits on the northern edge of Lake Pepin. The campground is smaller, but nice. When we arrived at our site we both looked at it and said “Can we get in there?” The site is located at the end of the loop just at the beginning of the curve – on the inside. We gave it a shot and actually got into it on the first try. After a little jockeying to get it a little further to the left, we had enough room to open the slide outs. 
After lunch we took off for a hike. Took the paved trail along the bluff and then walked the dirt trail and stairs down the bluff to the river (about a 300+ foot drop) and followed that back to the camp ground. What a fun, beautiful hike. Heavy woods, squirrels and woodpeckers making all kinds of noise, lots of green moss and mushrooms growing all over. Stopped several times just to watch the river go by and take it all in.
Back at camp we grilled wild rice brats and ate by the campfire. It’s a nice cool, clear evening and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Took another short walk before turning in to check out the moon rise and look at the stars. Lovely. Just Lovely.
Saturday - Morning
It’s raining, and raining, and raining. But that’s just fine. It’s relaxing, calming and the plain down time is wonderful. We’re going in to the Eagle Center today so it can rain all it wants. We’re also going to hit a hardware store to get the hooks so we can make our key holder for the camper.
Saturday – Evening
We make it to the Eagle Center in Winona and it turns out this weekend is the grand opening for the place. It was packed! But we did the tour and saw the exhibits. It’s a wonder building right on the river with observation decks so you can watch the wild eagles along the river.
Winona is a wintering location for eagles as the confluence of the Chippewa River and the Mississippi River keeps the river from freezing, giving the eagles an area to hunt through the entire winter. 
Saturday – Late Evening
Summer is now officially over. The last log has been burned in the last campfire and it’s time to pack it up for the year.
We bought two big bundles of firewood and had a big, roaring campfire this evening. It stopped raining early in the evening and the sky had cleared by the time we got the fire going so we had a cool, clear evening to enjoy. Mike grilled up some pork chops and Tom made stuffing and gravy and we ate outside under the stars. It was a lovely and perfect way to end our first summer of camping. While it's sad to see the camping season come to an end, we know that there are many more days like this ahead of us.
Sunday – Just Before Noon
We’re waiting on the thunderstorm to pass over so we can get back to breaking camp. Just got the outside stuff put away and the awning stowed when it let loose. Tom was over taking a shower and he got a second shower on the way back to the camper. It’s pouring!
We had our second uninvited guest last night (our first was a bat at McCarthy Beach) and it’s all Mike’s fault. He jinxed us. Mike happened to mention last week that one of the things that needed to be done next year was replacing the opening for the electrical cord with a sealed connection. That way no mice could get in, like he had read about on a camping blog. Well, sure enough, around 2:30 in the morning there was some noise inside the camper that woke both of us up. And there it was, climbing out of the sink where it had been bumping against the coffee cups and creating a clatter. We tried to scare it out the door, but it took off under the sink. Sure enough, there was an opening that had not been sealed where the water pipe came up through the floor. So we made a bunch of noise in hopes of scaring him out of the camper. Hopefully it worked. We haven’t seen or heard anything so far today, so we’re hoping he’s gone.
It’s still raining and we still waiting for it to quit before we finish breaking camp. Going to give it until 1 PM. If it’s still raining then we’ll break out the rain gear, finish up and hit the road.
Looking ahead to 2008
On the schedule for 2008 is a week in the Canadian Rockies. Most likely over Memorial Day so we can pick up an additional day without using vacation. Itasca and Bear Head are on the schedule also. Most likely we’ll hit each of them twice. Tom wants to hit the north shore and I’m sure we’ll hit Vermillion as well. We’ll be looking at National Park Service land and National Forests in Minnesota for dry camping (boondocking) as well.
Next year will also see us making some trips with the dogs. Tom wants to get the screen porch attachment for the awning so that they (and us) have more room. Mike has plans in his head for a platform he wants to build for the backseat of the truck that will allow “the girls” to ride in comfort but will also allow for storage of the ramp that Max needs to get into the truck. (It’s to high for her to jump and she’s to heavy to be lifting all the time.
So, until next time, happy trials to you and yours. We’ll see you on the highway.
Mike and Tom
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