14-16 August 2022
14 August 2022, Sunday
We finished packing up our tent last night and slept in Vincent. In the morning we are on the road before 7. Our plan is to find breakfast and coffee on our way. The GPS does not take us back to I-94 and Fargo. Instead we follow state and county routes across North Dakota. This avoids traveling unnecessary miles to the north. I scan my phone for coffee and pastries along our route, but most places are closed on Sunday. Finally I find a restaurant called Toast in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. We arrive at the restaurant around 9:30 – our drive having taken a bit longer – because we were directed onto a gravel road by Maps and had to make our way back to paved roads. Toast is a very nice restaurant. The staff gladly fills our Yeti cups with coffee. O orders a toast breakfast with scrambled eggs, delicious fried potato cake and a small salad. My breakfast is toast with a creamy cheese, lots of sauteed mushrooms and scrambled eggs. Our orders are take-out.
There is a very conveniently located water front park right across the street. We sit in the shade, sip our coffee, and eat while Lucy waits patiently. She is not inclined to eat her breakfast until we are all safely back in Vincent and on the road. We arrive at Great River Bluffs State Park overlooking the Mississippi River just after 4:30. Plenty of time to cook dinner, set up camp, go for a walk, and even fiddle a bit, though the mosquitoes make that a bit difficult.
15 August 2022, Monday
Today’s breakfast is grits. We hear lots of birdsong while we are eating. Merlin, the bird app, notes towhee, eastern wood Pewee, white breasted nuthatch, and house wren. After breakfast we walk to the eastern overlook with its beautiful views of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, the delta of the Black River (a startlingly bright green on this cloudy morning,) and the eastern bluffs of the Mississippi across the river in Wisconsin.
Next, we walk to the Hill of Many Timbers overlook. From here we have nice views of wooded bluffs and a meadow filled with wildflowers. This overlook is near our campsite so we return there. Lucy laps up water as O and I decide what to do next.
We drive into Winona for groceries and to check out Island City Brewing Company where we share a pint of Oatmeal Milk Stout and buy a six pack of Vanilla Munich Dunkel and a red lager. These we will share later in our trip with other family beer lovers. After our brewery visit we take a brief walk along the Winona riverfront.
While at the brewery the bartender recommends we see Whitewater State Park while we are in the area. O and I will explore there tomorrow.
16 August 2022, Tuesday
Showers, chocolate-mocha chip pancakes, clean-up. It’s almost noon already! Our laundry is collected in our giant new laundry bag, and we are off to Whistle Clean Laundromat in Winona. I soon have 2 front loading washing machines running at $4.50 each. That’s a lot of quarters! O and I sit in the shade of the laundry building while the machines do their work. After 36 minutes I pile all of the wet laundry into one dryer. It’s 25 cents for six minutes. I toss in four quarters. At the end of 24 minutes all of our quick dry clothes are done. Anything with cotton is still damp. The damp laundry goes back in with one more quarter while I fold everything else. By the time I am finished folding, the cotton items are dry enough.
Once everything is properly stowed we are off to Whitewater State Park, about another 30 minutes drive to the west of Winona. Whitewater appears to be a beautiful park. There is camping, and the website comments that mosquitoes are much fewer at this park. O and I find the North Picnic Area. From here we climb a long stone stairway upwards towards Chimney Rock. This is an impressive rock formation that looks – of course – like a chimney. As we are considering hiking further up the trail, a young woman and her young black dog come down the trail. She had passed us several minutes earlier. She tells us that she turned around because the trail ahead is too steep for her dog. O and I decide to turn around as well. I think Lucy is grateful.
We drive back to Great River Bluffs stopping to refuel Vincent for tomorrow’s drive to Indiana Dunes. After dinner and clean-up we are in the tent relatively early. It’s hard to stay outside after MTO (mosquito take-off.)