Oh, golly damn: Vana and Spidey go camping!

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the miz
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Oh, golly damn: Vana and Spidey go camping!

Post by the miz » Wed Aug 03, 2016 10:36 am

Oh, golly damn! ...er, pardon my French: Eau Galle Dam! I've been friends with BellePlaine for over a decade and at least half of that time we have both owned VW campers, yet, up until last weekend, we have never managed to coordinate a camping trip together! Granted, there have been some solid reasons as to why this hasn't happened in the past...but, given that we both had functioning VWs this summer, we decided to seize the opportunity and get something on the books!
We decided we wanted something simple and not too far away...nice campgrounds, notwithstanding, we also decided we would avoid the Bayfield Peninsula of WI (which we now affectionately refer to as the "Bus-muda Triangle"...since we've both had mechanical issues there).
The planning went a little like this:
Hmm...all of the MN State Parks within a 3 hour drive are booked that weekend...uh, well this one across the river in WI is wide open...yeah but why?...hmm looks like they took out the dam out earlier this year and there's no swimming or boating anymore...huh, I bet the giant mud flat where the lake used to be is now a giant mosquito breeding ground...yeah, I bet you're right...let's skip that one...hmm where should we go...hey, I heard the Eau Galle recreation area is pretty nice...what's that?...it's a recreation area managed by the Army Corps of Engineers surrounding a dam on the Eau Galle River and the subsequent lake it created...it has 2 campgrounds 2 day use areas and has swimming and boating options...and they'll let us park both buses in one site!...sounds good, let's book it...
Fast forward to last Friday evening, as we head out to WI:
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-...who are the Germans and why are they following me?

It was a lovely, not too terribly hot evening to be going camping...and as not to be stuck with the teeming masses trying to escape the metro on I 94 for the weekend, we opted to take the back roads...which was a much more enjoyable choice!
We caravaned/carabused the whole way... it might look like Maverick is leaving Goose here:
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...but I assure you, Spidey caught up on the hill...Vana doesn't do hills. :blackeye:
I thought the drive was livelier than normal...more shakas, peace signs and waves than I'm used to...this must be the "Spiderman effect"...or maybe just being on the road with more than one bus draws that much more attention.
The attention continued as we pulled into the campground..."what years are your vehicles?" a cheerful camper strolling with his wife asked in passing..."'82 and '75", I responded..."classic!" he shouted over his shoulder.
We checked in got camp set up and it was time to make dinner!
A slightly bigger and more horizontal site might have been better...now we know for next time! Luckily, BellePlaine was into sharing his levelers:
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...I might need to pick up some levelers...
The next day was spent at the main day use area...playground, fishing pier, boat launch and a beach close by. We camped out at the non-reservable picnic area for the day...wish I had taken a picture or two...I think we got a few looks with the buses parked on the grass in the shade. :cyclopsani: It was a nice place to spend the day...where we could have the dogs in the shade (it was kinda hot)...and still have the kids run off to fish, play on the playground, swim and go for a little canoe ride.
I guess I don't have too much more to report, perhaps BellePlaine has something to add? I will say: this was a really fun and relaxing trip...mainly we chilled out in between cooking/eating...low key, low stress, no mechanical issues! (save some AFM related hiccups from Spiderman, maybe?) I think we'll go again...maybe in the fall...this campground is chock-full of Sugar Maples, so I'm sure the colors will be fantastic. Really, it was incredibly well forested, with a canopy that was such that it was comparably dark (with respect to other areas in the compound) in the campground during daylight hours. The comparative lack of mosquitoes was also astounding, but you've got to watch out for the "itch weed", as we call our local variant of stinging nettle!. Given it is only a few miles off of I-94...oh, golly, I'd recommend Eau Galle to anyone, itinerant or otherwise, passing through Western WI.

-miz
1982 Westy- Vana White

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poptop tom
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Re: Oh, golly damn: Vana and Spidey go camping!

Post by poptop tom » Thu Aug 04, 2016 5:19 pm

Very cool! Sounds like a nice trip!

But I see no mention of beer. I know some beer drinking went down! The tap had to be flowing!
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phaedrus76
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Re: Oh, golly damn: Vana and Spidey go camping!

Post by phaedrus76 » Thu Aug 04, 2016 7:43 pm

Glad your trip went well! Thanks for sharing photos and a recommendation for this place, too.
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the miz
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Re: Oh, golly damn: Vana and Spidey go camping!

Post by the miz » Wed Aug 10, 2016 11:23 am

poptop tom wrote:Very cool! Sounds like a nice trip!

But I see no mention of beer. I know some beer drinking went down! The tap had to be flowing!
...no draft beer this time, both BellePlaine and I have been too busy Volkswagening to do any homebrewing this summer. :drunken:

There was plenty of package beer though...nothing beats a Schell's Hefeweizen with breakfast...or a Summit Oktoberfest around the campfire at night (pairs nicely with S'mores).

miz
1982 Westy- Vana White

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