First a look back to 2019
Last year we went to Lamb’s Resort for the first time. We had a nice little site (#24) located in the woods away from Lake Superior. It was tight but a good site for the old trailer. Did we mention that the old trailer leaked? Yep, this was the campground where we discovered that annoyance.
Now on to 2020
So, because the site was tight for the previous trailer, we requested a new site for 2020. We were able to get site 12B with a view of the lake! It was super easy to locate the site when we arrived. This was a good thing since the office was closed due to the pandemic. All we had to do was drive straight into the campground, turn around, and back into the site. Our site can be seen from the road in front of the office at the entrance.
As you can see from the photo, the back of the trailer looks out at Lake Superior. Our trailer takes advantage of sites like this by having the majority of the windows wrap around the back end of the trailer and putting our seating inside that area. Maybe we will remember to take a photo showing this view when we return in 2021.
Lamb’s has a policy that allows you to book the same site for the next year in the corresponding week for the same days. That allowed us to get the new site for 2020 and to know that we will have the option for the same wonderful view in 2021.
Now getting into a private campground instead of a Minnesota State Park, means that you might be able to get full hookups. Our site does have full hookups which include electric, water, and sewer. When we arrived we hooked up electric and water right away. We can use the waste tanks for a while before we hook up to sewer. In fact, you don’t want to leave that connection open all the time anyway. Doing so stinks, literally. So, after a couple of days, it was time to haul out the sewer hose and connect to the campground septic system. Looking at the location of the hole in the ground and the connector on the trailer, it was obvious that both 10 foot sections of hose would be required. After twisting the hose onto the outlet on the trailer, the other end was pulled toward the septic hole. Yep, the word was toward. The 20 feet of hose did not reach the hole 22 feet away. The shores of Lake Superior are not known for being particularly level. In fact, rugged and rocky are both terms often used to describe the shore. It is really amazing that they were even able to install a pipe in that campsite at all.
Now there were a number of options.
- Move the trailer closer to the septic. That would require a lot of work and might have placed the trailer dangerously off the pad.
- The shops at campgrounds often carry a number of this type of thing in case someone forgets something at home. This being 2020 and the Coronavirus pandemic, the shop was not open.
- An Amazon delivery briefly came to mind, but same day delivery seemed unlikely.
- A neighbor offered to lend us some hose. Going into the future this might have been the first time that an extended length was required but certainly would not be the last.
- Along the North Shore are any number of campgrounds and small towns. Surely the nearby hardware store would have an RV sewer hose.
The last option was the one that we chose. The first hardware store had a blank spot on the shelf where the sewer hose should be. They had been getting very spotty deliveries due to the pandemic. It was a good thing we were not looking for toilet paper. Strangely people hoarded that in 2020.
The best bet was then to go to the metropolis on the North Shore, Grand Marais. They have several hardware and outfitter stores in town. The first one, Buck’s Hardware, had the Camco 20′ sewer hose kit
There were other minor problems noted either in the prior trip or in this one that would need attention when we returned home. They will be detailed in a later post about the warranty work. One that was not a warranty repair was the hook used to hold the dog’s leash. We had used a small Command Adhesive hook, but we were over the weight recommendation. The solution was to remove a screw from the track used by the curtain between the ‘bedroom’ and rest of the trailer. Then put the screw back through the hook. No new hole in the wall and no worry about adhesive letting go.
The scenery is terrific on the North Shore
We did not spend the entire time fixing and tweaking the trailer. We also did some walking around the campground. Most years we would have visited some of the small towns and popped into some of the souvenir shops. With the pandemic many of them were closed, so more time at the campground.
Along the north edge of the resort property is the Cross River. There are maintained trails from the campground to the river and along back to Highway 61. The waterfall was terrific this year.
Go fly a kite
It’s fun to fly a kite near a large body of water. There are usually good breezes coming off the lake. We travel with a kite that has been flown over the Pacific Ocean near San Diego and on the island of Kaua‘i; by the Atlantic Ocean near St. Augustine; on the Gulf of Mexico at Sanibel Island and Biloxi; and finally over the fourth coast of the United States, the North Shore of Lake Superior. Though the kite did get up in the air, the breeze calmed down and it was a short flight. At least the dog liked the walk on the rocks.
Other entertainment while camping is simply relaxing. Sometimes, that means reading a good book while sitting in a chair. Sometimes, the dog takes your chair. At least the dog has a cot.
You have the time to try new recipes
Along with some of the camping staples like pancakes, eggs, and kabobs, there is plenty of time to cook up something new. This year it was Jambalaya. A recipe was located online and followed pretty much verbatim the first time. Remember however that campfire cooking introduces a lot of variables. How low into the fire to hang the Dutch oven, how big of fire, should it be coals or a flame? Some other changes were made in seasoning the dish. It turned into a favorite. Luckily we have a fire pit in the backyard at home so a few batches have also been made there. It will be interesting to watch the meal plans at the end of these posts to see how often this is made.
We have started a notebook of recipes to refer to when planning a camping adventure. It makes it easy to take out pages from the recipe notebook and add them to a checklist notebook that goes along on the trip.
It is a good idea to also plan meals for the drive to and from the campground. This was done well for the drive home, but not so well for the drive northward. On the way to the campground, we stopped for gas in Moose Lake at the KwikTrip. Inside, pizzas were procured to be eaten in the Jeep in the parking lot. It might have been better to have planned ahead for a lunch at a rest area. We did that for the return trip selecting the rest area that overlooks Duluth, Thompson Hill Information Center, ahead of time. One of the criteria in the purchase of the new trailer was that the refrigerator would not be blocked when the trailer was packed for travel. Our trailer also allows us to use the dinette seating so it is very easy to stop for a quick meal. We hadn’t thought about that when we were balancing the pizza on the dashboard.
Trailer mileage
| Date | Start Location | Start City | End Location | End City | Miles |
| Previous miles | 32.7 | ||||
| 6/25/2020 | Home | White Bear Twp., MN | Lamb’s Resort | Schroeder, MN | 219.0 |
| 6/28/2020 | Lamb’s Resort | Schroeder, MN | Home | White Bear Twp., MN | 220.0 |
| | Total miles | | | | 471.7 |
Meals planned (subject to change)
| Date | Meal | Menu |
| Thursday, June 25 | Lunch | KwikTrip Pizza at the gas station |
| Dinner | Sliders Chips and Dip Beer | |
| Friday, June 26 | Breakfast | Fritata Pastry |
| | Lunch | Tacos Chips Iced Tea |
| | Dinner | Grilled Salmon Green Beans Small potatoes White wine |
| Saturday, June 27 | Breakfast | Pancakes Bacon |
| Lunch | Sandwiches Fruit Beer / Iced Tea | |
| Dinner | Jambalaya Red wine | |
| Sunday, June 28 | Breakfast | Egg scramble Sausage links |
| Lunch | Sandwiches at the Rest Area overlooking Duluth Fruit Iced Tea |
Man of Wy 