Our annual stay on the shores of Lake Superior
We book this site a full year in advance. Our only reoccurring campground of the year.
– note that this is posted a full year late in July 2022
We planned a Thursday 10:30 AM departure from home. We left at 11:00 AM. Therefore, we had an on-time departure. The drive was mostly uneventful. There was a section that was supposed to be road construction and the left lane was closed. It caused quite a backup, but there was no sign of work through that zone. The next zone did have obvious work (a cable median barrier installation) and active workers.
We stopped at the rest area after Hinckley for a planned lunch of sandwiches in the the trailer. Having a trailer that allows access to the refrigerator and bathroom at rest areas is great. We don’t have any slide outs, but I have looked at a lot of trailers and many times one or both of these features are blocked when the slide is in.
The last construction was in Duluth and it barely caused a blip in our travel. We arrived at Lamb’s Resort shortly after 4:00 PM and set up with full hookups. This year we backed up far enough to easily connect the sewer hose.
We originally planned for sliders for dinner. I forgot to put them on the shopping list and we noticed during packing. We decided to substitute pasta and pesto using some refrigerator ravioli we had at home. When packing that, we found that it was moldy but still within the freshness date. So, we went with the dry pasta we keep in the trailer as an alternate meal.
Once we arrived and set up, we walked up to the Schroeder Bakery near the campground entrance and bought a delicious meat (sausage, pepperoni, and bacon) pizza. This should be our plan for future years.
About the time we finished the pizza, our campground neighbors, Kathy and Tom, arrived with their monster 5th wheel.
Before dinner there was much discussion (and actual movement) of where the picnic table should go with Steve and Andrea coming up with a tent. We ended up with the table near the road leaving a lot of space for the tent.
The evening ended with Jeeves and Wooster on DVD. We turned in by 10:00 PM.
The next morning we slept until 6:30 AM. I set up the laptop to clear email and prep for a 8:00 AM workout with our trainer on Slack. The WiFi dropped at 7:51 AM. So, I cancelled the workout. By about 8:15 AM we noticed that the WiFi was back, but not as fast as it had been.
Finally near 10:00 AM it was time for breakfast to get started. I walked up to get pastries while Lynn started the bacon. I stopped to get next year’s site and a car tag for our son. I got back with donuts and mochas. Lynn made eggs to go with the bacon.
We stayed in the campground most of the day. We reorganized the cupboards above the dinette and couch. After a year with our original arrangement, we were ready to make a few tweaks. The cupboard above the dinette is now all food. The tote box behind the TV now holds seldom-used stuff. The over-couch cabinet now has the toaster and a tote of coffee-making supplies.
Since I was in an organizing mode, I emptied the outside storage compartment. Some things like extra hoses went in the back of the truck. They will get a tote or bucket when I get home. The hot dog forks now hang on hooks to make them easier to retrieve and store. The pop-up awning and screen tent can be pushed farther in to allow the things we use all the time, like the jack pads and chocks, to be easier to access.
Lunch was BLTs. Lynn had saved some bacon from breakfast (not an easy feat) and reheated it in the microwave. While doing that she started to toast the bread. Yup, the breaker had to be reset and we learned to use one appliance at a time to get lunch done.
It was time to decorate for the Fourth. The flag was already out. I had some pinwheels from the Target $1 section. They were impossible to put into the hard rocky ground of the North Shore. When we put up the pop-up awning, the legs of the awning provided places to anchor them with Velcro. The red, white, and blue lights that I had for the old trailer awning were along. Remember that seldom used items tote that is now behind the TV. They clipped to the bottom edge of the trailer. The little fairy lights would be best on the pop-up awning, but how to get them there? Stringing them to the trailer awning overhead worked. The end of the other lights had an outlet, so they were criss-crossed under the awning. Later, I rigged up a biner and baling wire to allow the awning on the trailer to open and close.
Dinner required setting up the grill. We had grilled salmon, little potatoes, and rice salad. As with most of our meals, keep it simple, sir. We went for a little walk along the lake and the river trails. When we got back, we started a campfire. It was a lovely evening to sit out by the fire with all our little lights on. Around 9PM we went in to watch a little Jeeves and Wooster and were in bed around 10PM.
Saturday morning was a little difficult. I woke around 5:30 and thought I was going to have to get up, but I was able to fall back asleep until 6:45. Camping is made for lazy mornings. A little housekeeping was done such as tightening the clothesline and putting out the flag and chairs. Around 10AM we had our French Toast and sausage breakfast. After breakfast we didn’t do much either.
A late lunch of brats was made over the campfire, accompanied by the picnic rice salad. That salad might be reproducing itself in the fridge. We don’t seem to run out. After lunch we went up to Grand Marais to do a little shopping. Crosby was not impressed by the number of people and other stimuli in town. The only purchase we made was a couple of 1# propane cylinders at the Ben Franklin store.
We got back in time to start the jambalaya before Steve and Andrea arrived, hoping to at least get the chopping done and the campfire started. Here we noticed that an errant checkmark on the packing list meant that the celery did not get packed. The Tofte General Store had one sad looking stalk of celery. We were able to salvage enough out of it for the recipe.
Steve and Andrea arrived soon after and we started the actual cooking while they set up their tent. The dessert was an apple crumble that they had picked up at Betty’s Pies on the way up. We sat around talking until about 10PM and then turned in for the night.
Sunday we got up about 6:30AM for a mostly around the campground day. Steve and Andrea went up to the bakery for cinnamon rolls. Those went with bacon, eggs, hash browns, and mochas for breakfast.
Later for lunch we got the roasting forks out from their new hanging spot and had brats and hot dogs over the campfire. This was followed by more lazing around — did I mention that this is a holiday — Independence Day.
Later, dinner was pork tenderloin, stuffed portobello mushrooms, and wedge salads. We headed in early due to a rain forecast and some rumbles heard.
Pack up day has now arrived. Breakfast was croissants and mochas from the bakery. We then emptied the tanks, packed up and departed shortly before 11AM. A stop at a rest area for lunch on the way home broke up the drive briefly.
During the trip we also noticed that we had some water getting into the silverware drawer. We figured there must be a leak in the sink allowing that to happen, something to be addressed as warranty work.
Trailer mileage
| Date | Start Location | Start City | End Location | End City | Miles |
| Previous miles | 2,394.2 | ||||
| 7/1/2021 | Home | White Bear Twp., MN | Lamb’s Resort | Schroeder, MN | 219.0 |
| 7/5/2021 | Lamb’s Resort | Schroeder, MN | Home | White Bear Twp., MN | 220.0 |
| 7/26/2021 | Maintenance Trip | Sink caulking | Trailer dealership | 29.4 | |
| Total miles | 2,862.6 |
Meals Planned
We always incorporate some stable items for backup in case the main plan goes out the window.
| Date | Meal | Menu |
| Thursday , July 1 | Lunch | Ham & Cheese Sandwiches Picnic Rice Salad with Fresh Fruit Chips and Dip Fruit |
| Dinner | Sliders Tortilla Chips and Guac | |
| Friday, July 2 | Breakfast | Bacon Eggs Pastry (from bakery up the hill) Coffee |
| Lunch | Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches Chips and Dip | |
| Dinner | Grilled Salmon Little potatoes Picnic Rice Salad with Fresh Fruit | |
| Saturday, July 3 | Breakfast | French Toast Sausage Coffee |
| Lunch | Brats Chips and Dip | |
| Dinner | Jambalaya Salad Sour Dough Bread | |
| Sunday, July 4 | Breakfast | Bacon Eggs Pastry (from bakery up the hill) Coffee |
| Lunch | Brats / Hot Dogs Tortilla Chips and Salsa | |
| Dinner | Pork Tenderloin Portobello Mushrooms w/chard and feta Wedge Salad with Bleu Cheese Dressing | |
| Monday, July 5 | Breakfast | Pancakes Sausages |
| Lunch | Flatbread pizza | |
| Alternates | Breakfast | Cheerios |
| Lunch | Grilled cheese & tomato soup | |
| Dinner | Pasta w/pesto Homemade chili (frozen) |
Man of Wy 