North Star State and Beyond

The last stop in Wisconsin before crossing the Mississippi River into Minnesota was a U. S. Army Corps of Engineers campsite at Highland Ridge overlooking the sparkling Eau Galle Reservoir located in Spring Valley, in western Wisconsin. Highland Ridge has 46 campsites (35 with electric) including 8 walk-in tent sites. We booked a site in the Equestrian Loop with 10 electric campsites up on the hill with a clear view of the sky for our Starlink antenna.

Our plan was to explore this area for two days. The Camp Host here gave us some recommendations of where to go and one of them included Burnett Dairy Cooperative, a farmer-owned cooperative based near Grantsburg, Wisconsin. The local store is called Cady Cheese Store. Founded in 1896, they are one of the few remaining full-service cooperatives producing cheese today.

We had a great lunch at Peg's Pleasant View Cafe in Wilson. She was there by herself and made a salad for Karen and a bacon/cheeseburger for me. From there we drove east on Hwy 12 to Menomonie for some ice cream at a classic called C&J's Candy Store & Scoop Shoppe on Main Street.

The shop had an extensive array of sweets located in multiple rooms and a delicious Madagascar Chocolate ice cream flavor we just had to try.

Our last stop before leaving was to get some donuts at the Spring Valley Bakery. The camp host had told us that they had some of the best donuts he had ever had, so we just had to give them a try. Even Karen, the non-donut member of the family, liked them!

On Thursday, May 28 it was back on the road again to Bunker Hills Campground in Coon Rapids, MN. Beautiful facilities with a golf course and waterpark nearby. Great bike trails throughout the park. The only down side for most will be the need to purchase a a daily park pass for $6 per day or $30 for an annual pass. It is not included in your campsite fee. When I told them I was a disabled veteran however, they provided me a complimentary annual pass for all their parks. Our primary reason for this destination was to visit our dear friends, George and Donna Snow.

Minnesota's official main nickname is The North Star State. This moniker is derived from the state motto, "L'Etoile du Nord," which is French for "Star of the North". However, it is also widely known by a couple of other highly popular monikers, including Land of 10,000 Lakes and The Gopher State.

This is their floor plan except reversed with the living room on the right.

George and Donna have been our spiritual mentors for years. They are a wonderful Christian couple we knew back in California. They had recently moved to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to an independent living community near their daughter's family. They are an amazing 90+ years young and we wanted to see them and their new home. We met them for brunch at Covenant Living of Golden Valley. and got to see their apartment on the sixth floor. There we visited and met their cat, "Sweetie".

On Saturday, the next day, they visited us at our campsite for lunch before attending their great-granddaughter's softball game. It was so wonderful to see them again and reconnect. It's our hope to see them again on our return trip through Minneapolis after our RVICS camp project in North Dakota.

Sunday, we departed the campground and drove to the Calvary Chapel Twin Cities to participate in fellowship. Pastor Mike Fernandez taught from Romans 8:29-31. We enjoyed the teaching and fellowship before driving on to Gull Lake Recreation Area in Brainerd, MN.

Narrow driveways open into large graded campsite with plenty of privacy.

This U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campground is part of the Mississippi River Headwaters - Gull Lake Recreation Area is situated on the Gull River at the outlet of Gull Lake.

This recreation area is located 10 miles northwest of Brainerd, MN. The Gull Lake Dam is located on the Gull River about one-half mile below the outlet of Gull Lake. It was put into service in 1912, the last of the Headwaters reservoir dams constructed.

Gull Lake Recreation Area draws RVers with its spacious, private sites surrounded by tall trees and a scenic, wooded atmosphere. Many comment on the clean, well-kept restrooms and showers, alongside consistently well-maintained grounds. The campground offers electric hookups, a dump station, and is a peaceful spot with solid fishing right by the water. RVers highlight how conveniently it sits near Baxter and Brainerd. Some mention mosquitoes, which we didn't have, and daytime construction noise on the east side, along with bright security lights in certain spots and tight interior roads, especially for larger rigs. Despite these points, the combination of natural beauty, friendly staff, and easy access to local amenities makes this spot a favorite in the area.

We had camped here on June 2, 2025, on our way to Cooperstown Bible Camp last year, so we knew about the campground. No problem at $16 a night with the America the Beautiful Pass. We stayed here two days and explored about ten miles of the extensive trail system outside the campground on our E-bikes.

On Tuesday, June 2nd we drove on to Fargo, North Dakota for one night. We had originaly booked the Harvest Host at the Fargo Air Museum but the set up there wasn't the best. We drove to a favorite Mexican restaurant called Plaza Azteca to get an early dinner and talk about other options. Karen had scheduled a dental appointment for the next morning on the opposite side of town, so she called the nearby Costco and asked if we could overnight in their large parking lot. Much to my surprise they gave us the okay. So after dinner we drove over to the Costco and found a perfect location in a far off corner of the parking lot for the night.

Unfortunately I discovered a chip in one of my upper molars that I needed to have checked out, so we both saw the dentist. Karen got a dental cleaning that she was overdue for and I decided, after hearing the price of their treatment, to delay doing anything until we get back to Texas. We got on the road for Cooperstown Bible Camp by 2:30 PM.