Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013 - Move to 2nd MN Camp to Give MN Second Chance

Headed out early, stopping at the dump to do a good flush of the tanks, then headed west, by-passing the Twin Cities, only stopping for fuel, lunch at BK and again for Walmart before heading north the Maplewood. It was a fairly easy drive, so we managed to arrive around 3:00. Stopped at the office to get checked in, and then the trouble started again. At first, I was pleased that the woman there said she would assign us a spot, and if we didn't like it we could simply call her and she'd move us over in the computer, saving me a trip back to the office (something the other camp wouldn't let us do), but then she asked about vehicle passes, which I told her we had purchased at the last place. She said she couldn't see it on my windshield and I told her it was laying on the dash in the right-hand corner where they wanted it, and that I could bring it in and show it to her, but she said, no, it had to be stuck on the windshield. I looked at her amusedly, then went out, took off half of the backing and stuck it on the windshield (I wanted to be able to get it off as soon as possible, and sticking only half on would make that possible,) and walked back inside. She said, no, it had to be fully stuck on the windshield. I explained that we were on our way out of the state, and that I wanted to be able to take the sticker off easily, and she said if I didn't stick it fully on the windshield she'd have to charge me for another vehicle pass! It's amazing, as soon as you present certain government workers with logic and reason that disagrees with their rules, they immediately resort to bullying and intimidation with threats of fines. That seems to be the entrenched mindset here in Minnesota, and frankly, I'd had enough! Unfortunately, it was too late in the day to find an alternative, so I went back out, finished sticking the sticker to my windshield, paid my $80 for four nights, and was about to leave when she asked me if we had our Horse Passes. I told her I thought that was covered in the camping fee, as the last place hadn't asked us that, and she said, no, it was a separate fee, $5 per person per day, or $30 per person for an annual pass! I told her I didn't know if we were even going to be riding, and she told me to come back and get one before we rode. I was seething again by the time I got back into my truck. I radioed Hubby and told him what happened, and we made our way to the campground, which was rounded hills throughout, with hardly a level spot to be found. While he went looking for a spot, I started to fill up the RV fresh water tank from the one and only spigot in the camp, about 20 yards off the road, but with no pullout, so I was essentially blocking the road the whole time. A couple of women day riders came by and we had an informative chat about the trails, and the park, and some other parks. They were formerly from southern Illinois, so we had some camps in common (Garden of the Gods), but they also expressed frustration about needing Horse Passes just to ride the trails. I asked them to stop by on their way back, to talk more about what was in the Dakotas, and they agreed before heading on their way. Hubby finally found a spot that would suit him for a satellite signal and radioed to tell me where. I finished filling the RV and turned to filling the portable rain barrel, which I only had room to put on the tailgate of the truck since we had such a full load of hay. I tied a rope around it to keep it from moving, which would have worked fine if the roads and/or sites had been level. After spending nearly an hour filling up, I finally headed down to the site Hubby had chosen, which was tucked away mostly in woods, though clear to the southwest for his satellite. Unfortunately, it was a reverse uphill climb for me, and halfway up, my rain barrel lost it's balance and tipped over, ripping a seam along the top zipper in the process, and completing emptying out, darn it! It's amazing, once we are confronted with negativity, it just seems to compound itself, and more things always seem to go wrong! Anyway, we finally got the RV settled in, then I had to take the rain barrel in the back of the horse trailer (they were on their anchors by now, grazing), and went back to the spigot and spend another 20 minutes filling that up again. By the time I got back it was after five, and Hubby had decided not to bother with the satellite dish tonight as it was so late. We both commiserated on yet another bad Minnesota/State Park experience, and after some discussion and research, decided that $20/night was WAY too much for a spot that wasn't level, water that wasn't accessible, no electricity (which for $20 a night most places would have), plus the requirement to spend yet ANOTHER $10 just to ride the trails, or risk being caught without a pass and being cited for that. Oh, I forgot to mention that just after we arrived at the campground, a ranger showed up, ostensibly to help us choose a site, but it quickly became obvious he just wanted to make sure we had stopped at the office and paid all our fees. Anyway, we decided we would both be miserable under these circumstances (the only thing this place had going for it was at least it had highlines rather than hitching rails), so we determined that we would move again tomorrow, this time to Hankinson Hills Campground in a small section of the Sheyenne National Forest about 80 miles from here. It's only $6 a night, with 50% off for Hubby's Golden Age Passport bringing that down to $3 a night, it has two water outlets, albeit hand-pumps, but since the RV was full anyway, all we'd need it for is the horses. I haven't been able to find a trail map, but apparently there's at least an 8-mile loop around the park, and it's small enough where it doesn't look like we could get lost, and the Google Earth shot makes it seem like there are a number of other trails that crisscross the main trail, so it should be interesting for a few days. Plus it was a bit out in the boonies the way we like it (and NOT a State Park!) so the rules and enforcement will likely be much more relaxed. Anyway, with that decision made, and after a short visit with the ladies who kept their word and stopped by for a while, we settled down to a movie on PVR, and went to bed early, tired from all of our recent ordeals.