CAMPING VACATION - Day 2 - 303 Steps and Buckhorn State Park

We woke up to a beautiful day of sunshine, even though it was still pretty crisp and cold outside. The first morning of a camping trip, waking up in the motorhome, is such a special feeling. It makes me really thankful that we are able to travel and enjoy getting out and about. Gotta do it now, before we get too old.

We perked up a pot of coffee. Nothing smells better than coffee in the morning when you are camping!!

I had a couple orders that needed to be shipped out, so we hopped in the Tracker and ran to the nearby little town of Friendship Wisconsin. We found the post office in time and got the packages out. On the way back we saw a flea market. We walked through the vendors stalls, but we didn't get any fleas. We did find four glasses that matched my set at home and had to bargain the lady down to $0.50 a glass. She was pretty reluctant, but that's what happens when you don't mark your stuff in the first place!

We got back to the campground and made a little lunch. It was finally warming up into the 60's.  We had to leave the dogs in the camper (with the TV on loud to drown out any outside noises and all of the shades drawn) because the dogs were not allowed to go on our next adventure.

We drove over to the huge mound in the middle of the park. It is a glacial formation called Roche A Cri.

The park built this amazing staircase to get to the top...

they used helicopters to bring up the building materials! 

Sooooo of course, because we are here,

 WE MUST CLIMB IT! 

The journey to the top begins with the first step.

You just put one foot in front of the other.... right? 

up upp uppppp

 THREE HUNDRED AND THREE STEPS later.... 

Yes, that was 303 steps----

We made it to the top!

I was really quite proud of myself for making it the whole way. There were a few rest stops along the way, I must admit. But I made it to the top! You got to figure that if average is 13 steps per flight of stairs that is over 23 stories up!

We took this 360-degree photo 

and this video clip at the top

For those of you who don't know, a number of years ago I was in a chemical spill and damaged my lungs. Having been on supplemental oxygen for years, my lungs have somewhat healed. I think that I am going to show my pulmonology doctor this blog post!

We worked our way back down, and I admit going down was much easier than going up.

And here is the last step

We looked at the map and decided to try another state park. It was only 23 miles away. So we got the rig roadworthy and I led the way in the Tracker with the GPS.  Steve followed me with the motorhome. We really didn't need to hook it up for just 23 miles.

Buckhorn State Park in Wisconsin

We got over to Buckhorn State Park which is located on the confluence of the Wisconsin River and the Yellow River. The park has a nice variety of activities for all type of nature enthusiasts. We are in the campground for RVs, but there are also individual hike in sites. What is interesting is that this park furnishes two wheeled carts to help you get your gear from where you park your car into these individual hiking in campsites.

We were able to get on a large paved site that is normally a handicapped site. They have 4 such sites so we were allowed to take it as it has electricity. There are only a few campers in the entire park, and they all took the few electric sites the park has. The rest are non-electric.  But the gals in the office said it was fine for us to take it as there are no reservations.  Tonight will be another comfy night in our coach!

We got all set up on our beautiful campsite and decided to start some supper. Tonight was grilled brats, the first of the season for us.  While Steve did the grilling, I enjoyed some wine in my "Grown Up Sippee Cup, courtesy of my friend Linda Guelig!)

I steamed up two cobs of sweet corn in the microwave, in the husk, for 7 minutes per ear.  I made up some homemade potato salad earlier in the day so it was chilled in time for our meal.  I got two lovely pots of gerbera daisies from Steveio for an early Mother's Day present, so we took them along for the trip to enjoy.  When we get back home next week, we will plant them in the yard.

Just before we were ready to eat, a few raindrops started splattering down here and there. We moved our food indoors to enjoy the rest of the evening inside while the rain pitter pattered down outdoors.

It let up enough to take the dogs for a loop around the campground before dark.  Now I can work on my blog and we are "in" for the night.

I think we will take hot showers and hit the bed early tonight. Those 303 steps might be a reason why?


A whole 23 miles travelled today.  Wheeeee!