May VaCay 2024 - Brunet Island State Park, Cornell WI

Steve asked me what I would like to do for Mother's Day. 

Of course, I said camping! 

We visited with our children and grandchildren the day before. We would prefer on Mother's Day that our daughters get to spend their days with their own children and not be obligated to run around visiting all the other grandmothers. So it was nice to get together with them the day before. 

Sunday morning came and we loaded up the motorhome. Away we went!!!

We packed a good 2 weeks worth of supplies, so we are hitting the road and heading west. Not quite sure exactly where we are going. 

Our first stop is about 200 miles away. That's about our limit of driving for the day. We don't like to drive much further than that. 

We looked up one of our favorite campsites at Brunet Island State Park which is near Cornell, Wisconsin. It's up in the northwest corner north of Wisconsin, past Eau Claire. We really, really like this campground and especially site 43!!! 

Let me tell you a little bit about the state park:

The campground is located on an island out in the middle of the Chippewa River, just north of the small town Cornell with a dam. 

The main office, as well as the dump station, are located right before the bridge within the park. Be sure to fill up your freshwater tank there because there are no water hookups at the campsites.

Cross the bridge and you're on a hunk of island which contains the boat landing, the picnic grounds, and the campground.

It has two loops of campsites along the Chippewa River. The South Loop has electrical and I believe there are 24 sites with a shower building and flush toilets etc. The sites are a little close together but all in all, located close to the beach and the picnic grounds.

The North Loop is larger with about 48 sites. These are all rustic sites with no hookups. Although there are drinking fountains and water faucets around the loop. This loop has a beautiful series of lagoons and ponds in the middle--- with campsites scattered all the way around the edges. The western edge of this loop also runs along the Chippewa River so there are campsites on each side of the road that are waterfront sites. 

Our favorite site is number 43. It faces out to the little lagoons and right near the tiny bridge that leads out into the river. Right across the road from the campsite is the Chippewa River --- which is much wider and has boat traffic.

Here's their website link for more information and the reservation link:

Brunet Island Wisconsin State Park

We had looked ahead to make sure 43 was available. Yes it was, and once we reached the campground we were able to log on and pay for the site. Wisconsin State Parks have an online reservation system that if you are reserving something days or weeks in advance, there is a reservation fee. But if you are just coming in for that night and the site is vacant, you are able to go online to pay without the additional reservations fee charges. It wasn't always this way, I'm glad they changed it. The office was closed and there are no longer any pay posts or envelopes within the park to pay for a campsite on the same day of arrival. 

The rustic sites are $15 a night, and I think the electric ones are $28. Don't quote me on that, because I didn't look them up. 

We were set up on our site in no time at all. This campsite is pretty level, as are most of the sites in the park. Some of them are big rig friendly size and we have actually put our 38 ft Safari motorhome on this same site in the past. The 25-ft Winnebago with our cargo trailer easily fit on this pull through site.

The sun was starting to go down, and it was time to whip up a little supper. We were thinking about going out for a bike ride, but instead we decided to just relax and take it easy. The temperatures had crept up into the low '80s. Although we did not have air conditioning, there was a nice little breeze blowing through when we opened up all of the windows.

The mosquitoes were getting a little thick, so we took out a couple thermacells. 

These things work fantastically wonderful! Creates an invisible bubble about 20 ft around that the mosquitoes don't bother you. Because there was a slight breeze, we put out two thermacells and hoped it would do the job. They work best on calm days with no wind. The operate with small butane cylinders and a pad infused with a type of chrysanthemum oil. They don't really give off any type of any chemical smell and are safe to use around children and pets. 

We have seen that they have a new version out of thermacell. Now it can operate off a battery that is rechargeable via USB cord. Instead of messing with the little pads, they now have the oil contained with a new cartridge that snaps into place. When you buy the original unit the cartridge is good for 12 hours. The replacement cartridges are good for $38. 

We don't have one yet but we did get one for our oldest daughter for Mother's Day. They sit outside a lot at their cabin and use thermacells all around the campfire. This new version is supposed to have a larger range of coverage as well.

We did take a little walk around the loop for a ways. But Binney pooped out and wanted to go back. It was pretty hot for her. She is still wearing her winter fur coat. She hasn't shed yet this spring

It was so peaceful with out any sounds anywhere. We watched a muskrat, we think it was, or a beaver, swim across the lagoon by our campsite. A couple geese had stopped by. There was a Mr and Mrs Mallard duck also paddling around.

A couple turtles had been on this log when we first got there, but they slipped quietly away into the water when we came close to the edge.

Our camper was all set up and we also hooked up our new Starlink satellite system. 

I made this little YouTube video clip of our campsite: 

After dinner, we curled up with our favorite HGTV shows before bedtime. 

We had warnings of some Canadian wildfire causing smoke problems with haze and poor air quality in Wisconsin this morning. They said it would burn off about 10:00 a.m. they were right. We sat outside in the sunshine with our coffee cups this morning and it was calm and quiet.

Binney was busy finding a relaxing spot underneath my lawn chair. She hides out underneath me and we don't hear a peep out of her.

Nicholas, on the other hand, keeps a watchful eye out on every bird, squirrel, butterfly and bug. He snaps at the flies, and is always on patrol.

We took a bike ride around the park this morning and I made a video of it. Once I get it edited and put together onto YouTube, I will come back here and add a link.

By 11:00 a.m. we packed up all of our gear and headed on out on the road again. Our next stop is going to be Highland Ridge Corps of Engineers Park near Spring Valley, Wisconsin. We were there quite a few years ago, and would like to go back again. From there we might hit six other core of Engineer parks over in Central Minnesota. That's kind of our tentative game plan, we're not sure. We will see. 

No time frame

No constraints 

and

No real plans