A City Girl In The Country

I have just returned from a three day getaway camping weekend in Southwestern Wisconsin and I must admit that I am absolutely thrilled to be home. The change of scenery and pace was great for the time I was there, but I’m a city girl at heart. As much as it pains to me admit it, I missed Starbucks, and my down comforter…and pay at the pump gas stations. The smell of camping remaining on my clothes makes me sad to have had to say goodbye to such a gorgeous weekend, but it makes me happy to be back home.

The weekend kicked off on Saturday with the initial camping trip prep work: pack the car, pick up the boat, get gas, etc but once we were on the road the ride went smoothly and quickly. Our destination was slightly unknown, as we had very little camp ground information to go off of, and I found a lot of humor in watching civilization disappear further and further behind us. After about a half hour of driving through winding roads leading to nothing but more rolling hills, I questioned if this tiny camp ground even existed. After all, what place doesn’t have a website these days…or voicemail?! But finally, after passing through a town of about 40 people, we arrived at Blackhawk Memorial Park Campground and what I saw sent me rolling out of the car into complete hysterical laughter. Greeting us at the campground entrance was not a visitor’s center, campground lodge, or county ranger but instead, a small wooden box nailed to a tree with a handwritten note saying “Camping $5, please place money here”.

“Oh my god it’s on the honor system!” I managed to choke out as I wiped away the tears from my face and tried to compose myself long enough to realize what was actually happening here. We had just driven 2 ½ hours to find ourselves staring face to face with a wooden box, and a completely empty campground. After a few more minutes of mind numbing laughter, we piled back into the car and gave the campground the benefit of the doubt. But after driving through the “resort” and seeing what was truly offered, we decided to head up Plan B (thank god we made one) and drove the half hour to bumble-f town #2 to go camping at Yellowstone State Park, and I am so glad we did.

The campground was fantastic. It had a HUGE man made lake perfect for fishing and swimming and about a hundred perfectly secluded campsites complete with running water AND showers and flush toilets…*score*! It was quiet, which I loved, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.

After settling in I went to work right away on setting up the tent and about an hour later we had the car unpacked and I was sitting on a chair with a beer in my hand, loving the fresh air and the sound of nature. Thankfully there were no bugs to be accounted for…all weekend…which made the outdoors experience that much better.

I did manage to get some fishing in during the weekend and by Monday I was actually ready to bait my own hook, AND take off my own fish. I quickly lost interest though as the worms made me gag to put them on the hook and the fish moved entirely too much for my liking when I pulled them out of the water but I was happy that I was able to do it…at least for a little while.

Other than that I spent some time on the boat, drank some beer, and got to know a little town called Blanchardville (or something like that). We hiked, and slept on the ground, and cooked our food over an open flame. It was fantastic. I love camping…and summer.