Written by Patrick and I had big plans to go camping this weekend, but the storms derailed us. We had planned to go to Glacial Lakes State Park a little northwest of St. Cloud. I had reserved us a cute-looking site isolated from everything else, and we would spend two nights there.
Looking back, I wasn’t properly prepared for the trip in the first place, so it was probably a good thing we called it off:
- I got a car permit through a donation to MPR, but I found out they wouldn’t ship it until June, so I had to scramble to borrow someone else’s. (And it arrived today, the day we were supposed to get back, btw.)
- I was planning on renting a tent from REI, but I waffled on spending the money because I could also have borrowed one from a number of people. I ended up grabbing one from my parents’ place the night before, and I didn’t know how to set it up.
- Our menu was a little haphazard, and I didn’t do any fancy prepping and packaging ahead of time. We would have rolled in with a Target bag.
- I packed a lot of stuff the morning of, and I don’t have the proper backpack gear.
- I felt rushed that whole week at work and had zero time in the evenings before, so there was never enough time to really prep properly.
So all in all, I’m out the fee for booking the site, and Patrick had bought the food, but at least we stayed out of the storms. We did watch the radar and several red blobs went over the park, so I’m sure it was the right decision.
Lessons I learned:
- Get your permits early!
- Don’t pay to reserve a campsite if (a) it’s before Memorial Day or after Labor Day and (b) the park is outside the metro area.
- Pack early, especially food. Just grab and go in the morning.
At least I know I’ll be looking forward to the next one!