Frontenac

This past Friday my wife and I made a trip with our new camper to Frontenac State Park in Minnesota.  We had been invited by our son and daughter in law to join them on Father's Day weekend, so we took them up on the offer.  When offered, and when we reserved a site, we had no idea we would be owning a camper.  There are some interesting differences between Minnesota and Wisconsin, although culturally they seem similar.  Marshall Eriksen on the former television show "How I met your Mother" once said that the only difference between Minnesota and Wisconsin is the politeness in Minnesota.

Rock Formation at Frontenac State Park, MN

Minnesotans being polite is thought by some with whom I have talked, a false belief.  Some say it hides the passive aggressive nature and how that "politeness" is actually manifested in ways much more sinister.  There are other differences of course, but one shocker was that Minnesota State Parks do not allow alcohol consumption.  My goodness, if Wisconsin had, and would enforce that type of rule, the use of the state parks would probably decline by 75% or greater.  It seems that it should be a rite of camping to be able to enjoy a cold beer while eating dinner, or sitting by a campfire.  I suspect, it is not highly enforced in Minnesota and is another citation to provide if one is noisy or disorderly. 

Looking westerly from Ridge at Frontenac State Park

Noise could certainly be an issue at Frontenac as the campsites are very close to each other.  We had a camper perhaps 11' from our camper.  On the other hand, that means water and toilets are not that far from the campsite.  The sites may be somewhat limited by the extreme drop off to the east side down to the Mississippi River (Lake Pepin), and other topographic issues.  It seems to compare best to Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin which is on the east side of the Mississippi near Prairie du Chien.  One can get some great views of the land to the west from Frontenac, and I was a bit surprised that it did not have a tower to get above tree level to better view the Mississippi Valley, and the views to the west.  The nice thing was the park rangers made regular patrols through the campgrounds, particularly in the early evening.  Some patrols were in  park vehicle, others, which seemed most common, were by walking.  They actually checked to make sure vehicles had their admission sticker.  Unlike in Wisconsin where the sticker is only good for the calendar year, in Minnesota the sticker is good for  12 months from month of purchase.  In Wisconsin, when we camped at Lake Kegonsa State Park earlier this month, we saw no ranger patrolling the campground, although we camped during the week, not the weekend. 

Campsite at Frontenac, the rainfly came in handy

When you choose to camp can make a difference when travelling.  Travelling with a camper poses issues, besides gas mileage.  First, the vehicle manual says that when towing you should travel the first 500 miles with the trailer at 50 mph or less.  Thus, instead of driving the interstate to LaCrosse and then up Highway 61 in Minnesota, we took USH 14 to Hwy 61.  It was a long trip of over 220 miles one way, and was made longer by road construction in Minnesota on parts of 61.  It took us a little over 5 hours to get to Frontenac and 5 hours home on Monday.  Sunday afternoon the park cleared out and our loop had only us and a couple camping next door.  Although we woke up to find two other campsites set up, which we did not recall when we went to bed on Sunday night.  The nice thing about travelling Hwy 14 was the view from the ridges and the small towns that broke up the ride.  Although it took awhile to get through Richland Center.  Many of these small towns are in decline, but yet some seem to possess some vibrancy.  I saw some villages and cities I had never before been, such as Coon Valley and Westby.  The nice thing about the long trip, was that, combined with other added mileage, we are now only eight miles from our 500 mile maximum speed of 50 mph. 

Car show in downtown Red Wing, MN
The one time the sun came out on Sunday was when
we were in Red Wing

Due to weather the four of us made a trip to two wineries in Minnesota and one cidery/winery in Wisconsin.  I think we have become more impressed with the quality of locally produced wines.  The Maiden Rock Cidery (Stockholm, WI)  also sells mead and wines produced elsewhere in Wisconsin.  We all found their Honeycrisp cider delicious.  Maiden Rock, we heard from the Flower Valley owner (who uses mainly grapes grown onsite, although some types are produced with CA grapes), is now for sale, due to the owners wanting to retire.  Maiden Rock, we were told was a pioneer in hard cider. production and assisted others in developing that product.  The Minnesota vintner commented to me how much better the Wisconsin laws for production of alcohol are over those in Minnesota.  Although, one could not tell by the number of quality craft breweries in Minnesota.  The 45th Parallel distillery is located in Wisconsin and not Minnesota in large part due to the differences in laws.  The problem is that the laws cannot overcome the climate.  Apple growers have been hit by late frosts which significantly effect production, and the bottom line. 

Plaza adjoining Red Wing Shoe Company.

Frontenac was a nice state park possessing some good hiking trails through woods and/or meadow.  The campground sits high on the ridge and depending upon your campsite you may have a view of Lake Pepin.  I am not sure, however, that I find the Minnesotans any more polite than people in Wisconsin, so perhaps Marshal Eriksen was not correct in his statement of the differences between Minnesota and Wisconsin.  One thing is sure on the difference, and that is Wisconsin is more lenient when it comes to alcohol.