Hoodoo Point Campground, Minnesota, United States
august 22 Today is Nikki's birthday. Hoodoo Point Campground outside Tower, Minnesota
I woke up around 5 am and decided I needed to sleep longer so I did. When I woke up again, it was already 7 am so I had to get moving. I showered, went to get coffee and their not-fancy breakfast. He didn't exaggerate - fancy, it was not. I got the coffee and two sweet bun in cellophane. I decided to wait for my muesli until I was on the road, but it never happened. I got some ice, the desk clerk was very nice, told me the ice machine was probably out so he would bring me some he saved in the refrigerator. I only took 4 cups not the whole ice bucket - I didn't want to be greedy. When I was in the lobby a man was waiting and just asked me about how to run the shower. I was about to suggest that it might be the kind that you pull down from the faucet but the reception guy came back and that's what he told him. I opened the side door again and reloaded the car with all my various bits and pieces. When I went out to drive away, a woman was walking her dog and started chatting by asking where I was from. NY. She grew up in Rye, but has lived in Wisconsin most of her life. We talked about NY and Michigan and then her husband came and we talked about camping and car camping. They gave me some good suggestions if I am in a fix and need to overnight in the car: hospital and marina parking lots - safe and convenient. The couple was quite nice - we also agreed that the hotel situation now is pretty bad - so expensive for what you get and the hotels seem to have gotten so shabby.
I got on the wrong way on the highway and the poor GPS was frustrated trying to get me going the right way. Finally I got it and was off in a westerly direction and almost immediately was welcomed to Wisconsin. I hadn't thought much about it - I thought I would only be buzzing through, but I was starting to get hungry so I pulled over at a park with a view of a bay on Lake Superior, aptly named the Lake Superior Roadside Park. In fact it turned out to be very nice - I saw the bike path and the bike repair station. I went down the hill to the piers and looked into the clear water. I used the rest room and found a brochure for the town - Ashland - which has murals downtown. So as I went a bit farther, I found myself in Ashland - had to turn around to find the main street a block or so south of rt 2. I parked and explored the murals and the downtown. I loved the murals. I have to read the brochure to see if they were all done by the same artist. Unfortunately, being Sunday, the downtown was deserted and nothing was open. I had been hoping for a snack - some local Wisconsin iconic food item, but no.
So I drove on and just before I hit Superior or Duluth, there was a marina and I thought there might be a snack shack of some sort there. No dice but they did have a big boat you could visit, shore you could look at, playground which I did not use but I did use a bench to finish off the can of mixed nuts that Kara brought. That would be my lunch today.
Superior must be close to Duluth and once I was on the highway again, I noticed that rt 2 had merged with my next route - Minnesota rt 53 north so I managed to stay on that despite the GPS directing me otherwise. It was not easy because there was a detour and I was rerouted through the port and up a hill and all around, but then it was rt 53 and clear sailing, but the GPS was still telling me with every block to turn left and then turn back on rt53 S. I saw a sign up ahead with the names of a few towns farther up the road - Virginia being the one I was headed for....and then I realized that I had put Victoria in as my destination on the GPS. I let it go and go and go and then I worried I would be using all my cellular data so I finally turned it off. I had a few stops to make so in Virginia I looked for a supermarket where I picked up some mozzarella and bread - slim pickings there and I had to ask to find the mozzarella in the deli department. I got a metal bowl to wash dishes in....at some point.
...and some giant blueberries and some bananas and another box of crackers since I have so much cheese left. I asked about beer but Minnesota grocery stores do not sell beer....and, when I got gas, it seemed that gas station convenience stores did not either. I don't know that I noticed the kind of store where you could buy alcohol though. While in the gas station, I asked a young man about a nearby campsite and at first he was having trouble thinking of anything, then he came up with Camp Hoodoo and told me to ask at a station once I got to Tower. I put it into the GPS though and it got me here.
I was so relieved that the campground had a spot. The man was so nice. I have what he said was a more private spot with electricity - that was all that was available - and that is because of cancellations. I have a picnic table, I put up the tent and laid out my sleeping bag on two mats and the blanket. I had some difficulty putting up the tent because Kara usually did most of it - including the thinking. But It is up. I have this spot for a day and I can renew it for another day or I might be able to switch to a lake spot if someone else doesn't show up and I don't have to pay for either until tomorrow so I can avoid a bigger fee for using my credit card. I did manage to get some cash yesterday in Munising but not as much as I wanted.
So I decided to get this out of the way before I fixed my tomato mozzarella pesto sandwich, but I am starving now. My phone is charging on the electricity station. Time to get out my food.
2025-05-22