Black Hawk Lake State Park 7.22.16

As you can see, we had to wait a WHOLE WEEK in between our camping trips. It was really hard to do it, but we managed. Originally, we had planned on staying home for a few reasons. One, it seemed a bit overindulgent to go camping three weekends in a row. (Ha! We got over that one quickly, don't worry!) Two, we had lots of ignored projects at the house, and three, the weather was unbelievably hot! However, while searching reserveamerica.com, we found a site too good to pass up!

Before I can get to the details about our campsite, I have to tell you that it was MY turn to drive!

So, I was truly excited to be able to drive this. My ultimate goal is to be able to independently hookup, drive, back-in, and unhitch all by myself, but one thing at a time. I was going to drive this thing and back it in to our spot at the campground. Go me!

I'm almost afraid to introduce you to the next campsite, because it quickly made it to "FAVORITES!!" level, and we will go back, likely often. By sharing it with you, it may cause a run to reserve spots, and we won't be able to reserve last minute!

If you promise not to book all the campsites this season, I'll tell you about Black Hawk Lake State Park, in Lake View, IA.

Here's our setup. I was able to back the trailer in to the spot...took me about 5 tries to get the feel for how far to turn the wheel and learn the trailer's responses, but I didn't think that was too bad. I was exceedingly grateful that there wasn't anyone waiting in the loop to get past me, as it allowed me to stay calm and take my time. Once I backed it in and unhitched, we decided to use those adorable little handles to turn the B@r T@b 90 degrees and make our door open towards the lake. Normally, this wouldn't have been difficult, but the campsite (#49 for reference) had brand new gravel piled there, and it was pretty deep. We struggled for a couple of minutes pulling the 1680 pounds through a foot of gravel, until two nice ladies from a neighboring site came over and assisted us. With their help, we did it in about 8 seconds. GIRL POWER!

So here we are, all set up, with a lakeside spot. Look at this view!

I mean, you can't get much closer than this! While the spot wasn't swimming friendly, if we had a kayak, it would have been fairly easy entry.

Friday was incredibly hot, heat index was 105 when we arrived. We sat in as few clothes as socially acceptable, drank lots of hydrating liquids (in between our alcoholic indulgences), and even brought a box fan to move air. We did OK, and when we went to sleep, we enjoyed the built in air conditioning unit!

Saturday, we awoke to rain. Again. 3 camping trips, 3 episodes of rain. Aaarrggh! It was certainly cooler, but limited us in what we could do. After watching some TV indoors and taking a nap, the rain cleared in the afternoon and we had a great time relaxing! Wildlife was present, specifically multiple fly overs by a bald eagle. That's a favorite!

We did take a break from this busy schedule of sitting on our butts to drive around the lake and check out the local town. It was nice. Nothing was too busy, and the town had a grocery store with everything a glamper could need!

Once again, we upped our game on food:

NOT a hot dog. No, it's far more lazy and delicious than that! I asked Erika, owner of the local BBQ restaurant, Edgewater BBQ, to package up some of her delicious smoked brisket, and we took that along for this perfect creation. This is a bbq brisket slaw sandwich, and you should feel bad if you've never had one. So good! And I didn't have to actually cook one thing!

We enjoyed a stunning sunset to finish off a great evening.

Sunday was spectacular! Mid 70s, breezy, all sunny. We delayed our departure as late as we dared, but left around 1pm to head home from another wonderful weekend.

Next trip? How about in the middle of the Mississippi River?! I'll tell you all about it in my next post!

Happy Camping!
Peggy