Gull Lake Recreation Area in Brainerd Minnesota July 30-August 6, 2025

The air was very hazy as we left Viking Vines RV Campground in Buffalo, North Dakota around 8:45 am Wednesday, July 30th and drove 3 1/2 hours to Gull Lake Recreation Area in Brainerd, Minnesota for a 7-night stay. Smoke from fires in our neighbor-to-the -north’s country, I am told, was the cause of the degraded air quality.

But first, we had an appointment at Discount Tire in Baxter, Minnesota to have two new tires installed on the rear axle of Nomad. It’s much easier to do this kind of work before we get to a campsite or on our way out of the campsite, so we try to schedule it to work out that way.

Once we had that taken care of, it only took us about 20 minutes to drive to Gull Lake Recreation Area.

Gull Lake Recreation Area

We were in site 9, the same site we had when we were here two years ago. It’s still a very level gravel/dirt site with 50-amp electric hookup only. Accordingly, our onboard fresh water tank was full and we intended to make use of the campground’s showers, which we found later were also still well-maintained.

After getting set-up, it was a quiet first night with an early dinner and then walking Bella around the campground to re-acquaint ourselves with the layout.

Family-Cousins

Thursday night we had dinner with Cindy’s cousins at Maucieri’s Italian Restaurant in Crosslake, Minnesota.

Thanks to Chelsey’s efforts to contact everyone and take care of arrangements, we were able to enjoy a wonderful visit and delicious meal with Robert, Kim, Chelsey, Audrey, Ashlee, Amanda, Adam, Grace, Ganon and Kathy for about 3 hours. It’s been two years since we last saw them, so there was a lot to catch up on.

And the last time we saw them was the last time Cindy saw her cousin Bruce, who sadly passed away since that visit, so he was greatly missed at our dinner.

It seemed like a good time was had by all. I know that Cindy truly enjoyed the time with her Minnesota family and getting to reminisce about her childhood summers with them brought many smiles to her face.

Family-Daughter and Grandson

Friday was a special treat for this leg of our journey around America.

Ann and Mikey had flown up to Minneapolis from Florida to spend a few days with Mikey’s best friend (and his parents), Jacob, a couple of days before we arrived in the state. So Friday we drove an hour south and they drove an hour north to meet halfway in between at Jimmy’s Pour House in Sauk Rapids, MN for lunch.

As Mikey said, “It’s great getting to see you outside of Florida…and in a different month!” We felt the same since we only see each other in Florida in November, December and part of January. So getting to visit with them while we are out traveling was a real treat.

Saturday was a day of relaxation, reading and writing. We DID hike 1 1/2 miles down to Gull Lake with Bella and back. But my left knee was still causing me problems with pain and swelling. I made an appointment for the following Monday at a clinic to see if I can get it taken care of before we hit Mackinac Island in mid-August and ride bikes around the island.

Memories

Robert and Kim invited us to their home in Crosslake on Sunday. The original plan was to got out on the lake in their pontoon boat, but the air was still just not the best to be out and about in for long periods of time. And we were told it can be even worse on the water

So instead we first enjoyed lunch with them at a restaurant named Moonlight Bay on the lake and had some very good pizza. The food, service and company were delightful. Unfortunately, we had taken seats near the door to the outside deck and right after we arrived their live entertainment began. I could not tell you if the performer was talented or not because the volume was so ear-drum-breakingly loud there was no way to discern any singing skills.

Just ignore the old man grumping, lol.

After our meal we returned to their home where Robert had pulled out boxes and boxes of photos and documents that related to Cindy’s family in Minnesota, especially her grandparents. She was very happy five hours later with the information she was able to get, the stories she heard and the photos and documents that were shared.

Thanks Robert and Kim!

Urgent Care

Monday at 9 am I had an appointment at a local urgent care clinic for my knee pain and swelling. I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that it was just like the knee pain and swelling I had back in January in Estero, Florida. Accordingly, I brought those medical records and medications prescribed to show the physician or nurse on duty.

It turned out to not be much of an exam. She could see it was swollen and red, so she just did a cursory exam with her hands, called in medications to the local pharmacy and sent me on my way. So at least I got the medications I needed. I probably have a date with a specialist when I get back to Florida and tell my PCP about the knee. If I tell him…

We ran several errands during the rest of the day. This included getting a silicone seal product I needed to repair a small crack on the bottom of the slide-out frame plastic casing to keep it from growing. I’ve been looking for it for a few weeks and finally found it in stock in Brainerd.

Somewhere In Time

That night, in anticipation of our trip to The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island later in August, we watched Somewhere In Time and Cindy wept at the end, as she always does. I think we’re really going to enjoy touring the hotel and island, especially since we’ll be doing it with our friends Kirk, Laura and Laura’s mom Royda.

Tuesday, since it was forecast to be raining when we would leave on Wednesday morning, we got as much done as we could by the afternoon. Took down Cindy’s screen room, brought the main slide-out in, hitched up to Voyager and got what we could on the inside cleaned and locked down.

Dinner and bed were the logical conclusion to our day and this wonderful visit.

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