Minooka Campground in Lucas, Kansas May 21

We left Cedar Ridge Campground outside Lawrence, Kansas on Wednesday, May 21, for a 4-hour drive across the state to Minooka Campground on Wilson Lake in Lucas, Kansas. I know the map shows about 3 hours, but that is based on going 70-75 MPH (legal speeds in this section of the country) and we don’t go that fast.

Minooka Campground

Minooka Campgorund has 159 campsites, a boat ramp, hiking trails and a beach with a sand volleyball court, playground and swimming area.

There was no one at the check-in booth when we arrived. The sign out front says “MUST CHECK IN”. The host site was right next to it so Cindy knocked on their door but no one was home to answer. We drove on into our reserved site, but there was no reservation form attached. I think this might be the first time for that, and there’s no one in authority around to ask.

Our site was a fairly level gravel site with electric only hook-up. The site was filthy and had cigarette butts all in the gravel, which hadn’t been raked or leveled out. The fire pit was filled with trash, burned wood and cigarette butts. We did have a nice view of the lake outside our back window. At least until the weekend when people thought it was fine to walk through our site to get down to the lake to fish.

We finally saw the hosts later that afternoon driving through on their cart in the next loop over. We waved at them but they never came over to see what we wanted. Simply waved back and kept going.

But at least it was quiet and peaceful Wednesday afternoon/evening and Thursday morning.

Prairie Fire Trail

We took Bella and hiked the nearby Prairie Fire Trail Thursday morning. About 3 miles in a loop that provided many different scenic sites and encounters with wildlife like a snake Cindy almost stepped on, a two-foot long Eastern Collared Lizard sunning itself on a rock and a Texas Horned Lizard that Cindy, again, almost stepped on. That Texas Horned Lizard was a long way from home.

We took the North route first and we were glad we did. It was much more strenuous with lots of elevation changes, curves and switchbacks. The second half, on the South route, was fairly flat and straight, which was nice as we were pretty tired.

When we got back to our site we already had neighbors next door. They liked to play their music loud, so there went the peace and quiet.

That night we started the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Memorial Day Weekend

Friday, it was a veritable monsoon of people coming into the campground.

It was Memorial Day Weekend, so we knew to expect the place to be filled with raucous people who think that honoring those who gave their lives in service to our country means loud, drunken parties all day and night.

It started early with campers racing up and down campground roads ignoring the clearly marked 10 MPH signs; others ignoring posted rules about dogs being leashed while outside; playing music so loud you have to close your own windows to try and muffle the sound; and strolling through your campsite like it’s theirs.

We saw the hosts again twice, puttering around in their little cart, completely ignoring the loose dogs, loud music, speeding and other rules of the campground. What’s the point of having hosts at this campground? They don’t man the check-in booth, they don’t remind people to follow the rules that are for the benefit of all, and they don’t clean up any of the sites before campers arrive. What a gig!

Unfortunately, we see this kind of “look the other way behavior” at more and more USACE campgrounds and it is ruining their previous appeal.

Saturday it stormed in the evening and into Sunday morning, so that helped cut down on the noise from campers who had to stay inside.

And it was the annual observation of “Brother’s Day” so I took the opportunity to do a little collage of pictures of my younger brother Mark through the years over on my personal blog site.

Sunday it rained most of the day, keeping all the partiers inside and the campground quiet. I finished reading “Careless People” by Sarah Wynn-Williams about her behind the scenes look at Facebook and posted a review of it over on my writing and book site.

Memorial Day

Monday was Memorial Day and it started raining around 2 am and continued until about 10 am. Much honor to those who gave their lives in service to our country. I’m thinking in particular of my friend Teddy, a young man who died at the age of 25 in Afghanistan after being killed by an IED.

I started reading “Original Sin” by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, though I would much rather someone take the time and guts to report on the current White House occupant’s dementia instead of ignoring it.

Most of the campers had cleared out by noon. There were some stragglers left but official check-out time isn’t until 6 pm.

Tuesday was a quiet day of walking Bella, reading and writing. It was nice to have a peaceful day to conclude our stay.

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