Microtinerary: Lazy-D Campground and Trail Rides - Altura, MN

In this, Microtinerary, we're bringing all of the must-see stops for a weekend camping trip to Altura, MN and specifically Lazy-D Campground and Trail Rides - a destination in itself!

Stay: Lazy-D Campground and Trail Rides

https://www.lazydcampground.com/

Coffee: Cabin Coffee Co. - which, turns out, is a multi-state chain!
https://cabincoffeecompany.com/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Camp Mindowinia, where we're reviving the vintage camping vibe in the Midwest. There is so much to see and do in the Midwest, and we want to share it with everyone. So on this show, we'll be talking about all things camping as we explore the states of our name. Glad to have you back at camp, everyone. I'm Liv and I'm here today, as usual, with my longtime camping buddy and sister Ab. Hi, everybody. And today we are bringing you another one of our micro itineraries. These are episodes where we have put together a little trip plan for a destination area that you could visit in a weekend or a long weekend. Yes. So it's like a trip plan, but it's a mini version, so it's a micro itinerary. Yes. But for today's micro itinerary, we are talking about specifically the campground of Lazy D, which is located in Altura, or maybe it's Altura, Minnesota. So this is like south, a little bit south, and kind of straight west of Rochester, Minnesota. And why we're calling this kind of a lazy D micro itinerary is because this campground has so much to do at the campground, yeah, that it's it's kind of a destination in itself. Yeah, it really is. Yeah, so we have stayed there many times. This is kind of a a very popular campground with our family. So and we mean like whole family. Like our oldest brother and his wife have stayed there, our parents have stayed there, all us girls have stayed there. Like our whole family loves this place. Yeah, it is. It's a very beautiful location. Um, Altura, I think, is I actually don't know where the town of Eltura is. But the campground itself is located in the bluffs around the Whitewater River. So you're, you know, down kind of in the valley of the bluffs, you've got beautiful uh bluff scenery all around. Like you're kind of in almost a bowl. When you're in the campground and you're kind of looking up above the tree line, you see these rock faces, it almost kind of feels like you're in a mountain area. Yeah. It's it's a very beautiful location. And uh in addition to the beautiful setting, there are just so many things to do at the campground and in the surrounding area. So that is why we are doing our micro itinerary for Lazy D today. So our campground recommendation is apparent. Yes. So Liv, why don't you give us the details about Lazy D? Yes. So Lazy D Campground has 125 sites. Um, some of them are standard sites, which uh I believe they call tent sites, and I think they are just for tents, not RVs as well. Okay. And they don't have any hookups, and then they also have water and electric sites. Um, you have to call to make a reservation, they don't have online booking. And I feel like sometimes that's kind of a good thing. Because I don't, you know, I don't know that this is necessarily always the case, but I do feel like campgrounds where you have to call to make the reservations oftentimes have more availability. Yes. And I think it's because people don't want to call. It's just easier to do it online. I mean I guess that yeah, there's the convenience, and if you're trying to book and it's like after their office hours have closed. So you just move on to another campground that you can book right away online. Yeah. And I think that leaves some openings, and I'm happy about that. I am more than willing to call and make a reservation over the phone to get a spot on a weekend last minute or even a holiday weekend potentially, you know, that somebody else didn't book because you know it was minorly inconvenient to call. Yes, absolutely. So, you know, that do with that as you will, but I think it kind of works in in favor of the last minute gamper. It does. All right, for pricing. So those standard sites or tent sites that we mentioned, they are forty-five dollars a night in summer, which we agreed is a little high. And then they are thirty dollars in off season, which seems much more uh typical. And then they're $55 a night on holiday weekends. Then for the water and electric sites, those are $55 a night in summer, which I think seems pretty standard. Especially for Minnesota. Yeah, yep. And then they and they do have a dump station, so which we can get I wanna come back to that in a minute. They are are $34 a night in the off-season, so this is non-summer, of course, and then $65 for holiday weekends. So a funny thing about their dump station, the dump station is fine, it works perfectly well. However, I have to say, this dump station was my initiation into the world of like terrible septic dumping stories. I've got some of those too. Everybody does. Everybody does. I had not. I mean, I was like, I have been RVing on my own now for 10 years. And when this happened to me, it had been like, this was like two years ago. So it had been like eight years, and I had never had a septic problem. No explosion. I'm like, I don't know what people are complaining about. I think that it's all avoidable. Yep, that's what I get for being so cocky. So I connected my sewer hose and I was in a hurry because I had to get home in time for a meeting in the evening. So I connected the hose, the sewer hose, but you know how it has those little hooks and they slide onto the pegs? Yes. It hooked onto the top peg and I assumed it was on the other pegs because it slid on and like locked into place. No, it was not on the side or bottom pegs at all. Oh no. So I opened the black tank and it comes just gushing out.

unknown 6:08

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Outside of the hose. Were you able to get it closed? Yeah, I was able to get it closed to put the hose back on. But yeah, it was unfortunately I was wearing flip-flops, but it was all over my feet. It was absolutely the most disgusting thing I've ever experienced. It was so, so gross. Yeah. Anyway, but now I I am part of the the RV community. I feel like I am a full-fledged member now because I have one of these horrific septic stories like everybody else does. Eight years and you didn't have my first you, I had a problem. But we'll save that for another day. Okay. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Lucky, eight years though. Yes. I have not had any problems since then, and I never intend to have another problem again because now what I do is I put that thing on there and then I feel underneath with my gloved hand, of course, and make sure that the hooks are on all of the pegs. Yes. So smart. At least, at least it's not gonna happen that way again. Yes, it could happen some other way. Yeah. There's just too much room for malfunction with sewer. Yes. So you can use the dump station, just you know, use it with caution. Yes. So now that Liv has sewer all over her feet, she's probably heading over to the bathhouse. A thousand percent. Yes. Let's get into the details there. So it's quite operated, quarters of course. Yeah. Um, they have is it three or four stalls? I can't remember now. Uh I think they have four. I think they have four too. Yeah. It's clean but old. But yeah, you know and I'm not sure I would even so much say clean. So they kind of are under new ownership. Okay. So it was a family campground, and now I think some of the kids have kind of taken it over. And I do have to say the maintenance of the park has suffered a little bit. Okay. I haven't been there since then, I don't think. Okay, yeah. So I was there last fall. And I wasn't there last year at all. So I felt like the bathrooms were not very clean. Okay. So, which is unfortunate. And this was like even like on a Friday, you know, or I think it was even a Thursday when we got there. So it was not like, you know, the weekend traffic had come through. Because it's really hard to keep up with the mess that accumulates on a weekend. From 125 sites. Exactly. So, but no, it was it was like, you know, it should have been still pretty good. And it was it was not great. So, you know, I don't know, maybe wear your shower shoes. Yes. Bring disinfecting wipes. That's what I do anyway.

unknown 8:31

Right?

SPEAKER_00 8:31

I do. Wipe down the bench before I put my stuff on it. Yeah. Yeah. Now there is another park. So right across the street, literally, is Whitewater State Park. Yes. And they do have camping there, but they don't have any hookups. Well, they have electric hookups, but no water. And to me, the water hookups at Lazy D is like worth it enough for me to kind of put up with the not very clean showers. Right. And then they have other things too that are available to you for camping there that you wouldn't get if you were camping at Whitewater. Whitewater does have like really nice bathrooms, but the campsites are not on the river. And at Lazy D, the campsites they have campsites on both sides of the river. And a fun little walking bridge across and everything. It's so cute. Yeah. And the river spots are like, I love them. They're very, very pretty. The park itself is very pretty. It's well maintained in that, like, they cut the grass, you know? Yeah. And they um and it has beautiful old trees. You have tons of shade options. A lot of the sites are just really, really nice. Some of them are really huge. So I think it's still worth it to camp here, even though some of the facilities have suffered a little bit from the new ownership. Yes. They do also have laundry on site that is coin operated. So if you needed to do a load of laundry because maybe you had to run in with the septic system, you know, that's an option. Yes. Alright. So what are the things to do at Lazy D and in the area? Do you want to start? Yes. So some of the things they have on site, starting with like children's things. They have one of those really cool big jumping pillows. Yes. Which always looks so fun. They are so fun. I've never jumped on one, I don't think. Okay. Because they're usually covered in small children. But those things look very fun. And they have one of those. And then they also have like a little playground, of course, too, for kids. But then they have a swimming pool, which looks very nice. Um, a basketball court and a sand volleyball. So you kind of have a bunch of different outdoor activity options right in the park. Yes, and they're close proximity. So let's say you're playing basketball with your significant other and your kids are jumping on the pillow, you can see them. Other things that they offer are they have trail rides, actually, which we have never you've never taken advantage of. We've never been on a trail ride. They are $35 per ride, and I'm I think they're like a half an hour. Okay. So um those would be definitely fun, especially for you know people with kind of maybe older kids. That'd be a great way to extend the attention span. Yes. Um, another thing they offer is river tubing on the Whitewater River, and we love this. Oh my gosh, we love it. It's so much fun. So it is $12 for the day, and then you can go as many times as you want. And so you just, you know, put in anywhere in the campground, and then you float down the river, like I don't know, maybe a half mile or a mile, something like that. And then they come and pick you up with a shuttle bus. And it's at like a bridge where they pick you up, so it's very easy to find the type of spot. Yep. Very easy. It's like a sand beach, kind not like a beach, but kind of a really tiny beach that you can get out, and then they pick you up there. Now, I do have to say the tubing changes kind of like dependent upon the weather at the time. Yes. So if you're not getting much rain, which we've had a very dry spring here, then the river can dwindle to that so that in some places you kind of have to like carry the tube, but then you can get back in again and the water will keep flowing. Yes. Um, because I'm just gonna be able to do that. Because the water will be like shallow to really carry you through. Yes. So you you any amount of weight on the tube when you bottom out. Yeah, maybe maybe two inches, but still, yeah. Yeah. And then I've been there other times when it was moving very rapidly, it has, I don't think, ever been reached dangerous levels. Right. When it was moving very rapidly, it was still like maybe three feet deep. Yeah. It was so it's not deep. And um and it's not very wide either. So, you know, even if you got tipped out of your of your tube, you'd be able to like grab the shore easily. If you needed to. Yeah. It's I think it's it's a very tame river tubing experience. It's mostly a lazy river. Yes. And then you can have your extreme swings of a little bit faster ride, or you know, one of our um our brother's friends described it as a refreshing workout. Yes. That was when there was like some areas where you had to walk your tube. So there is that. But when you're there, you can check it out and you'll see how it goes. If nothing else, the river is, you know, a cool, refreshing place to play or hang out, whatever. Sit in an inner tube in the water just to cool off on a hot day. And they do have some different areas throughout the campground where you can just walk down to the river, which is really nice. Yep, absolutely. On the river note, you can also fish. Now, it's not advisable to fish downriver of any of the tubing, you know, get in spots because you don't want to accidentally catch a tuber. But if you go to the further side, you know, away from the tubing area, or if you go over across into the state park, they do apparently have good river fishing. I haven't actually ever fished there. Have you, like? You have. I haven't caught a trout. That was that was Whitewater? Yeah. I didn't think that was. Yep. You caught that. That's where I caught my first rainbow trout. Uh-huh. Yeah. Oh my gosh, I didn't realize that was there. Yeah. Yeah. So they have good fishing. Yes. Whitewater State Park is known for trout fishing. So that's very popular there, especially in the fall. Um, if you go in the fall, you'll see tons of people, not like overwhelming numbers. Like you can still have kind of a private area to fish where you're not like having too much traffic. Right. But it's it's a very popular fishing spot. Yeah. So, and of course, the same river goes through the campground. I've never fished in the campground, but you could. Yeah. Because I did see someone one time fishing there. Yeah. Especially like in the fall, which would probably be better for fishing anyway, when people aren't doing and you have to like watch out for people. You're not going to catch an inner tube.

unknown 14:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Caught a kid. They also have an arcade which has typical arcade games, and I believe like a pool table? Probably. I think. I don't know that I've ever been in there. I've glanced in there, but honestly, we've always been too busy with the river tubing. Yes. And the last thing that Liv's going to talk about. Yes. They have a carriage museum in the office. It's so cool. It is so cool. So, and it's basically free. They have a donation. I think they have a suggested donation of $1. You can make a donation of however you please. Um, in so in the office, there's like some, you know, doors that open into this really large attached wing that has, I I don't remember how many, probably over a dozen antique carriages. And when I say antique, they have like early 1800s carriages. They might even have 70. They have a stagecoach. Yeah, they have a stagecoach. Oh, so cool. They have a um this big like wagon that's got a big tank on it. I think it might have been an early fire engine. It's like this giant, you know, metal tank that's painted a red and yellow. Anyway, and then they have like, you know, a little chase in four, they have a handsome cab. They have so many fun, cute carriages, and they're in pretty decent shape now. And it is, I mean, it's amazing. I love going in there. It is so much fun. Yeah. Now, the last time we were there, because it's under the new ownership, they have like plaques that tell you what the what the carriages are, but they were not by the carriages. They were just kind of like, you know, in a line so you could look at them. And then you can kind of like maybe pick up details from them to match to the carriages so you know what they're talking about. Yeah. But it would have been more helpful if they were by the specific carriages. Yes. And hopefully they'll get that put back together. Hopefully they will. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it was the grandpa of the current owner operators who was this carriage collector. And he he traveled all over the country buying these carriages. He brought them back, he restored them. And obviously they used them, you know, for not like a for their transportation, obviously. Yes. You know, they they test them up because they have the horses too. Yeah. With the horse rides. So yeah, it is just a super fun and unique stop, I think. I had never been to a carriage museum before this, but now every time I stay there, I absolutely have to go in there and, you know, look at them and like imagine which one I would want to have, you know, if I lived in the 1700s or whatever. Yeah. It's super cool. It's fun. Heading out of the park, some other activities are, of course, Whitewater State Park. They have tons of nice walking trails. One of them is the chimney rock overlook, which I have actually not been on the last time we were there. I had a sprained ankle. But our dad went up it and he took pictures, and it is beautiful. You have gorgeous views of the river valley, and then there's also these like kind of rock tunnels, but they're like overhangs, I guess maybe that you can like walk through. I mean, it looks really cool from the photos he took. So this fall, if I do make it back there, I am definitely gonna climb up. They also have a swimming beach in the park. So if the river swimming is not your thing or if it's low or whatever, you can always go into the swimming beach in the park. The park does have, you do have to have an entrance pass, as we've mentioned many times. $7 a day, $35 annually for all Minnesota State Parks. Um, and then the $7 will, I think, just get you into one park. The 35 will get you into all parks for the year. Um they also have some of their popular trails. The meadow trail goes right by the river, so that's a popular place for fishing. And then there's the Coyote Point Trail, which is up on another bluff on the other side of the road. So again, great views. And then on the valley trail, we saw this is a few years ago now, and I think this might have even been possibly in the spring or the summer, maybe, but tons and tons of um beaver-chewed trees. And then we even saw a beaver house, which I can't think what other is it a beaver dam? Is that what they're called? Yeah, we saw a beaver dam. And we did not see any beavers, but we didn't, you know, obviously want to. I'm not sure what a beaver would do if you came upon it in the woods. But, you know, better not to scare them and be safe. Anyway, so but there were tons of trees that you could see had been chewed by beavers. There were some that looked like they had literally just been felled that day. I mean, they were so fresh looking. So that was really cool. And you might actually be able to see a beaver in the park there. Yes. Headed the other direction, about 10 minutes, you will find the town of Elba, which has a historic fire tower that has over 630 wooden steps to the top. Yes. And I've heard the views are spectacular, but I've actually never climbed it because I'm just in that river every time we go there. I get in that river on those tubes, and that's only all there. It's usually because I feel like we go more often in the summertime and it's hot. So it's like, oh, we just want to cool off in the water. Yeah. But if you need your stair stepper, go to that fire tower. Yes. It'll get you. Another thing that's in Elba is a wildlife preserve, and I actually don't have the name of it. It's just when you're driving north through the town of Elba, just on the outside of town, you'll see signs for the wildlife preserve. And this is just a fun place to stop, especially in the fall, because it's a major migratory route for swans. Oh, cool. So there are tons and tons of swans there in the fall. And I know we've seen that. So it's just a fun place to stop, take pictures, you know, do a little sketching, something like that. Fun. All right. And then if you head the other direction, if you head back south, you will run into the town of St. Charles. And if you are needing coffee by this time. Which we always are. Hopefully you've gotten coffee already. But they have a cute little coffee shop called Cabin Coffee that would be a good place to obviously get coffee, but also to stop and like hang out if you had bad weather, maybe if it was raining or if it was very cold or hot. Yeah. You know, it's it's kind of got a cute little cabin atmosphere in there. Or you can take your coffee to go. They do have a drive-thru window, and you can head to one of the actually three antique shopping areas in the town. Uh, my favorite is the House of Hidden Treasure, which is right in St. Charles. And it's this kind of old early 1900s, maybe late 1800s house that has been converted into a little antique store. And I think maybe the woman who owns and runs it still lives there. But I'm not sure about that. But the things she's done in there are really creative and fun. First of all, she specializes in chairs, so like dining chairs. So she has like dozens of really Unique antique dining chairs, which you could probably buy as a cute occasional chair, but if you like have some antique dining chairs, you might be able to find another one to your set here. Yeah. I mean, she had so many. And she has them in the attic. She has a one of the bedrooms upstairs dedicated to chairs. And then some of the things she's done are so cool. Like she wallpapered the stairwell in old magazine pages, like magazines from like the 1930s and earlier. It is so cool. It is so cool. It's really cute. And then like in one of the rooms, she has like, it's a like a book room where she's got books for sale, and she has like a tree made out of paper, and it's kind of like decoupaged onto the wall and ceiling. And then like the leaves are um book pages. I mean, it's just really cute. It's very, very whimsical. And she has just tons and tons of stuff. It's fun to poke around even if you're not really shopping for anything. It's just a good, unique experience, I feel like, to go in there. Yes, it definitely is. Now that we've talked about what to do, let's head back to camp and start on dinner. For our menu, we are going to be doing cheeseburger tacos. And I recently discovered these and they are so good. And I've been making them at home. They're so, so, so good. So you're gonna need two pounds of ground beef and then those smaller soft taco shells. I'm not sure if they're maybe like a six-inch, I think, or a four-inch share. Something like that. Not too, too tiny, but you know, smaller. And then you'll need salt and pepper or taco seasoning to flavor your ground beef if you want, if you want to make it like a taco flavored cheeseburger. We just did salt and pepper and onion powder, but you can season how you want. So then you are going to take that meat and mix it up with your flavoring, flatten it out on, or no, put it in a ball on a piece of plastic wrap. Then you smoosh the taco shell down on top of it to flatten it. And why you kind of like a smash burger. Kind of like a smash burger, yeah. But you're making it into like detached taco. Yes. So then after you're taking that, you can peel it off of the plastic wrap. Now, if you don't use plastic wrap, I'm not sure how you would do this. So please use the plastic wrap. It makes it so much easier. Because we tried without it and it did not work with parchment paper? Yeah, you could probably actually use parchment paper instead. So parchment paper or plastic wrap, you know, either, whichever you have.

unknown 24:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

So you stick it on, you push it till it smashes down, then you peel it off, and then you cook it in a pan with some olive oil or butter. And it takes maybe five minutes. So the plan is for it to be less than a quarter of an inch thick, coating the entire inside of your taco shell. Okay. So it should cook fast. Ours took about five minutes for it to be good and browned and a little crispy. Then you're gonna flip it over so that your tortilla side will get crisped up so it's like a taco. And this is also when you're gonna sprinkle on some Mexican cheese blend or whatever you have, just use what you have, and let that melt on the top, which is now your ground beef side. So then you're gonna cook it on that side for another, I don't know, four to five minutes. Just make sure it looks like the meat is cooked through and there isn't any pink and it's done. And if you don't eat ground beef, this is also a great time to substitute ground turkey or chicken. Oh, yeah. So any of those will work. As soon as you are done cooking it, you're gonna pull it out of the pan. And if you have those taco holders, this is the absolute best time to use them. If not, it's no big deal. But this will just help shape it because then as it cools, the outside will get a little more crispy and they'll keep that perfect little taco shape. Which is so fun. But if you don't have it, not a big deal. And then we like to top this with lettuce, onion, ketchup, mustard, pickles, relish, tomatoes, pickled radishes, tomatoes, whatever you'd put like on a burger. Uh-huh. I mean, if you want to get really into it, you could totally do Swiss cheese and make this a mushroom Swiss and fry up some mushrooms. Like that would be so delicious. So there's definitely options. Oh, you could make cheese curds and throw them in there. Like, oh, yeah. Go crazy. Anything you'd put on a burger, but it just happens to be in the taco shape for extra fun. So that is the dinner. Now moving on to dessert. We are gonna start with a graham cracker crust, eight ounces of cream cheese, two teaspoons of vanilla, half a cup of powdered sugar to two-thirds of a cup, depending on how sweet you like things. Okay. And then fruit preserves and whipped cream. So what you're gonna do is you're gonna soften your cream cheese, and then you're gonna mix in your vanilla and powdered sugar. This is something where you're gonna want to kind of get a good beating into it. Yes. Okay. I mean, you don't have to like use what you have, make it work, but just get it thoroughly mixed. Then you're gonna spread it in the bottom of your graham cracker crust. Then you're gonna take your fruit preserves, and if they're really thick, like you can just use like a jam or jelly. You can hit it in the microwave for a few seconds or on the stove to thin it out just a little bit. And then you're gonna drizzle it in kind of a thick layer over your cream cheese. And then you're gonna pop this in the fridge. You could use a cooler for this, you're just gonna want to make sure it's flat. Otherwise, your filling is just gonna run right out of that pie crust. Oh, yes. Which would be a disaster in your cooler, I'm sure. Oh, yeah. So make sure it's flat. I would cover it if possible before shoving it in your cooler or fridge. And then ideally you let it sit for like two to three hours or all day. But on the shorter end, if you're making it more last minute, like I tend to do things, an hour is sufficient for it to kind of set up. Okay. Now, if you don't have room in your fridge for a pie plate, which like I know for sure I don't, you could just make an easy graham cracker crust and put it like in a tupperware. Yeah. Or whatever, whatever you have that fits in your fridge. Yes, absolutely. Or you could even make this as a smaller batch, you know, and do it in like a couple little tupwares, or you could do it in a mason jar or, you know, whatever you have. Right. And a graham cracker crust is super easy. You just crunch up your graham crackers, add a little melted butter, add a little bit of sugar, and press it into basically anything. And then it's ready to go. Yes. And then the filling you just, you know, put in whatever the container is. Yes. So after it's chilled for a while, I like to pull it out, and I don't like to make whipped cream while camping because it's too much work. So I just get a can of ready whip and sh on top of everyone's piece. Yes. It's perfect. And oh my gosh, this stuff is amazing. Yeah, we did it with raspberry preserves that we homemade. My mom and I homemade the raspberry preserves for it. Yep. Oh my gosh. We did have freshly whipped cream as well. Yes. Because we ate this at home, not while camping. So good. Yes. Oh my gosh. I'm gonna be making on an in-laws trip I'm doing this summer. So fun. They're gonna love it. I hope so.

unknown 29:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

We hope you love it too. We would love to get your feedback on the campground, any of the stops we've mentioned, the food, the dessert. Yes. And we hope you make it out to Lazy D in the near future. And if you do, please post it on social media and take us. Yes. We'd love to see where you guys are going. All right, that is our show for this week. Thanks for listening to the Camp Mindowinia podcast. If you want to connect with us, head over to our Facebook group, Camp Mindewinia, or follow us on Instagram at Camp Mindowinia. Take us on Instagram in your camping posts for the chance to be featured on our page. And if you're enjoying the show, please follow us on your favorite podcasting platform, and we'd love it if you leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify. Join us next Monday for another episode. Bye, guys!