CATCHING UP - REVIEW OF SUNRISE CAMPGROUND IN STORM LAKE IOWA

Currently in Houghton MI (Low 50 A Thunderstorm in Spots High 75)

With all of the short trips and then the mishaps with the door ding and other service we are way, way behind on blogging. So far in Houghton we haven't done much sightseeing as we have been enjoying sitting outside reading. This allows us to catch up on the big backlog of blogging. We will go with the oldest first and if we have any topics from our stay in Houghton they will be published forthwith.  Today's topic is Sunrise Campground in Storm Lake Iowa.

We had quite the adventure getting to Sunrise Campground which is the Storm Lake Iowa city campground. First there was some road construction on our route which added a few minutes but since we were only going 134 miles we weren't too worried. The big adventure was when we got closer to the campground. The GPS wanted us to turn into what we thought was a parking lot for a huge waterpark next to the lake. We were leery of that so we went past what was ultimately the right place to turn.

Then our GPS devices went haywire. We went on a whirlwind tour of Storm Lake. We called the campground and no one was there so we left a message. If two GPS devices are not working, maybe add a few more. So we added Jo's laptop and phone to the Garmin and Rand McNally. Luckily the Garmin was muted because now Bob had the voices of four women (3 GPS and Jo) trying to tell him where to go. Bob always knows where to go because he has at least one woman telling him. It was a little hectic because they all didn't start talking at the same time so it was tough to make out who was who.

But women sometime can't agree so we come to a turn and 2 GPS voices say left and 1 GPS voice says right. Jo kinda thought right too since there was a park we could see with some cars so we thought that was better than a waterpark. Turns out left was where we should have turned.

By now the park calls back and gives us some markers to look for, we came back around and turned left this time and eventually we saw the campground sign. Actually it was a huge waterpark sign

with the campground third down the list in smaller letters. Don't know how we missed that :-)

When we checked in the camp hosts said they did the exact same thing the first time they came to the park. Don't know if they said that just to make us feel better but it worked. We get checked in and Bob's sister KB is there already so we chat for awhile and then head out to supper at the Pizza Ranch.

The next day we had a great meal at bozwellz in Storm Lake. Their homemade pasta and swedish meatball soup is on the Des Moines Register "100 things to eat in Iowa before you die" list. The soup wasn't available as that is a daily special but we can attest to the fact that the homemade pasta is real good.

We then went on a whirlwind tour of Fonda Iowa where Bob grew up until the middle of first grade. He has lots of family in the area. We drove by the Catholic school which has been torn down, the public school which has been torn down, Grandma Baskerville's place which has been torn down, the place we used to live in which was burned down a few years after we left. Are you getting the picture of what once was a nice small town that has hit upon hard times. We did drive out to the Kelly Farm which has been in the family for over a hundred years and then we drove through the Catholic cemetery.

Then it was time to visit relatives. Bob's Uncle Mark is still doing great at 93. Here is a photo we took

Left to right is KB (Bob's sister), Bob, Uncle Mark, Deb (Mark's daughter), Rose Davis (Bob's 2nd cousin). We later met another 1st cousin John Kelly but did not get a picture of him. We sat around and chatted about the old times and times to come. Deb served us a great meal of burgers, beans, pasta salad, chips, etc. A great time had by all.

Anyway, on to the park review. With all that was going on we forgot to take our usual campground photos. The park roads and sites are gravel but they are spaced nicely. Verizon 4g/cellular signal is pretty good. The free park Wifi was kind of weak although could have been the location we were in. We are in a pullthru that would be great for lake views for a motorhome. We still get a good view of the lake from our windows. You can get some idea of the gravel roads and sites from this picture.

Here is a sunset over the lake the first night we were here.

Bob got an earlier start the next day so here is a sunset the second night. Notice the fountain to the right of the sun setting.

A nice park that we would stay in again.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo