Contained in the following posts is the telling of a trip we have talked about for many years – a trip we took with our new teardrop camper – an extended trip of three+ weeks – a trip in which we expect to bear witness to a stunning diversity of amazing landscapes – a trip to the majesty of the Southwestern National Parks.
I’m a Minnesota boy. The landscapes I grew up with were in northern Minnesota with its lakes, rivers, and forests – and home to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is that landscape that continues to stir my soul down to the depth of my being. In my travels, I have encountered other landscapes both majestic and stirring including Alaska’s inside passage, California’s redwood forest, Norway’s fjords, and Korea’s Mt. Sorak. There are others I have yet to witness. It is to that point we have been planning for the last nine months a trip to the Southwest National Parks with a focus on Utah’s Mighty Five. From all I have been told this is a sight that will hold me in deep awe.
And so today we left the landscapes of Falcon Heights: the University of Minnesota’s agricultural research fields and the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, and drove the first 220 of our planned 2000+ miles to our first stop in southwestern Minnesota’s Blue Mounds State Park. We have a goal of visiting all the state parks and completing their Hiking Club trails. It was too opportune not to stop and catch this park we would drive so close by.
We were still in Minnesota, but the landscape of this area of the state was markedly different from the northern MN of my youth. This area was once home to a vast tallgrass prairie that once covered much of North America. We were captivated by the remaining prairie fragment contained within the park’s borders. Abundantly strewn across this landscape are outcrops of Sioux Quartzite rock made of compressed quartz sand deposited by ancient rivers. The presence of iron oxide provides a pink to purplish color. Surprising to me was the presence of prickly pear cactus found only in a few locations in the state. We found them growing in shallow soil found on the rock outcrops many graced with a purplish fruit.
This landscape tour has begun with a quality start and yet, I have to believe we are in for many other stirring sights to behold on this three-week trip. To be continued…
Teardrop note: This is a true test of Andestuga 2.0.
Several thoughts:
- I had hoped for a reduction in weight only to find a slight increase. I believe we should be fine with our RAV4 Hybrid, but have committed to a program of gentle driving.
- I’m continuing to get to know solar-powered systems. With the freezer section of our 12v cooler engaged, the additional draw dropped our battery to 82% charge. By morning it was down to 73% (should be noted it was still operating at 100% capacity).
- Day One was cloudy, not providing a significant recharge en route.
- Turns out October camping finds a shorter chunk of time when the sun is in the sky (duh) and when it is, it is no longer directly overhead.
- Seems finding the sun in the sky is critical with solar power.
Post Two – the Nebraska Sandhills (in which we travel west through Nebraska and stay on a rancher’s land arranged through Hipcamp)
The Purple Crayon 
Thank you for the update! You’ll want to charge your batteries before you hit the eclipse, I suppose…