About 30 years ago Brick, Craig, Harold, Jeff and my husband Denny thought that camping sounded like fun. Around that time most if not all of them worked for Motorola out of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Iowa is a great place to meet really fantastic people. In those early days one or two of them owned canoes and tents and others became interested and began to acquire what they needed to make these camping and canoeing trips more enjoyable. The guys got married and others joined the fun, families were started and then there was a splinter group that formed. The original group called themselves “The Delirious Drifters” and the splinter group “The Dubuque Sipping Society”. The Drifter paddled and the Sippers peddled (bicycles). Denny married me in 1990 and while Den peddled some I get no joy out of hours of peddling. About five or ten minutes in my bum goes numb and then it becomes and endurance thing. But, hey, we can’t be great at everything, can we?
Over the years we have camped and canoed in south east Minnesota, south west Wisconsin and lots of north east Iowa. Somehow Illinois was a place we went through. Before Denny and I were transferred to Phoenix back in 1995 when the Drifters got together you could count 20 craft in the water. Some of them were rented aluminum canoes, some were homemade cedar strip canoes (as beautiful as any fine made furniture), some were sea kayaks, but the majority was Royalex canoes (either Mad River or Old Town). The off spring of this group learned very young about paddling techniques and strokes, how to pitch a tent so it didn’t swamp and how lemonade when Mother Nature gave you lemons for weather.
Folks have moved on or out of the area but the basic group is still there and this Memorial Day is bringing some of both the Drifters and the Sippers together at Nelson Dewey State Park in south west Wisconsin. Some of us have aged a bit and have traded the tents for pop-ups, fifth wheels and van campers, while others have remained the purist that they are. This year three of the kids that we watched grow into wonderful responsible adults have back to join the group for Memorial Day. We have families coming from north east Wisconsin, north central Illinois and north east Iowa.
Nelson Dewey State Park offers electric hookups for some of their group sites. There will be 20 of us, so I think we are a group. Nelson Dewey was the first governor of Wisconsin and the 756 acre park used to be a part of Stonefield Estate, his home. It is right on the Mississippi Rivers and not far south of its big sister, Wyalusing State Park, at 2,628 acres. You will find lots of hiking trails as well as access to the Grant River or further north the lower portion of the Wisconsin River. The Wisconsin River at this point is a broad flat river with sand bars for picnicking. A great gentle paddle and the first river I ever paddled.
If you are thinking that you might like to try it, I would plan to get off the river before it empties into the Mississippi as the “Big Muddy” can be a bit intimidating with the other water craft out there that are so much larger than a canoe is. The wake caused by these larger crafts can make handling a canoe tricky. The Grant River is closer to the park and is a bit more technical. Have some seasoned paddlers with you on this river as it has lots of sharp turns in it but the scenery is wonderful. Not as many sand bars for picnicking so when you find one that looks good, go for it.
Nelson Dewey State Park as all state parts in Wisconsin do requires a Wisconsin Admission sticker. For 2009 the price is $35.00 for an annual and $10.00 for a day in addition to the camping fees of the campground or park that you are using. There are shower and restroom facilities available with pit toilets closer to the camping sites themselves. There are scenic vistas of the Mississippi and places to just sit and take in the view. You are close to Beetown that offers some really great cheeses at the cheese house there. Potosi isn’t far and offers a tour of the old brewery and even a good dining spot if you don’t feel like camp grub. There is a car ferry across the Mississippi at Cassville.
As with many camping areas this time of year, take along your insect repellent and foggers. There are fire rings but leave your firewood at home. Due to the invasion of the Emerald Ash Borer in many of the surrounding states, Wisconsin is doing “due diligence” in keeping firewood from outside of Wisconsin out of Wisconsin.
Other favorite camping sites a bit closer to home are Bailey’s Ford,
Pikes Peak State Park, Coffin Grove, Backbone State Park; Decorah has some parks as does Elkader and let’s not forget Monticello with Walnut Acres. We haven’t been to all of them and but will be making a few more this camping season. Last year’s flooding wreaked havoc on many of them and reconstruction efforts have been underway since to bring them back to service. Check out http://www.parksandcampgrounds.com/campgrounds/usa/iowa/northeast.html for phone listing and locations for some close to you.
See you around the corner. Get out and enjoy all that Iowa offers. You are right in the heart of it all.
Linda
Over the years we have camped and canoed in south east Minnesota, south west Wisconsin and lots of north east Iowa. Somehow Illinois was a place we went through. Before Denny and I were transferred to Phoenix back in 1995 when the Drifters got together you could count 20 craft in the water. Some of them were rented aluminum canoes, some were homemade cedar strip canoes (as beautiful as any fine made furniture), some were sea kayaks, but the majority was Royalex canoes (either Mad River or Old Town). The off spring of this group learned very young about paddling techniques and strokes, how to pitch a tent so it didn’t swamp and how lemonade when Mother Nature gave you lemons for weather.
Folks have moved on or out of the area but the basic group is still there and this Memorial Day is bringing some of both the Drifters and the Sippers together at Nelson Dewey State Park in south west Wisconsin. Some of us have aged a bit and have traded the tents for pop-ups, fifth wheels and van campers, while others have remained the purist that they are. This year three of the kids that we watched grow into wonderful responsible adults have back to join the group for Memorial Day. We have families coming from north east Wisconsin, north central Illinois and north east Iowa.
Nelson Dewey State Park offers electric hookups for some of their group sites. There will be 20 of us, so I think we are a group. Nelson Dewey was the first governor of Wisconsin and the 756 acre park used to be a part of Stonefield Estate, his home. It is right on the Mississippi Rivers and not far south of its big sister, Wyalusing State Park, at 2,628 acres. You will find lots of hiking trails as well as access to the Grant River or further north the lower portion of the Wisconsin River. The Wisconsin River at this point is a broad flat river with sand bars for picnicking. A great gentle paddle and the first river I ever paddled.
If you are thinking that you might like to try it, I would plan to get off the river before it empties into the Mississippi as the “Big Muddy” can be a bit intimidating with the other water craft out there that are so much larger than a canoe is. The wake caused by these larger crafts can make handling a canoe tricky. The Grant River is closer to the park and is a bit more technical. Have some seasoned paddlers with you on this river as it has lots of sharp turns in it but the scenery is wonderful. Not as many sand bars for picnicking so when you find one that looks good, go for it.
Nelson Dewey State Park as all state parts in Wisconsin do requires a Wisconsin Admission sticker. For 2009 the price is $35.00 for an annual and $10.00 for a day in addition to the camping fees of the campground or park that you are using. There are shower and restroom facilities available with pit toilets closer to the camping sites themselves. There are scenic vistas of the Mississippi and places to just sit and take in the view. You are close to Beetown that offers some really great cheeses at the cheese house there. Potosi isn’t far and offers a tour of the old brewery and even a good dining spot if you don’t feel like camp grub. There is a car ferry across the Mississippi at Cassville.
As with many camping areas this time of year, take along your insect repellent and foggers. There are fire rings but leave your firewood at home. Due to the invasion of the Emerald Ash Borer in many of the surrounding states, Wisconsin is doing “due diligence” in keeping firewood from outside of Wisconsin out of Wisconsin.
Other favorite camping sites a bit closer to home are Bailey’s Ford,
Pikes Peak State Park, Coffin Grove, Backbone State Park; Decorah has some parks as does Elkader and let’s not forget Monticello with Walnut Acres. We haven’t been to all of them and but will be making a few more this camping season. Last year’s flooding wreaked havoc on many of them and reconstruction efforts have been underway since to bring them back to service. Check out http://www.parksandcampgrounds.com/campgrounds/usa/iowa/northeast.html for phone listing and locations for some close to you.
See you around the corner. Get out and enjoy all that Iowa offers. You are right in the heart of it all.
Linda
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