Galena, Illinois

[jbeletti]

Hi all,

We just got back from our Memorial weekend outing to historic Galena, IL.

Here's a link to my trip report: http://www.beletti.com/travel/052804/052804.shtml

The report includes a review of the campground (Palace Camground), pictures and more.

We're off to Fort Dodge, Iowa this weekend for their Frontier Day's festival. Fort Dodge is my hometown and my mother still lives there.

Jim

We have stayed at the Palace Campground too. It is a nice place. If you don't need full hookups, they have wonderful electric-only sites that look over a little pond. We've never been there when it was that busy though; makes me kind of glad we stayed home for the holidays (I don't take crowds well; guess that's why we do a lot of dry camping :-*) Galena is a great weekend spot with lots of fun touristy things to do.

We're heading out this weekend for our second trip of the year. We've got a canoe trip planned on the Upper Iowa River, staying at Randy's Campground in Bluffton, Iowa. The TM works great just sitting by the river. They have water and electric sites too, but they're much farther back away from the water so we'll just be dry-camping this time. We'll meet some friends, cook a lot, and have a great time! The TM is the back-up for all the tenters in case it decides to rain too much.

Pam

[jbeletti]

Hi Pam,

Thanks for your reply. What town in Iowa do you live in? I grew up in Fort Dodge but know the eastern half of the state very well - having built dozens of cable tv systems there in the 80s.

I see Bluffton up there in the NE corner of the state. When I come down from the Minneapolis area from visiting my kids and head to my Mom's home in Fort Dodge, I cross into Iowa just west of there.

This August, we'll be camping at Lost Island Resort (http://www.lostislandresort.com/) near Ruthven, IA for a family reunion - straight west of Bluffton. We have most of the cabins rented out, so we'll have the place to ourselves. The new owner is putting in a few camp sites, so we'll be one of the first to use them with our TM.

Nancy's not much into dry camping, but I'd like to try it. Thanks and take care Pam.

Jim

We live in Marion, IA right next to Cedar Rapids.

If you want another activity to add to your family reunion, you might think about a canoe trip down the Upper Iowa River. It is spring fed, generally clear, and absolutely gorgeous sitting in a deep valley with large bluffs. Good fishing too (smallmouth bass, trout) when there aren't too many people!

Pam