August 1, 2012

Rice Lake is another pretty park but we just barely got a glimpse of the lake.  It is a shallow lake surrounded by trees and marsh.  The “boat ramp” leads to a path through the cattails but I didn’t see any open water.  The park is pretty large but not a lot is developed.  There are several campsites that are canoe in sites.  There are two loops in the campground one without electricity and one with electricity at most sites.  The electric installation is new, you can still see the trenches. The shower house is in the loop w/o electricity.  From a design / cost perspective this does not make sense unless future plans call for adding electricity over there.

Rice Lake was popular with the Indians and white settlers because of the wild rice.  It provided a plentiful food source.  The town of Rice Lake failed like many small communities when the railroad went around the town.   The only thing that remains is an old church that they are trying to preserve.

Owatonna is the closest town of any size.  I’m sure it is a nice community but I saw nothing outstanding when we visited.  The surrounding area is very pretty, I see why folks settled here.  The land is gently rolling with rich soil and plenty of water.  You rarely see any irrigation.  Although we keep hearing about drought conditions this area appears to be doing better than farther south.

On Monday we moved to Flandrau SP at New Ulm.  The park is located on the south edge of town.  It has a more open layout than the last several parks we’ve visited.  The sites are large and well spaced but trees can make it a challenge for larger rigs in some sites.  The guy across the road asked us to move our Jeep Monday night as he was leaving early Tuesday morning had to swing his 5^th wheel around a tree.

New Ulm is an impressive town.  It is very well laid out and was settled by German and Bohemian immigrants so you can see the German influence in the old parts of town.  At 5:00 PM Monday we visited the Glockensphiel. It’s an animated German clock tower with 37 bells.  I think we’ll visit it again with a video camera.  The animation lasted 10 minutes and occurs 3 times each day.

Yesterday we toured the Schell Brewery.  It was a fun tour and of course ended with sampling their beers.  Following the tour you are invited to walk around the grounds which are beautiful.

Well tomorrow we move to Camden SP where we meet the SHOWeR group for a long weekend of family fun.