On May 18th, 2022 we reached Moose Lake, Minnesota. We spent the next month exploring Minnesota including Moose Lake State Park, Interstate State Park, E2's Emu Ranch, Minneapolis, Skaalvenn Distillery, and Prior Lake. We stayed at a variety of places including state campgrounds, KOA, Harvest Hosts, Boondockers Welcome, and a casino RV park.

Our first stop was Moose Lake State Park. I liked this campground because it was carved out inside a forest. We camped in site #31E which was nestled in the trees as you can see from the picture below, and I love being surrounded by trees. Each site was well secluded, making it a nice change to look out your window and not see another RV right next to you. We hiked the Echo Lake Trail which took us through the campground and around Echo Lake. The recent rains had caused some flooding of Echo Lake Beach so some of the trails were washed out and other parts were very squishy but that didn’t stop us from enjoying ourselves.

Our next stop was Interstate State Park on the Taylor Falls, MN side. As the name implies, this state park extends from Taylor Falls in Minnesota to St Croix Falls in Wisconsin. We camped in site #2E. This campground didn’t have the privacy like the last state park but it was still a large site in a beautiful campground. The weather was chilly but perfect for a campfire and hanging out in your hammock in your sleeping bag. Another fun thing about this park was you could hike up to the top and see the St Croix River and walk to the small town of Taylor Falls.

Next up was E2’s Emu Ranch which was a fun Harvest Host. They had lots of animals including emus, sheep, chickens, alpacas, ducks, and baby ducks. It had just rained and the emus loved sitting in the mud and getting pets from their owner. The ranch sells a variety of items and we purchased fresh eggs, wool dryer balls, ramps (which neither of us had ever eaten, it is a type of wild onion), and some emu products made from emu oil.

After the Emu Ranch, we headed on to Minneapolis. We stayed at the Minneapolis Northwest KOA and celebrated Memorial Day weekend by hanging outside, smoking some amazing beef ribs, and building the cats a box house out of all the cardboard we had from a bunch of Amazon shipments. We also visited the Mall of America which was pretty impressive with every store imaginable, all the food selections, and carnival rides inside the mall. We also walked along the Minneapolis Riverwalk which provided us with a great view of downtown. After leaving the KOA we headed to a really fun Harvest Host, Skaalvenn Distillery. This distillery is located in a business park in Minneapolis. It feels like you are going to a business meeting as you walk through the office building but once you open the door the distillery with a Japanese-inspired cocktail bar hidden inside amazed us. The craft cocktails with flavored ice cubes and unique bar snacks like tom yum green olives were delicious. We loved them so much, we took a second to-go order, and then we figured out how to make those olives at home!

Our last stop in Minnesota was Prior Lake. First, we stayed at a Boondockers Welcome host near Cleary Lake Regional Park. This was a great location as we were able to ride our bikes down to the park and then ride them on the paved path around Cleary Lake. This was one of the nicest bike paths we’ve been on so we did quite a few laps and enjoyed the great sunny and warm weather. Our last stop in Minnesota was Dakotah Meadows Campground at the Mystic Lake Casino. We gambled a little bit and Penguin even won a little money!