It seems that for the past ten months or so, our camping trips have either been a result of a family event--weddings, 90th birthdays, and last week a granddaughter's graduation--or part of a longer expedition where we needed to stay on schedule to keep reservations or get mechanical issue taken care of. Not to belittle any of those trips; the reasons were exciting and the results fun.
But it's been nice the last couple of days to just camp for the sake of camping. We decided last week to take off Sunday and try to get spots at Morgan Creek, a lovely little park near Cedar Rapids, Iowa that features the county arboretum. But it's first-come, first served and all 36 sites were taken. So we returned to an old favorite, Tailwater West on the Coralville Reservoir.
But it's been nice the last couple of days to just camp for the sake of camping. We decided last week to take off Sunday and try to get spots at Morgan Creek, a lovely little park near Cedar Rapids, Iowa that features the county arboretum. But it's first-come, first served and all 36 sites were taken. So we returned to an old favorite, Tailwater West on the Coralville Reservoir.
This campground has several things going for it, by our criteria. The sites are spacious and the cement pads are level. There are water hookups and the shower house is nice. There's a good walking path and wildlife to watch. All this is available to us for half-price with our senior passes.
The campground is below the dam and it's always fascinating to watch the water rushing through the overflow tube. Some sunny mornings, the neighborhood turkey vultures spread their huge wings out on the rocky side of the dam to dry them out. Yesterday was rather gloomy, with rain off and on but it cleared enough to cook salmon and asparagus in foil packets on the fire. Today Ken has plans to smoke a beef roast. This is real camping. Well, by our definition.
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