#197 STONY POINT, Walker MN

Stony Point was in Walker Minnesota and you never heard of a place until you get there. We put the rig and an ideal spot and it had a gorgeous backyard. Keep in mind we are in Minnesota and it's a big lake and a small town. All I can think of is Lake Woebegone. It may not be but it would be a good candidate.

Especially since Lake Woebegone is an imaginary place that represents every small town in Minnesota that has a lake.

If for no other reason it qualifies for that reason.

This was a pretty little place and we went out and about to find the headwaters of the Mississippi which we found online from a list of things to do in Walker Minnesota.

Sure enough, if you drive half an hour you get to something that's kind of like a state park. It is the headwaters to the Mississippi. I took some video. The greatest river has a beginning. If you look over by a bunch of woods it's kind of a swampy-looking area. It's just kind of a farmer's pond with cattails. Leaving out of one corner it's just relieving itself with a trickle of a little babbling brook. I'm standing right there where the Mississippi begins.

If you go on down not very far at all it becomes a little stream that couldn't be more than 6 in deep about 20 feet across. I just can't tell you how cool it is to just walk across the Mississippi in ankle-deep water.

It should be noted that this thang gets so big it's like the whole drainage ditch for the entire US into the Gulf of Mexico. To start as such a tiny beginning is amazing.

This is just one of the cooler things we've done on the trip because I didn't plan to go here and we just ended up here.

I'll take a picture of a sculpture and I'll have to read up on it. I believe it was the kind of the queen of the water, the maiden of the Mississippi or something. A really beautiful sculpture.

I've been getting ready for the bathtub that I didn't own yet. I just knew that I had to get ready for it first by doing some demo then you try to find one then you’re good to go.

I had been looking on Craigslist looking for a whirly tub /soaking tub. I saw something in Duluth Minnesota and I also saw something here nearby. It was at the Habitat for Humanity store. It was a brand-new tub that had a perfectly wonderful motor on it and a jacuzzi these things over $1,000. They wanted $125 for it so I took it with bells on.

Of course, I've got some pictures of it tied to the back of my truck. I got her to put in and I was getting very close to a hot bath.

Not everybody would understand this but I am addicted to taking hot baths. I had a really big bathtub in Wilmington at our home and I liked it so much. I had two solar panels on my roof that would heat my hot water during the day so I would heat 90 gallons of 150-degree water because I had two storage tanks.

The sun's radiant he entered the water and made it hot. I would lay in the water so I'm lying in the sunshine. It just felt so good to be like this.

The problem is when you decide to go on a one-year RV trip and escape there will be no more hot baths.

I even imagined getting an inflatable one. It looked like they would puncture if you weren't careful. Also, some of the ones that I found online were so goofy they were exactly the size of a person standing up. Now that my daughter has moved on and I've gutted her bedroom and installed a soaking tub and it is getting closer and closer to when Dad's going to take a hot bath.

GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude): 47.13583, -94.45667 47°8'9"N, 94°27'24" W

From Walker, Minn., take Highway 200 east 6 miles to County Road 13. Go north 3 miles on County Road 13 to Forest Road 3793, then east 2.5 miles on FR 3793 to the campground.

Chippewa National Forest, Walker Ranger District 201 Minnesota Ave. E Walker MN 56484

Phone Number:

Project Office: (218)547-1044