For the weekend of August 22 - 24 2003, we decided to stay somewhat close to home because we had a birthday party to attend Sunday afternoon. We traveled to the Cokato Lake Campground and RV resort on the shores of Cokato Lake, about an hour west of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We arrived Friday evening and checked in, parked our Scamp. and went to sleep. This campground was busy with many families and some seasonal residents, but it was not obnoxiously noisy. We went to bed, and woke up Saturday to the sound of goats bleating. This campground has a petting zoo! The campground was very nice, and it is on the shores of Lake Cokato.

Saturday we ran all over the area, looking for photogenic spots to photograph the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Willmar subdivision, and we found a nice spot for a photograph (36k) near Smith Lake, between Cokato and Howard Lake.

We then made our way west and stumbled upon "The Biggest Ball (84k) Of  Twine in Minnesota (55k)" in Darwin, Minnesota. ( there are three twine balls that claim to be the worlds largest! ). After a few minutes, we heard a westbound train headed toward town, so we headed for the crossing and got this picture. (29k)

Later in the afternoon, we headed back to camp and cooked a wonderful meal on our charcoal grill (43k). Steak and salad cooked and eaten outside with Dawn. Nothing could be better!

After dinner, we walked down to the lake and sat on the campground dock, and took a nice sunset picture. (9k)

We left the campground early on Sunday morning, and headed back to the big city and had a grand time at the birthday party.