You might be the type of camper who says, “I’m not letting expensive fuel ruin my vacation plans. By-gosh, kids, we might have to sell your brother, but we’re going camping this summer!”
Or you could be the type of RVer who has done the math and after wiping your tears from the calculator are thinking, “We can’t afford to go anywhere. We’re just going to keep the motorhome parked in the driveway this camping season.”
Following the last year or two of COVID restrictions and staying close to home, we are ready to go somewhere this year. As we have said before in our blog posts, rather than give up on the idea of getting away, and just sitting in your camping chair all summer watching your lawn grow, us campers need to think outside the typical camping vacation box and think small and think close to home.
As we have happily discovered, sometimes the best places to camp are right in our home region.
Such is the case with a local Southern Minnesota campground we have camped at off and on since the early days of our RVing adventure.
Flying Goose Campgrounds and Resort in Fairmont, MN is only a 10- or 15-minute drive from home. It might sound crazy to pack-up the camper and drive just a few miles to go camping but once there, we have always felt a hundred miles away from home.
More about the Flying Goose in a moment.
The key here is the “feeling” of getting away. That’s what we all crave. That’s why we go camping. It’s to get away. It’s to be separated from the day-to-day routine and pressures. RVing allows us to escape into our tiny home on wheels to escape the realities of daily living.
Unless you can see your house from the campground, you are going to stop thinking about your routine and focus on something new and enjoyable which is called camping. Sure, there are headaches that can come from trouble with the camper, trouble with the camp spot, trouble with yelling while backing the camper into the spot.
But those are different troubles. If you don’t let the small stuff get you down and approach those problems with an open mind and a fun, playful spirit, you can soon be a million miles away from the day-to-day routine.
Being outdoors, away from work and computers and chores allows you to breathe. All those framed sappy sayings on living room walls and in your social media feeds are true, such as: “Live your life by a compass not a clock,” “When life gives you mountains, put on your hiking boots,” “Camp more, worry less.”
After (not so) exhaustive research, we didn’t find any motivation sayings like these: “Take a road trip, your troubles will follow you,” or “I’m living the #vanlife, or I plan to, right after I mow the lawn,” or “Go camping and get away from everything, except high gasoline prices.”
We’re not saying you should abandon all responsibility and let your life spiral out of control just to go camping. But you should keep a good balance and not let the work/adulting/responsibility side of life take over completely.
Which brings us back to this week’s topic of being resourceful and planning our getaways closer to home.
For us, the Flying Goose Campground and Resort has been the first place we camped each year and the last place we camped before putting the motorhome into winter storage.
With a great campground so close to home, we used it to do our camping shakedown at the beginning of the season. It’s always better to be close to home so if something in the camper is broken, doesn’t work, or if you forgot underwear, you’re close to home to fix those issues.
We also stayed in fall at the end of the season as one last camping trip to use up supplies, and get things paired down before packing it all away.
We didn’t limit ourselves to just twice a year at Flying Goose, especially if one of our work schedules caused a blip in an uninterrupted camping weekend. We could still go and set up camp on Friday afternoon, then use it as home base to do our work obligations before resuming the camping getaway.
Being a hometown regular has it’s benefits as well. Owner Gary Hanson and staff always were able to squeeze us in at the last minute if we suddenly had a free weekend. One time we were tucked away in a small grassy corner of the grounds and Gary drove up in a golf cart and said it was ours to use during our stay!
And what a great place to have so close to home. Flying Goose hosts a good percentage of seasonal campers but maintains a number of full hook-up sites for the traveling RVers, including 100-foot-long pull through sites for larger motorhomes or towable trailers and fifth wheels.
The campground is located about four miles east of Fairmont, MN on beautiful 184-acre Lake Imogene and has been offering campers a scenic place to stay for more than 50 years. Hanson and his family are Flying Goose Campground’s third owners since its inception. Hanson’s son Greg now helps manage the campgrounds. The two families live on site.
Like the original owner of the campground, the Hanson’s also share a similar background in farming. Over the years, their family has continued to enrich the campground’s legacy as a family fun destination.
Besides the normal camping resort activities, our favorite pastime when camping at Flying Goose is people watching. With a large community of seasonal campers, weekends can be quite the campground-wide party zone.
Flying Goose offers free Saturday night hayrides to tour the grounds and checkout everyone’s rigs and campsite decor. On holiday weekends, such as the Fourth of July, seasonal campers decorate their golf carts and have impromptu parades along the paved roads that wind through the campground.
Other activities include an 18-hole putt-putt miniature golf course, playground, sand volleyball, and a basketball court. Campers can also use the sand beach, boat ramp, two fishing docks, swim dock and floating rafts for swimming. Be sure to take advantage of canoe, kayak, and pontoon rentals as well.
The office offers an outdoor patio with picnic tables and chairs for lounging after your road trip. Inside they have ice, a small selection of groceries, ice cream novelties, RV supplies and Flying Goose merchandise. That’s where you can check out miniature golf clubs and balls and sign-up for campground activities or watercraft rentals.
Other RV-related services include a LP gas refueling station, two sanitary dump stations and “honey wagon” services to your campsite. Flying Goose has a several restroom and hot shower locations throughout the grounds and a laundromat for campers. Off season enclosed storage is also available by reservation. Contact the campgrounds for more information.
Flying Goose Campgrounds and Resort is located just a few minutes south of I-90 and can be accessed from either the Highway 15 exit in Fairmont to the west or the Granada/Imogene exit at 260th Avenue from the east.
Flying Goose Campgrounds and Resort
2521 115th Street in Fairmont
Phone: 507-235-3458
Email: info@flyinggoosecampground.com
Website: https://www.flyinggoosecampground.com/
The city of Fairmont, MN also offers a wide range of amenities and attractions. Fairmont, MN is Kim’s hometown and she’s always enthusiastic about spreading the good news of all Fairmont and the surround region has to offer.
Two golf courses are located nearby, as well as shopping, a city operated waterpark, miniature golf course and dog park. Many restaurants offer a variety of food choices, plus gas stations, groceries stores, The Fairmont Opera House entertainment venue, numerous city parks and access to five lakes within the city limits. Remember to bring your fishing gear!
Because of the campground’s close proximity to downtown Fairmont, you can do what many of the regular campers do at Flying Goose and take advantage of pizza delivery service right to your campsite from several local pizza joints, including Kim’s hometown favorite Jake’s Pizza located in downtown!