A city-run park whose attraction is the sand dunes which people come to ride in ATV’s and dirt bikes. Not our scene. We are at a secondary campground on a (very) small lake. We quickly discover there is nothing to do here except explore the adjoining tent campground and compare notes on the dilapidated restrooms (his had no hot water in the showers; mine had no working toilets). We perk up a bit when we are told there is a restaurant in town that has just reopened (after having its roof repaired). They are reported to have excellent steaks and ‘truffle fries’. Intrigued, we head there about 4:30, thinking we will beat the dinner rush.

We do, but to no avail. The waitress (there appeared to be only one for the six or so tables) took our order and brought generous margaritas. And then we waited. Occasionally she would reappear to reassure us that it would be ‘just a minute’. An hour passed. Other tables, arriving after us, received their food. We inquired about our orders. She looked confused and asked if we’d already placed our orders. At that point we got terse. After some confusion it transpired that they’d given our order to a takeout customer by mistake (why? We hadn’t placed a to-go order.) More reassurances of a prompt arrival by the waitress. I stared at Russ in astonishment as he informed the waitress we expected a discount on our meal (I’d never heard him demand anything before, except from me). Finally our order arrived, packed to go (we’d told them our dog would be going ballistic by now) accompanied by the owner, who apologized profusely and gave us everything gratis.

Back at camp, I discovered my ‘Goucho’, basically a cheesesteak, was so salty it was inedible, and the ‘truffle’ fries were barely cooked. Guess you get what you pay for. In any case, we won’t be recommending the BS Bar and Grill anytime soon (BS indeed!).

Fortunately, the town of Beaver had other amusements. I’m just gonna leave these here as examples:

And our campsite, by the lake and the stream that feeds it, had abundant birds: red-winged blackbirds, grackles, northern flickers, red-headed and red-bellied woodpeckers, swallows, Mississippi kites, mourning and Eurasian collared doves, blue jays, and brown thrashers. I’m sure I missed others in the dense foliage.

However, we are done with Beaver Dunes. We’re leaving early to go to Meade State Park in Kansas before heading to John Martin Reservoir in Colorado.