A few thoughts...
1. If you don't like being kept awake literally all night, either sleep in an RV, use earplugs, or go to a hotel, rather than availing the use of Camp Shipman.
2. It will be cold in the morning. About 60 degrees. The cold comes on overnight.
3. There are mosquitos. Lots and lots of them. They are looking for you...
4. The camp talk and such is great, if you are into that.
5. There is not a lot of space for camping. About 10 tents, but the ground is not flat. Vehicles are interspersed with the tents.
6. Camp Shipman is about .75 miles down a dirt road. This is Amish country, so road apples are evident and plentiful. The dirt road and morning dew are not a good combination for your show car...
7. The area for miles around is farming country. Lots of bugs. For some reason, these bugs go kamakazee on your vehicle. Bug guts are apparently bad for the paint on your car.
8. Cellular reception is iffy at best. This could be an issue for your GPS, unless you download the maps beforehand and leave your GPS on. Also be aware that poor cellular coverage causes your cellular phone's battery to drain very rapidly, likely in 2 hours.
9. I saw no pigs, but the honey wagon had clearly been by, recently. For those who don't know, the honey wagon has a penchant for leaking, and the leaked...substance ends up on your vehicle.
10. Most of the roads are in terrible condition. There are ruts, huge potholes, etc. Even trying different lines in the lane does not work. The ride is jarring. Basically, the entire drive in Minnesota is like that.
11. Do not expect the web site to be helpful. No judgment, as the kids probably built the site. The site appears to have been hastily thrown together, and information that would be helpful to first-timers is missing. To make matters worse, the contact info provided does not really work.
12. To get to Frazee, you must traverse many state roads. These state roads have many small towns, each of which has several tiered speed limits. These towns generate a lot of revenue from speeding tickets. It would not seem that these revenues are used for street maintenance.
13. With so many corn fields, it's good to know that they'll never lack for a source for ethanol, no matter how many people are starving in Africa.
14. There is a pressure washer at Camp Shipman. This washer does aid in removing some of the bugs, but you have to wait your turn in line.
15. Once you arrive, people are helpful and cooperative--but you do have to get there, first.
16. For anyone who plans to enter their Fiero, I strongly recommend both pre-registering and getting your Fiero in just as the cars are being arranged.
17. If you plan to have your car compete in the show, you should have your car cleaned, registered, and the placard in the window at the start time. Some cars did not show up until about 30 minutes late, and most of the voting ballots were already turned in.
18. The layout of the roads in Minnesota is poor. Entrance ramps unceremoniously dump you into traffic. Maybe merge lanes are a newfangled idea.
