Crow Wing State Park southwest of Brainerd is about the river.

The Mississippi River.

It flows through the park and is the main feature of this place with plenty to explore. The park is also where the Crow Wing River flows into the Mississippi.

My wife, Lisa, our son, Forrest, and I were headed to Itasca State Park but when making plans for travel we decided to reserve a camp site at Crow Wing State Park so we didn’t need to drive all the way to Itasca — which is north of Park Rapids — all in one day. Minnesota is a big state, after all.

That, and Forrest is a 1-year-old kid. Toddlers don’t like trips that are too long.

We pulled in during the early evening and set up camp. Since it was late July, evenings are long on sunshine. We enjoyed short explorations, and later we enjoyed a fire.

Forrest slept well that night, and so did we. It was the first time for us to try out new self-inflatable campbeds from REI. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a Seattle-based outdoors chain with a store in the south suburbs of the Twin Cities. I would buy the campbeds in Albert Lea, but you can’t find ones of that quality.

The best time at Crow Wing State Park was the morning of July 20. Our Lab-terrier mix Alta and I took a little walk.

We walked down a trail and came upon the Mississippi and it was covered in a blanket of fog. The air felt moist, and it seemed strong and healthy in my lungs. The river was silent as it moved along. The day before the river made a swift, trickling sound, and the surface had visible currents. On this morning, it seemed flat as a table and almost moved as one. Waterbugs moved on the surface.

We walked up Chippewa Lookout, which didn’t look out on much of anything, but we were happy to enjoy part of the trail before Lisa and Forrest woke up for breakfast.

We cooked a light meal on the camp stove and then headed for Itasca State Park.