Wilderness (?) Lakes (?)

One of the cool things about the Thousand Trails campsites is that they pull us off the interstates a few miles and give us a small feel for the surrounding countryside. Sometimes we get to see little rural neighborhoods, and sometimes, like last night, we get to sleep next to mile after mile of tract housing, among other things. Now, we were warned by some folks at another TT about the smell at the Wilderness Lakes Preserve, but we didn’t really believe them and passed it off, foolish as we are. As we drove through the dark, past the miles of house piled upon house, the smell seeped through the vents of the car. We were hoping for wilderness, and lakes... These were no where to be found. The smell was distinctly manure, and I suggested there must be farms in the area—wrong-o, moose-breath! The smell, we soon discovered, was coming from thousands of cattle, piled almost on top of each other in feed lots directly next door to the campsite. Yes, directly. In fact, there were cattle not more than 100 feet from the doors of our tents. I think this may be enough to push me to give up the one last vestige of my beef consumption—beef jerky. I guess not all is lost, since I now have Smofu in my life.