To Keegan's great delight on the ride out there we saw many cows and many barns and many pieces of large farm equipment. Never mind that there were a billion of said items that we passed, Keegan's excitement at seeing cows, horses, barns, trains, and tractors never dimmed. Each viewing was, to him, as breathtaking as the if it was the first one he had ever seen.
Lac Qui Parle is on Lac Qui Parle Lake (surprisingly). When we got there we found out that the check-in building is up by the Upper Campgrounds (where we were camping) and the hiking is down by the Lower Campgrounds (many miles to our south). The check-inn building was also their interpretation center and has a very interesting display of stuffed birds (not the cuddly kind). A Bald eagle and some loons were among the highlights; along with some bear and fox pelts. Also there was a little store in there; which to Keegan's delight sold rock candy on a stick.
After checking in we went to the Upper Campgrounds to set up the camper. Keegan loved his new shades and was determined to get a fire started. As you can see below.
We made a small fire and set up the camper. The campgrounds are completely in prairie and have no shade so to speak. They are very nice large pads that are placed a good distance apart from each other; with ample space to kick balls, play bean bag games, etc...of course we partook in all of these activities and more. The other nice aspect of the camping spaces is that the whole Upper Campground overlooked Lac Qui Parle Lake and it was a beautiful view (see below). The bad part was that my grass allergies got progressively worse as the trip went on. On Sunday I was a quivering mass of watering eyes and snotty nose.
After the fire burned down we decided to take the only hiking trail near the Upper Campgrounds. This trail goes to the largest Cottonwood tree in MN. Okay, maybe not something on the top of my "things I want to see in my life" list but kind of cool considering we were in the middle of exactly nowhere. So we took the hike (mostly through prairie).
Some of it did go through a forest with plants that had leaves almost as big as Keegan.
Finally after 2 miles we got to the Cottonwood tree. It was huge and there was almost an inch of fluff all over the ground.
After that we began the difficult walk back. Two miles is a long way with a toddler who thinks he can walk it all. Keegan ended up riding on our shoulders almost the whole way back. It got even longer when I found a wood tick on my sleeve and then Lyle found another one on my back and then I found two more on my stomach. All in all I pulled 5 wood ticks off of me. Making me twitch the whole walk back. Although you wouldn't know it from the picture below.
Anyway, after getting back and removing my cloths and finding numerous wood ticks (but no deer ticks). My dad further searched my discarded clothing and found three more crawling in my pants. Such did my weekend of phantom itching and heavily applied bug spray begin. I think everyone found a tick on themselves but I was the one with the mother load.
The next day (no ticks for me!) we drove down to the Lower Campgrounds (yes you had to drive down there it was so far away). The Lower Campgounds are where the rest of the hiking trails are and the swimming beach. So we spent the morning at the beach. It was a good time had by all.
After that we drove into the town of Montevideo to visit a huge children's playground they had there. Very cool and artistic play structure. As well as a neat little town for the toddlers. See picture below. We didn't play that long because it was in the nineties and Keegan actually came up to me and said "Mama it's too hot to play anymore." So as you can imagine it was hot. We went and got some ice cream, stopped by Walmart, then went back for naptime. Then finished up the trip by making dinner over a fire and doing other camping things.
The next day we did the 4 hour drive back. Which Keegan was remarkably good for. He didn't sleep but instead read his books, sang along to songs, and tried to spot...you guessed it...cows, barns, trains, and trucks.
All in all it was a nice camping trip. No rain, nice park. I wasn't too impressed with the hiking (probably because of my more than close encounters with the tick-kind); but the Cottonwood tree was cool and the swimming beach very nice. It would be a great place to go canoeing and it was really quiet. Overall a success!
No comments:
Post a Comment