Over Labor Day Weekend, the kids and I stayed in a camper cabin at Lac qui Parle State Park (to put another pin in my map).
We were just staying one night on our way to my parents' house, so I only packed the essentials. So when a game of catch resulted in Brett's glasses being broken into three pieces, it was a big problem. No spare pair, no glue, no tape. We had to ask around until we found a camper with some duct tape and make do. When the kids were fishing, we came across a baby snapping turtle making it's way to the water. It was so cute - and determined!
My dad likes to have a woodworking project to do with the kids when we visit. The kids always enjoy it!
Lydia got some experience driving on gravel when we went out to see my plot of land (that makes our mileage tax deductible😉). Unfortunately the spring was too wet and our renter was unable to plant it this year.
Why use a ladder when you can use a skid loader to pick apples? That was fun, and the pay was delicious!
Our Packers Training Camp trip has evolved over the years, but it is always a good time. We love going to Titletown-which has a public turf football field to play on, Family Night at Lambeau Field, and hanging out with family. This year we also went to a grill-your-own-steakhouse and go carts. It's convenient to have Bryan's brother's home for us all to gather, even though we stay at a hotel.
Normally when we say "Up North", we mean Northern Minnesota or Northern Wisconsin, but this summer the kids and I went on a roadtrip Up North to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan! Bryan went to college in the UP so it didn't seem like a destination to him, but last winter I stumbled across a travelers' blog that bragged about the extensive options of camper cabins in Michigan State Parks. The availability was pretty limited by the time I was ready to commit to a reservation, but we ended up staying in one of my favorites of all time!
The rustic cabin was off in a secluded area where we had our own vault toilet and parking, and noone passing through our site. It was right on the lake and the cabin had two very tiny "bedrooms" off the main room, which offered a table, futon, and dorm-sized frig/microwave.
We stayed four nights and used it as a home base to take day trip to explore the UP. We enjoyed a day in Marquette and climbed Sugarloaf Mountain for fantastic views of Lake Superior, even in the rain!
We traveled to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The falls were pretty, but the most memorable part was the four of us pretending like we knew how to row a boat. Then we headed south to cross the Mackinac Bridge and dip our toes in both Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
We grabbed some food at Moofinfries - a local gem for burgers, fish, and fries😉 - and enjoyed an impromptu stop on the scenic drive along Lake Michigan's northern shoreline.
We traveled off the beaten path to Palms Book State Park, known for it's large spring "Kitch-iti-Kipi", where visitors can ride an open bottom raft across for a stunning view of the deep spring and it's fish.
We ended our trip at Papa and MeeMaw's where we met up with Bryan. Bryan's dad took us on a tour of the local Pattison State Park and shared some wild stories of back-in-the-day when he was a life guard there!
Over Memorial Day weekend, we knocked out two more state parks and a recreational area: Lake Carlos, Maplewood, and La Salle Lake. We also paid a visit to one of our favorites - Itasca. At Maplewood and Lake Carlos we stayed in camper cabins and at La Salle it was a cabin with a kitchen and bathroom.
We drove up to Lake Carlos after school and traffic was really bad, plus we realized we forgot our camp chairs. So we stopped at a Walmart and purchased food for dinner and a couple of chairs. We didn't get to the park until after dark. We explored a little in the morning, but wanted to get back on the road for our next destination.
La Salle was a little recreational area about twenty minutes from Itasca State Park. Itasca is big and very developed. We had to go there to check in to La Salle, so we did some hiking and had icecream at the gift shop. La Salle was very isolated and undeveloped - we didn't even have phone signal to contact the park office. But it was a nice little cabin. We enjoyed grilling chicken on the gas grill (we usually do our cooking over a fire) and we had bought a cherry pie at a roadside Amish stand. After dark, the sky was beautiful with stars and we enjoyed listening to the loons.
The next day we went to Maplewood State Park. The camper cabin was situated right in the campground and it had really nice bathrooms and a fish cleaning station. The kids caught some pan fish and cleaned and cooked them themselves. This was quite an adventure because I don't know how to clean fish, and they had only ever watched Bryan. We usually catch and release, so we don't even have the right tools. But they managed to get the job done and we had some fish nuggets with our dinner!
We ended up having a fun road trip, but I didn't plan ahead far enough for it to be organized well. I waited too long and we were stuck staying where there were still cabins available. I already have a rough plan in place for Memorial Day weekend next year so I just have to remember to make my reservations exactly 120 days in advance!
Over Labor Day weekend, the kids and I knocked out four more Minnesota State Parks.
On our drive up north, we stopped at Savannah Portage State Park and had lunch. It was mostly undeveloped, but there was some camping and a nice beach and picnic area - once we found it!
After lunch, we got back on the road and continued north to Lake Vermillion State Park. This is where we stayed for the weekend. It has an old mine that you can tour, but they were doing maintenance work on it this summer, so we could only view the above-ground components.
The camper cabin was much newer than the stardard ones we usually stay in. It had a little more space to hang out, a nice counter area for food prep both inside and outside, and huge lookout windows. No AC though, and it was unusually very hot over the weekend. The park itself was nice, but no beach.
So on Saturday we drove about an hour west to McCarthy Beach State Park. It is not near anything except a gas station that sold icecream😋 and bait. The beach was definitely worth the drive. Nice clear water, sandy bottom, and shallow forever! Across the highway, there was a fishing pier, which made Reggie happy.
On Sunday, we spent the morning at Bear Head Lake State Park. It was only about fifteen minutes from where we were staying and had a nice place to swim, fish, and picnic. In the afternoon, we drove a bit further into Ely and went to the North American Bear Center. There is also a wolf sanctuary, but admission was $15 each and we didn't have a lot of time so we only did the bear one this time.
We decided to look around Ely and eventually found a place to have pizza. The next day it was time to pack up and go home. I love exploring all the nature Minnesota has to offer, and am so happy my kids still enjoy doing it with me!
