Flashback Friday- Camping in Itasca

Last July our family went camping up in Itasca State Park, one of my favorite places on Earth. We only stayed one night but we had two days to hike, swim, splash, boat, explore, geocache and enjoy the scenery (I loved the flowers, foliage, mushrooms, lakes, and all the "nature" there is to see.), wild animals,the visitor's center and each other. The weather was absolutely perfect with only one teeny rain shower (it happened to be in the middle of the night and Derek and I had to get up and put the roof back on the tent). We had a wonderful time and look forward to spending more time there next summer.

The girls eating s'mores by the campfire. This is my favorite photo of whole trip.

The 100 foot fire tower. I had to stay on the ground with Kamiryn.
Yep.
That's why I didn't climb it.
Totally.

Derek and the girls loved the view from the top.

The girls mostly liked hiking. They sang the whole way.

Well most of the girls liked hiking. One of them preferred to be carried by her daddy.

One of our very favorite things about Itasca State Park is the Mississippi headwaters. We went there the first evening we were there and back again the next day so the girls could get wet.

The next day.

It is our tradition now to take this photo of the girls on this little log bridge that crosses the Mississippi. My goal is to take this same picture every year until they are grown and leave home.

Lake Itasca is on the left and as it flows over the rocks it forms the beginning of the Mississippi river. It really is a cool thing.

Sunset on Lake Itasca.

Yep. They look sweet. You can't hear the complaining about the mosquitoes, the little bit of sprinkles and how hungry Kamiryn's tummy was. We had to look for wildlife though. It was required by our tour guide.

We rented a motor boat for an hour and set out with our fabulous guide (Derek) to hunt for wildlife on Lake Itasca. We saw a lovely loon family, a bald eagle, a blue heron and lots of mosquitoes. It really was a fun time.

The lovely little loon family. They had another baby, but it was under the water at this moment. We were really surprised that they let us get this close.

On our hike to the fire tower (or maybe on the way back), Miranda came up with this fun (HA!) game. She drew a line in the dirt with her stick and tried to stay in the circle while trying to push her dad out. It was a hilarious sight to see! Funny girl.









I really don't know what she expected to happen. It was quite entertaining.

We had an awesome time geocaching on the second day. We found all 4 caches that we were looking for. This cache was hidden really well in a niche in this tree. It took a while to find, but Kamiryn bravely reached her hand in there and pulled it out. Madi found another one that was really well hidden . Another family had spent a bit of time searching for it and was about to give up. Madi walked over and stood on it. It was covered with brush and foliage at the base of a tree.

Derek's parents met us in the park around lunch time on our second day. The girls loved having them along as we geocached, played in the headwaters and explored the park. Grandpy treated to ice cream cones and we all went out to dinner together at a Mexican restaraunt in a cute nearby town as we headed home. It was a successful and rewarding trip.

I just wish it had lasted longer.

*July 21-22, 2009*