Category Archives: Parks

Full campgrounds and amazing waterfalls ~North Shore, MN

After Nick got home from Poland, we left for the North Shore in Minnesota.

Lake Superior is one of my favorite areas.
We were getting there at the end of a holiday weekend so we thought we might be able to find a spot without reserving but I called on our way just to be sure.

They were booked.

And furthermore, it costs $10 to reserve a spot which bumped up the price quite a bit.

The Eckbeck was in the perfect location and the price was great($14 a night) but it did not have water or electric.

We were borrowing my in-law’s camper so we did not have are usual setup which meant no heat at all while we were there.

Since the boys were staying in a tent I thought we could tough it out at least for a night.

It poured our first night.

The boys ended up getting soaked and bailed out to the vehicle.

We ended up getting them a new tent that was hopefully a little bit drier.

Our first hike was in Tettegouche State Park to High Falls.

It was a pretty hike and brought back all the memories of when Nick and I backpacked in this area several years and kids ago…

Tettegouche is a beautiful state park! All of the kids wanted to see a cave down below so Nick held onto them just to be safe.

It made for fun pictures!

I opt for easy one pot meals while rving.

We went down to Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse State Park the next day. Nick is great at the technical shots like water blur on this waterfall!

After a very rough first night, Nick suggested that I go to the lighthouse alone since there is an entrance fee.

I did not stay long but it was a nice quiet look at the lighthouse and the view from there.
Afterwards we all went to a spot in the park you can go down to the water and see the lighthouse. The kids saw a scuba diver and decided to try out the freezing cold water… I got a lot of video of screaming kids when the cold water touched them. We were gearing up for a big day the next day and hoping we would get more sleep for it!

We paid one night at a time for our camping spot because we were not sure we could do 4 nights with so little sleep!

Dunton Locks and Tagging Monarchs!

I started figuring out right away that my plan to sleep in my in-laws camper with the girls while Nick was gone would mean less sleep for me.

Ha

But having extra help around was priceless! We went to a place called Dunton Locks for our first full day without Nick. I tried to not run around all day but at least have something fun everyday. The kids also enjoyed getting to spend a lot of time with cousins! The next day we went to a prairie wetlands learning center and ended up being there while they were tagging Monarchs! They educate the kids on what to do and why and let them catch them for them to tag! 9 kids all with giant nets was a bit chaotic but we survived and most caught one. The tag is a little sticker on their wing.

This helps them find out if any of the butterflies from Minnesota made it to Mexico!

After they are done tagging they let the kid decide if they want to release it from their hand or face. Most left pretty fast so it was hard to get a picture but some stayed a long time!

This was such a fun, unexpected treat!

I felt like this should totally have counted as a field trip…

HA

Crystal Clear Creek in Oklahoma!

The Little Blue Area used to be a state park and is located in Disney, OK. It had changed some since the last time we went, it has a really deep spot that was perfect for swimming! I would still recommend footwear since the rocks are hard on feet but it was a great place to explore. It ended up being a bit chilly(for okies) and rainy but it was nice to be there when it was almost empty instead of crowded.
The water is so clear and cold! The cold was a bit shocking at first. The kids loved catching minnows and crawfish!  It took me a while but I decided to go into the deep end to swim and I was so glad I did.

Swimming with a cliff right there and all that green in a clear, cold, creek was amazing.

So pretty.

Nick relaxed…ha There are only vault toilets there so keep that in mind. The kids got a kick out of watching these jeeps drive up the waterfall nearby!

This is such a fun spot to visit!

It can be hard to find but the road to get their is located across from the Disney State Park.

Check out the video I made of our afternoon at youtube!