Camping at Ledges State Park

We headed up to Ledges State Park this weekend to take the kids camping! Ledges State Park is less than an hour's drive northeast of Des Moines. Not surprisingly, it's a popular camping destination for people from Des Moines and Ames. It's known for its canyons and ledges, but it's also full of forest. I wanted to go check out fall color, but we discovered the trees haven't started changing yet!

We set up camp ($11) and built a fire with wood we purchased there ($5, I believe). The emerald ash borer has just hit this part of the state, and so there are a lot of restrictions on firewood going in and out of counties. Campers shouldn't transport wood across county lines. Anyway, Andrew got the fire going, and I got the tent set up. There were a lot of hazelnut trees/bushes around, and the ground was littered with the shells of hazelnuts and even possibly some pecan shells. I swept as much of it away as I could because they would be sharp to sleep or step on through the tent floor! The kids helped. Once the coals were nice and hot, we made dinner. I'd purchased some pre-cleaned, -sliced, and -mixed veggies from Hy-Vee that turned out great. We made the kids some hot dogs, and Andrew and I ate quinoa burgers.

After dinner, the kids spotted some other kids from a nearby tent. They ran around with the other kids until it got too dark, and then we made smores and went to bed. It wasn't the longest visit, and we didn't get to hike or explore much more than the campground, but we enjoyed our time there.

A duet:

A quick video of the kids having a good time with their campground friends:

                       

We "Camped" in a Yurt!

We took the kids yurt camping! Camping is a loose term here.

Yurts are semi-permanent structures, and they kind of remind me of a circus tent. They're becoming a little common in state parks throughout the country, and I thought it would be a good way to stay overnight at a state park with the kids. The yurts have bunk beds, a futon that folds out into a full bed, and electricity. There's also a facility located there with a flushing toilet, running water, and a shower. It was a perfect weekend getaway with two little kids.

The only public yurts in Iowa are these two at McIntosh Woods State Park, which is in the northern part of Iowa (about halfway between Des Moines and Minneapolis). The state park itself is pretty small, but it's located on Clear Lake, which is large & beautiful. We could see the lake from our yurt! I wrote about our yurt camping adventures on my travel blog, here.

Road Trip to Utah + Updated Summer Bucket List

We just got back from a last minute road trip to Utah! Andrew's brother lives there, and we'd hoped to go visit them in June. Things got delayed and then cancelled due to conflicting schedules. Last week, Andrew's work sent out a memo that said they would be closed on Friday, July 5, in addition to July 4. With four days off, we decided to make the trip to Utah happen. We went on lots of adventures including our first family tent camping trip in Wyoming! I wrote about our adventures here: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/WhirledPeas/Trips/23214

Here are a few photo highlights of the trip:

With the trip came lots to mark off for our family's summer bucket list! We got to watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July in Hyrum, Utah. The fireworks came with a view, as they were right in front of a backdrop of mountains. Oliver and I also made a stars and stripes cake. Uncle Zach didn't have a mixer, but he gave us an immersion blender to use. Oliver thought that was really cool. Of course, we got to mark off going on a road trip as well as tent camping. I'll be honest: the kids didn't sleep very much when we were camping. They really had a great time, though, and Oliver has already asked to go back to the sleeping bag and fire.

Other items that I don't have pictured (yet...) that I've marked off are blowing bubbles and running through sprinklers. We totally did those things this summer, too. We're making progress on our list!

* Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

We didn't go stargazing as a family, but I am happy to say that I get to mark something off of my own bucket list. I got to see the Milky Way! We were camping in the Medicine Bow National Forest, and at 1am, things were dark enough and clear enough for me to see the Milky Way and a sprinkling of star dust.
* Watch a movie in the park with the kids.
* Take the kids to Disney World.
* Take the kids to Sesame Street Place.
* Take the kids tent camping.
* Take the kids to the tulip festival in Holland, Michigan
* Build a snowman with the kids.
* Have a tea party with the kids.
* Have a real picnic with the kids (blanket + picnic basket).
* Pick wild berries with the kids.
* Stay in a log cabin for a winter night in the mountains with the kids.
* Take the kids to a parade.
* Take the kids on a drive to see Christmas lights.
* Help the kids with a science fair project.
* Take Andrew on a cheese tasting. 
* Live in an old, brick home.
* Pay off our house entirely. Own it out right!
* Make our very own garden.
* Dress up for Halloween as a family.
* Plant a fruit tree.
* Train and run in another half marathon.
* Sit in a hot tub in the snow.
* Throw a nice dinner party for no reason.
* Go on an Alaskan cruise.
* Go on another tropical vacation, just Andrew and me.
* Go to the National Cherry Festival in Michigan.
* Go to the Mackinac Island Fudge Festival in Michigan.
* Go to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC.
* See the Northern Lights.
* See the Milky Way. (Medicine Bow National Forest, 2013)
* Go to Hong Kong with Phuong.
* Go to India with Aminta.
* Go to the Dominican Republic with Stasa.
* Get to every continent (So far: North America--including Central--and Europe)
* See Machu Picchu.
* Go to Paris.
* See Mount Rushmore.
* See the Crazy Horse Monument.
* See the Little Bighorn National Monument.
* See the Vietnam Memorial.
* Go to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
* See the Abraham Lincoln National Memorial in Washington, DC.
* See the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
* See a whale (in the wild)
* Take a train across country.
* Camp on my uncle's land in Vashon Island.
* Go to the strawberry festival on Vashon Island.
* Go to the original Starbucks in Seattle.
* Go to a coffee plantation.
* Drink espresso in Italy with Andrew.
* Learn how to use a wet saw and lay tile all by myself.
* "Yarn Bomb" something!
* Build a window seat for reading.
* Backpack Europe (Phuong and I backpacked through Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Austria in 2006)
* Sky Dive (2002)
* Get a tattoo (2002)
* Dye my hair a funky color (Purple - 2001)
* Cut my hair super short (2000)
* See Yellowstone (2003)
* Ride a mule down the Grand Canyon (1995)
* Get my degree (2005)
* Train and run in a half marathon (Disney World 2009)
* Have a garden wedding (2007)
* Have children (2009 & 2011)
* Stay in the dorms (2001)
* Live in an apartment (2007-2008)
* Buy our first home (town home, 2009)
* Take the kids apple picking (2012)
* Build a sandcastle at the beach with the kids (2013)
* See the aspens in the Colorado mountains in the fall (2012)
* See the Maroon Bells (2012)
* Explore Mayan Pyramids (Belize 2008)
* Drive along Highway 1 through Big Sur (2008)
* See the redwoods (2008)
* Go for a wine tasting in Napa Valley (2008)
* See the Scottish countryside (2012)
* Learn how to use a jigsaw and use it (1997 and 2013)
* Learn how to use a miter saw and use it (2009, 2010, and 2013)
* Redecorate an entire room (first: 2009)
* Volunteer for a political campaign (Barack Obama, 2012)
* See a President speak (Barack Obama, 2012)
* Hike with the kids in a hiking backpack (2010 and 2013)
* Go treasure hunting! (New Mexico, 2013)
* Throw boxes of tea into the Boston Harbor (simulation, 1996)
* See the Gateway Arch in St Louis (1997)
* See a panda bear (San Diego Zoo, 2003 & 2005)
* See a bonobo chimpanzee (San Diego Zoo, 2005)
* Go to a Renaissance Festival (Larkspur, 2003-2007)
* Ride a steam engine (1997 and 2012)
* Vacation at Cape Cod (2010)
* Host Thanksgiving (2011)

Camping Weekend

Andrew decided that he'd like to take a family camping trip for his first Father's Day and birthday weekend. We opted to "camp" in his parents' heated trailer on their land in Fairplay instead of trying out tent camping with the little one.

Oliver did so well! He loved touching the trees and pine cones and relaxing with us outdoors. The adventure was exhausting for him, though, and he crashed out for the night at 6:30pm. Andrew and I got to spend a few hours together talking, cooking tofu dogs over the campfire, and eating s'mores (with vegetarian marshmallows, of course!).

It was our first little vacation as just the three of us, and we really enjoyed the trip. We didn't get much sleep because Oliver had a rough time sleeping somewhere new, but I feel relaxed, anyway.

Mountain Camping

Last night, Andrew and I drove up to his parents' land near Fairplay, Colorado to camp. It was to be my first time camping outside of a campground with a toilet, so I was a bit nervous.

Because of the holiday traffic, the trip took longer than usual. We stopped off in Breckenridge and didn't actually make it to the land until just after 8pm. With the mountains to the west, the sun was already almost set up there.

Andrew's parents were there checking out spots to build a cabin, and they helped us set up our tent before heading on their way. I felt sleepy and wanted to crash out just as Andrew got the fire going. It took a lot of work and time, so I didn't want to hurry away to bed. Instead, I did my best to stay awake and checked out the stars.

Maybe I made it to about 10pm. I'm not sure. At some point, I had to tell him I couldn't stay awake any more. I crawled into the tent and into my new (good to 20 degrees) sleeping bag. I was a bit too short for it, so I took a blanket and shoved it down to the foot of the bag and buried my feet in their to keep them warm. I slept and slept and slept...

...for about 3 hours. My cold, numb face woke me up. Using my warm hands, I was able to help my face, but I couldn't find a position to keep my face warm. I thought about burying my head in the sleeping bag, but the oxygen wasn't good in there. Plus, I didn't know if sleeping bags are made with plastic (are they?), and I worried I'd suffocate. My nose was freezing again, so I gently shook Andrew to let him know I was uber cold.

He let me crawl into his bag. He has a fabric lining near the top, which helped keep my face warm. However, with two of us zipped into his one-man bag, it was difficult to breathe and move. He decided to try out my bag. I think he did OK in there, but once he left the bag I was sleeping in, my feet started to get cold.

I felt pretty miserable. I didn't want to fail at my first non-campgroud camping experience, so I tried to fall asleep again. At the time, I didn't know what time it was (1am), and I assumed it was close to dawn (wrong!). I figured, if I can just fall asleep for another hour, the sun will rise and start to warm us up! Time ticked by slowly, and I think Andrew knew I wasn't sleeping. He offered to pack up the camp site and take me home. At first, I resisted. After another 20 minutes (or maybe it was only a couple), I gave in and agreed.

He started the car and had me sit in there while he quickly packed everything up. Dogs or coyotes or maybe the yetis that reportedly live up in the area were howling, so I didn't fight him too much on staying in the car. I glanced over and saw the temperature read out read 25 degrees. My sleeping bag should have worked at that temperature, but, then again, it was probably too big for me as there was lots of extra space on top to let the cold air in.

We made it home by 3:30am. Typically, I hate the temperature in our apartment. No matter what we do, it's stuck at a miserable 78 degrees inside. At 3:30am, however, it felt nice to be usually warm, and I fell straight asleep and didn't wake up again until 11.

So maybe I didn't make it through a full night of mountain camping. That's OK. I'll give it a try again this summer, when the temperature won't drop so low. For now, it's enough to say, I peed in the forest. Good for me.

What did you all do this holiday weekend?