Camping Adventure - Itasca State Park - August 2009

Last week Uncas, Sammy and I went camping for 4 days/3 nights.  Because Uncas is so smart, he suggested that we drive halfway on the first day and stay at a hotel.  It was a great idea because we were able to get to the campsite at a decent time on Thursday and set up camp.  Here is a picture of our tent - it's huge!

 

We can fit a queen size air mattress in it and all of our bags and still have plenty of room to move around.  And Reid can actually stand up all the way in the middle of it!  It is a great tent!

Thursday we pretty much hung around our campsite.  It was a little misty out, but it never really did rain, so we made a campfire.

 

 

Friday was overcast and windy, so we decided to postpone canoeing for a day and we went hiking and exploring in the park.  We stopped at a few different places, including the headwaters of the Mississippi.  It was really neat to see how small the river is when it starts out compared to how big it is down by us!  Sammy and I crossing the Mississippi River

Sammy and I hiking in the park.

The weather started clearing up on Friday night, so we knew it was going to be a chilly one.  And of course we had another campfire.  Sammy enjoyed chewing on birch bark.

 

Saturday morning was bright and clear and relatively calm, so we had a quick breakfast and headed over to Lake Itasca to canoe in the morning.  Here is Uncas and Sammy at breakfast.

 

 

We weren't sure how Sammy was going to do in the canoe, but he was just fine.  He doesn't like water at all, so we weren't too worried about him trying to jump out of the canoe.  He did prop himself up on the side to look out, but mostly he sat in the floor and enjoyed the ride.  I am happy to say that Uncas and I remembered our skills canoeing from our Boundary Waters trip in 2007, so we were able to move around the lake with ease.  The wind started picking up, so we head back to shore by noon.  It was fun to be out on the lake.  Uncas got a little bit of fishing in, but didn't catch anything. 

 

  

Saturday afternoon we did the wilderness drive in the park.  We saw the tallest Red Pine and White Pine in Minnesota.  I highly recommend this state park - there are so many things to do there.  Lots of trails to hike or bike with varying lengths.  There are plenty of restrooms and they were super clean!  And if you aren't the hardcore camping type, they even have cabins you can rent.  It's such a beautiful park - I can't wait to go back.

Uncas and Sally

 

We took lots of pictures - you can see them all here.  

Sammy really did a great job camping.  The first night he was a little unsure about all the people and dogs around, but he loved exploring the campsite!  In fact, he would go wandering in the woods and get all tangled up, so we would have to go and untangle him time and time again.  I was amazed at how quickly he adjusted to the routine out there.  Last night he slept 12 hours straight and probably would have slept longer, but I woke him up.  Then he spent most of the morning outside in our yard today, which was great because it allowed me to get lots done in the house!