Our Impromtu Camping Trip

Last Thursday night when I was at the Rascal Flatts concert at the State Fair, I got a text from Joe.

 

Joe: "Can we camp tomorrow? I'll start packing us up right now so you don't have to worry about much. Stella wants to:)" 

Me: "Can I bring a text book?"

 Joe: "Yep. I just want to hike, finish my book, camp and spend some time with my girls. Can I book it?" 

Me: "Yeah go ahead!"

 Joe: "Doing it. I'll start packing up now. Excited (Stella is too:)"

 

Well, we went camping but I didn't get anywhere near reading my text book. Go figure. We did hike eight and a half miles on Friday and had the trails to ourselves. The lucky spot? Great River Bluffs State Park near Winona, MN.

 

 

We set up our campsite and hit the trails.

 

The views of the bluffs were amazing. Can you imagine what this will look like in a few weeks with the fall colors?

 

 

And great views of the Mississippi too!

 

 

Stella was always off and running...until the end. And then she stuck a little closer to us because she was a pretty tired pup.

 

And remember when I told you we had the trails to ourselves? Here's a picture of the parking lot. Remember, we were here the Friday of Labor Day weekend. I'm sure it was busy over the weekend...all the campsites were booked for the rest of the weekend.

 

 

Oh hey grill in our campsite. You're from my hometown!!

 

And this little guy was on our tent the next morning.

 

Joe has a friend!

 

It was such a great little getaway even if it was just for a day/night. The campground was really nice, the bathrooms had showers for goodness sake!!...which was really nice when we came back dirty and dusty from our hike. We had to leave early Saturday morning so I could make it back for the bachelorette party. I could have stayed all weekend... ahhh. Next time.

First Hike in Minneapolis

On Sunday Joe, Stella and I took off on our first hike in Minneapolis. During our kayaking adventure on Saturday, we noticed trails running along both sides of the river. Joe had already been down one side of the river but we thought it'd be fun to check them out so here we are! We started the hike on the other side of the river of where we put our kayaks in the previous day. We've apparently come full circle:)

Here's part of the U of M campus...

Under the busiest bridge in Minnesota

View of Minneapolis

Stella was excited to be in the water!

This picture was taken after we jumped a locked gate. You can't really see but I'm covered in some mud from Stella...

She was exhausted after the 7.6 mile hike...

It was such a beautiful day and I think we found a new favorite hike!

Lebanon Hills

Happy Monday Folks! In two weeks from today I'll be heading into finals week and believe it or not, I am SO excited because that means my first semester of nursing school is complete! I really enjoy what I'm learning but it's getting to that point where you just need a break. I start my summer course the day after Memorial but I think I can handle one day a week for an hour and 50 minutes for only eight weeks. Yep. No problem.

In the midst of my "senioritis" or maybe, "summeritis" Joe, Stella and I headed out on another 5.3 mile hike. This time we went to Lebanon Hills in Eagan and walked around lake after lake after lake. You could hear the frogs signing and we saw many swans, ducks and geese out on the water.

There you have it. Another hike for the books. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Third Times the Charm...

Last sunday Joe and I headed back to one of our favorite spots to walk, Pike's Island. This was our third time that we've been there and I finally took pictures of our walk. The leaves are really starting to pop on the island and it was so pretty. Looking forward to many more walks here!! Before I end with pictures, last night we took 3rd for the second year in a row in our bowling league!! I also got a turkey!!

A walk along Fort Snelling.

This hill is great going down, coming back up is another story.

Yep, she's still on the leash when she runs off into the river. We're still working on the doggie paddle.

This was really neat. It marks different years of major floods.

Wonder Dog!

So that's what a day at Pike's Island involves!! Happy Friday Friends!!

Mendota to 494

Friday afternoon Joe, Stella and I went on another hiking adventure. We started in Mendota and went along the Minnesota River to 494. A few weeks ago we took a path from 77 to the 494 bridge so this time we got to see the other side of it which we liked better.

I mean, what an entrance to the trail!

Under the 55 bridge

Loved the trail and the pop of green!

Now we're under the 494 bridge. Last time we were here their was still ice on the water.

Incoming!!

Joe went inside the gas station to buy some Mega Million tickets...unfortunately we were not the winners and Stella is napping from the walk.

Taking a quick break to watch a plane come in...so cool!