Whitewater State park is located in-between Rochester and Winona in beautiful bluff country. The camping area is located down in a valley, so Verizon carriers had no phone service. (It was actually a nice vacation from facebook, emails, phone calls, and text messages.)
The weather was pretty chilly, but since we all have homes on wheels and have the luxury of furnaces (or space heaters if you choose to forgo your furnace.. wink wink Dann). I packed all our winter gear so we could spend the majority of our time exploring the park.
Friday was the nicest day so several of us headed out for a long hike. There were 6 adults, 6 kids (oldest 3rd grade, the youngest 2 1/2 (Gavin)), and one Dog. It was right after lunch that we headed out on our big adventure.
Heading out on our hike!
The beginning of our big hike on the bluffs. First obstacle is hundreds of steps.
Waiting for everyone to catch up.
Here the steps are getting steeper!
We made it to the top! Or at least near the top.
All the kiddo's who joined us on our hike!
Going up higher!
Everyone found a walking stick!
Another beautiful view!
Trying to walk cross fallen trees. At first Kaitlyn was scared, but than with a little help she made it across! Way to go Kaitlyn!
Gavin's turn!
Gavin spent a lot of time on Daddy's shoulders!
Making our way down!
Nap Time! Gavin slept for about 45 minutes of our 3+ hour hike!
We found an awesome walking stone bridge!
Emily, Kaitlyn, and Nate
We also found a tree that a beaver was working on cutting down!
Posing!
Kaitlyn pretending to be a beaver!
Sonia helped carry Gavin during his nap! Thank you Sonia!
I love this picture of these two!
We made it full circle! Gavin woke up and had to brush off his shoes!
While we did our hike, Nate had the Map my Run App going to track our steps. We went 4.8 miles in about 3.5 hours. All the kids did awesome and there was hardly any whining during the whole hike! All of the adults were impressed with the kids!
One of my favorites of Emily and Kaitlyn.
The rest of the weekend we spent doing little hikes, sitting by the campfire, and learning about walking sticks at the park learning center. Saturday we did make a trip to Winona for lunch because it was raining!
We had a great fall camping experience and can't wait for next year! Which State Park should we go to?
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