Pages

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Our Camping Trip

We had a fantastic time on our camping trip! We definitely want to go back to this same spot when the weather is warmer.

On Thursday, we both got off of work early so we could head up to Spirit Lake, right up on the IA/MN border.

SpiritLake 001

We got there around 9:30 and it was pouring down rain. So we found a cheap hotel for the night rather than setting up the tent in the rain! It was clean, and that is all that matters!

It was still raining when we woke up on Friday morning, so we spent the morning driving around and scoping out the area. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I didn’t do my best, eating wise, on the trip- but I did make conscious decisions and making what I did eat healthier.

We decided to head over to the campground- our GPS seriously misled us! It took us down gravel roads and we ended up here:

SpiritLake 007

This is certainly not a lake, it’s a field- in the middle of nowhere! haha

We found the place on our own after that. It was a beautiful place to camp! Towards the afternoon it stopped raining long enough for us to set up our tent.

SpiritLake 009

SpiritLake 013

SpiritLake 017

SpiritLake 022

This was a full rainbow over the lake. I couldn’t capture the whole thing. Absolutely beautiful!

SpiritLake 025

SpiritLake 026

It rained the rest of the evening, off and on. We were able to roast some hotdogs and marshmallows though! (I brought the fat free ones for me!)

SpiritLake 056

We spent the evening in the tent and played card games and talked. It was fun. But BRRRR was it cold! It got to about 35 degrees in the night! I slept in a long sleeve shirt, a short sleeve shirt, a hoodie, an additional sweat shirt, a hat, ear band, socks, wool socks and 2 pair of pants. I was still cold! Hubby and I just cuddled up and we made it through both nights! I have to say I am still chilled though and can’t seem to warm up!

Saturday turned out to be a little better. There were popcorn showers all morning, but it turned around towards the afternoon. We went to a coffee shop that also sold chocolates. I had a coffee and a dark chocolate turtle. It was cute! By the time we got back to the campground the weather had turned around. We headed out for our bike ride, which is why we planned this trip in the first place! Here are some pictures of things we saw on the ride:

SpiritLake 015

I studied a piece of literature written by one of the survivors of these massacres, so this was interesting to me!

SpiritLake 031

SpiritLake 033

SpiritLake 034

SpiritLake 036

SpiritLake 037

SpiritLake 040

SpiritLake 045

Part of our ride was right on the IA/MN border, which was pretty cool! I really hate riding alongside the road though. One thing about some of the parts of these trails is that they were right on the side of the road and that scares me to death! We finally bought some helmets though!

SpiritLake 046

Can you believe how far we rode?! We couldn’t believe it. Our longest ride so far, and I know we could go further. I’m not even sore!

SpiritLake 049

SpiritLake 052

Sweet calorie burn! We did stop quite a bit to look around, etc. So that’s why it took so long! :)

We spent the rest of the night relaxing by the fire.

Sunday morning turned out to be beautiful!

SpiritLake 053

SpiritLake 055

SpiritLake 057

SpiritLake 062

We took a very quick 3 mile ride before we packed up:

SpiritLake 063

SpiritLake 065

SpiritLake 070

After packing everything up, we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows and headed home! It takes about 4 hours, so not too long! Can’t wait to do this again!!

8 comments:

  1. Looks like such a FUN weekend!! And I bet we saw the SAME rainbow...it was so pretty!! I put pics on my blog today too of it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like you've had a great time! Love the pictures! And what a beautiful rainbow!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you had a good trip, despite the rain & the cold! Looks like a lovely spot to camp.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fun weekend! Camping is one of my favorite things to do.

    Great calorie burn too. I love all of the pics. Makes me feel like I was there.
    And the water looks so clear and pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  5. WOW! What a beautiful camp ground right by the lake. It makes me excited for our camping trip at the end of this month.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've found that it pretty much HAS to rain on a camping trip, always happens. :) looks like a great time!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the pictures of the rainbow!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I enjoyed your photo blog today...felt like I was there camping with you...and guess what * I don't do camping * - hehe, give me a hotel...need my bath and toilet...such an old girl!!

    ReplyDelete