Itasca - 4th of July week, 2012

We went to Itasca State Park for 8 nights over the 4th of July.  We missed getting here last year because of the state shutdown.  We had hot beautiful weather with the exception of one night when a very fast storm came through and took down quite a few trees.  There is so much to do at Itasca - we walked, swam, biked over 100 miles, took out a paddle boat and golfed twice at a nearby course. 

Our campsite

 The bike rental area

The beginning of the Wilderness drive (you can also bike it as it's a one way road)  From the campsite and back it's a total of 17 miles

 Here's what the Wilderness trail looks like

 Storm damage

 Mississippi Headwaters

 View of Lake Itasca

 Picnic Area

 Swimming Beach

Sibley State Park June 14-17, 2012

Here's a view of our campsite. 

 This is a spot where many people fish.  It's down about a mile from the campground.  Can get their either by walking, biking or driving. 

 The sign to Mt. Tom.  There are many walking trails to get to the top or you can bike up to the parking area (it's almost all up hill and a tough ride!)

Here's the view from the top of Mt. Tom

The top of Mt. Tom viewing tower

Another view from the top of Mt. Tom

 There was a baby fawn laying in the grass up on Mt. Tom.  Not sure where his mom was?



Ixtapa, Mexico (February 2012)

Just realized I never put anything in here about our trip to Ixtapa Mexico back in February.  This was our 2nd trip there.  We went with 3 other couples for one week.  We stayed at the Barcelo which is an all inclusive resort.  We mostly laid around and soaked in the sun, but we did do a bit of biking and shopping too!  :)

airport

 hotel

 view from our room

 hotel pool

 view of hotel/pool from beach

 beach

 alligator at Ixtapa Island

 Iguana

 bike trail

 Another iguana

 Baby turtles coming out of their eggs



St. Croix State Park - Memorial Weekend 2012

Finally got out this year for the first time over Memorial Weekend.  We headed to St. Croix State Park located on the St. Croix river between Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

Last July 1st they had a terrible storm come through and do damage to over 11,000 acres of the park.  This was the same day that the state shut down all state parks due to a budget shortage and is probably the only good thing to come of the shut down.  The park was empty so there weren't any injuries or fatalities.  There was so much damage to the park that they didn't open until last September.  This was our first time back since the storm damage.  You can see very clearly where all of the trees went down.  Most of the bike path area was affected and you no longer bike through the woods - it's more like biking through a prairie.  I'm sure in a few years the park will look much different.

We finally got to see our first bear in the wild.  He came right through the campground and helped himself to the food in one campers cooler.  It was very exciting to see.  We also saw a baby cub scurry up a tree and the rangers shooed him back into the woods. 

Camp Store & office to rent canoes

 start of the bike path from the campground to the beach (5.3 miles)

 campground where you can see storm damage

Lodge and visitor center

 inside the lodge

 View to Riverview campground - this used to be full of trees

 Another view of the lodge

 View from our campsite - good thing we weren't there during the storm - that big tree would've landed on us.

 beach

 picnic area

 bike path

 first view of the bear

 The bear walked right next to our campsite!