Wild River July 6th-10th, 2008

Sunday
We arrived at the park in the late afternoon and were greeted by a healthy crop of mosquitoes.

They were so happy to see us.

It didn’t stop us from setting up our outdoor kitchen, but campfires were not on our list for this trip. This first night, we grilled medallion steaks which we had purchased on our trip to Frontenac and froze for an occasion like this!!!

Monday

We drove over to Saint Croix Falls on the Wisconsin side of the river and found a great little natural food store and bought some whole wheat pasta and ground free range turkey for our dinner that evening. Wild River is such a beautiful state park, one of the largest in the state. We went down to the boat launch and also drove up to where the Sunrise River joins the St. Croix. This is a perfect stretch of river to float on a canoe. This fall, I will be ready for paddling a canoe for several hours, so we will be back then. And, there will probably be less mosquitoes then as well!!!

Tuesday
We set the alarm and got up early and headed down to the cities for my last appointment with my surgeon. He said all looked well and told me I should be back to full energy in three months. We stopped at Whole Foods Market and bought a bison steak and bison burgers for dinners for the remainder of our trip. Leaner and tastier meat you will not find. We drove back to the park and went on a long hike down by the river. When we come back in the fall, I will bring my bike, as there are wonderful bike paths throughout the park.

It sure is a good thing we have our good rain fly. After dinner on Tuesday evening, the skies opened up and we had a heavy downpour that lasted a good hour. We sat at the picnic table and watched it rain. It had been a long day,so lights out early in the camper!!

Wednesday

As seems to be the pattern on these trips, we took our time with our morning coffee. Just when I started to think about the day, I found I didn’t have to worry, as Paul had a plan. We set out across country, about 25 miles southwest from the park, taking the scenic route and found our way to the Helen Allison Savanna Scientific and Natural Area. This is an 80 acre tract of
land that is a Minnesota Scientific and Natural Area. These natural areas are not developed like state parks, but are set aside to protect the plant and animal life of the region. To me, they are interesting tracts in the middle of someone’s farmland that have been saved from “the plow” or “the axe” for some reason. The Helen Allison SNA is an excellent example of an oak savanna.(Helen was an author of textbooks about Minnesota grasses.) This activity might not appeal to everyone, but Paul and I love these hikes. There were so many different varieties of native grasses and wild flowers and no people. We spent a long time there and best of all, it is free!!!

When we returned to the campground in the afternoon, we spent some time reading and then played Farkel, a dice game Beth and Gary taught us.

Rumor has it Mary and Jim taught this game to them on a trip to Florida last winter. A great dinner of buffalo burgers topped off a perfect day.

Thursday
We “broke camp” and just about made it before the rain started. The storm quit just as we
drove into the yard.

Our next trip is to Fargo in one week!!! Can’t wait!!!!! See you all there!!!!