St. Croix State Park October 8-12, 2008

Paul and I headed north of the Twin Cities on Wednesday to St. Croix St. Park, located fifteen miles east of Hinkley, Minnesota.

St. Croix is the largest state park in the state, with over 34,000 acres and two great rivers: the Saint Croix River, a National Scenic Riverway, and the Kettle River, a State Wild and Scenic River. The park has miles of trails for hikers, horseback riders, bicyclists, snowmobilers, and cross-country skiers. Campers can reserve drive-in, walk-in, backpack, and horseback campsites.

We set up our campsite

and after exploring the campground and surrounding area on our bikes, we made dinner.


As the sun set, migrating sandhill cranes
flew into the surrounding marshes for the night. We would look forward to this sight each evening

as we prepared our dinner.


We spent the better part of Thursday and Saturday enjoying the paved trails

and paved roads within the park on our bikes.



On Friday morning, we woke to rain. It felt like a

so we brought out


and spent the morning locked in a game.

We played quite evenly until Paul had a 52 point turn and left me in the dust. I was an amazingly good sport, I thought. I didn’t even make him play until I won (note how I have evolved, Kent.)



In 1934, 18,000 acres of St. Croix area (poor) farmland was purchased, and in 1935, became the St. Croix Recreational Demonstration Area.
A major CCC camp was set up on this site, housing over 200 men. Under the direction of the National Park Service, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), set out to transform these lands into group camps, roads, and campgrounds, with all the necessary buildings and structures. The initial installment of recruits arrived by train to nearby Hinkley from North Dakota. These young men were given a salary of $30 a month with $25 of that amount sent home to their families, taking them off the relief roles of the U.S. government. Given the 25% unemployment rate in the country at that time, it was a welcome job for these young men. They remained for at least two years in the camp. Most of their efforts remain in use today, with many of the buildings and structures listed on the National Register of Historic Sites. Interpretive signs throughout the former CCC campsite describe the lives and work of the CCC's in the St. Croix RDA, which in 1943, became St. Croix State Park. We enjoyed our break from the bike trail as we viewed this interesting site.




There were just so many beautiful sites we discovered as we explored the park.





Whether by bike or car or hiking trail, we thoroughly enjoyed every view.
We saw lots of deer on our hikes, as well as numerous ruffed grouse,

several bald eagles,

and even one black bear!


This park has extensive horse trails. In fact there is a campground designated just for horse campers. We drove through this area and discovered an entire cross section of campers we have never experienced. People actually share a camper with their horses. Literally, they sleep in the front of the trailer and the horse has a stall in the back.

To each his/her own. One must get used to the smell, that’s all I can say.



On July 11th, 2008, straight-line winds affected more than 420 acres of forests in Saint Croix State Park.


As a result of this blowdown, a major forest restoration has begun to eventually restore the overall quality of the pine barrens and oak savannas in the park. The transition will occur over several years and involves logging, prescribed burning and exotic species control. Despite the severe damage to the forest, it was still a beautiful sight.

This has been an incredible six weeks for Paul and me.

We are aware we have been fortunate to have this extended amount of time relatively care free. This feeling, however, does not come naturally to us.


And, we also know our economics is a house of cards.

We are grateful we have had the ability to get out and enjoy the fall. Who knows what the next few weeks will bring?



We hope to travel to Florida in January, but have put our plans on hold for now.

As we put our camper away for the cold months, we plan two more short trips without it. We head out with Jayne and Tom on Wednesday to Fountain City, Wisconsin for two days and then will head up to the Red River Valley to visit the Rantanen’s and then head to Fargo to see our nephew, Jeffrey, play football for Fargo North.

We will keep you posted!

Beaver Creek Valley State Park October 1st-5th, 2008

Well, folks, we just can’t quit. The beautiful fall weather and our new found freedom have motivated us to continue to push the camping season. We prefer being outside instead of listening to the news.

It actually is quite scary!!!

And, enough of the negative campaigning. Our decisions have already been made.


For this trip, we chose Beaver Creek Valley, which is located in the extreme southeastern corner of the state, near the town of Caledonia.



We had been to this state park with Suzanne and Nick back in our Scamp days. The park is known for its clear streams fed by the "Big Spring."



In fact, we had to drive through one of the streams to get into the campground.


It is not a large park, but is a perfect place to camp, especially for tent campers, who can find great spots right along a “babbling” brook.

Supposedly, there are very few mosquitoes in this area of the state!!!!

We set up our campsite

and had a pork chop and squash dinner.

It was too cold for a campfire, so we made an early night of it to be rested to get out and hike the next day.

When we woke up the next morning, we could see our breath in the camper.
One of us thought it was just right and one of us refused to get out of bed until the thermostat was turned up. Fortunately, we were able to find middle ground so this moment did not occur again!!!

We headed north of the park for a trip to the nearest SNA, Mound Prairie Scientific and Natural Area.

The 126 acre site contains goat prairies separated by oak forests and steep, rocky ravines.

The goat prairies support a highly diverse plant community that includes rare species. Our book stated the spectacular views from this SNA make the upward climb well worthwhile.

Well, the book was right. The hike was worth every upward and difficult downward step. We spent about four hours there and probably walked four miles without one step on the same plane.

Now, a goat prairie receives its name because it is, by definition, a vertical prairie, making it too steep for any creature except for goats to graze.

I had never been on a vertical prairie. Where I come from, the prairie is horizontal.


Extremely horizontal.

I also find great beauty in my kind of prairie. And, it is much easier to hike there, too!!!! However, it was a beautiful fall day up on that hilltop and we had a great time.

When we got back to our campground, we were greeted by our neighbor from across the road
and his dog, Pickles.
He was quite an interesting individual and we enjoyed our initial visit. Little did we know we would get to listen to him quite often as our stay progressed.



That night we grilled chicken.

Again, it was too cold for a fire so we went into the camper and watched the vice presidential debate.
Paul had stowed a little television in the camper and we were surprised we could actually get reception. The two remotely kept our attention. Our books were more inspiring, though.

On Friday, we hiked all the way to the north boundary of the park, along East Beaver Creek.

It was a very flat trail, so it was a nice switch from the previous day. The hike was all along water, so Paul was in his element.

I was able to find some interesting mushroom species, so that held my interest.


There were lots of birds along the creek and we saw two new ones for our list, the Yellow Rumped Warbler and the Louisiana Water Thrush,

a bird found only in that particular region of the state.

The park is known for its abundance of brown trout.

Paul kept finding areas along the creek that were perfect habitat for trout and spotted lots of them along the way. At one pool, he counted about 50 trout!!!! He stood there and just stared at them for at least twenty minutes. And, imagine seeing them right where God intended them to be and not in the trout tank at the state fair. Amazing.


We drove into the town of Caledonia that afternoon and bought a steak for the grill. We were joined for dinner back at our campsite by our “neighbor” Robb and Pickles, who sat right up at the table with us. Robb is one of those people who is not really “on the grid.” He has never really had a job, although he is in his forties.
And, he had so much inside information he willingly shared with us.

We were not able to write everything down. But for the record, when it comes to Inauguration Day and if Hillary Clinton and Wesley Clark are sworn in as President and Vice President despite whomever has won the election, just remember you heard it here. If that does happen, you will want to talk to us, because we also learned quite a bit more about Osama Bin Laden,

who actually is one of the Osmond Brothers.


Robb will be traveling the United States at inauguration time seeking relief from daily stresses at different hot springs throughout the southwest. Their locations remain a secret.



Aren’t people interesting??? We really did get a kick out of him. And, Pickles enjoyed my cooking!!!!

Saturday morning found us up early, headed back to the hiking trail.

The frost was still on the grass as we began our walk, but the sky was clear blue and the sun warmed us up quickly.

We hiked the south half of the park, which brought us up and down the rim of the valley three times.

As you can see from the pictures, it was a beautiful walk.


However by the time we finished the four mile hike, my right knee was barking at me. Too much down hill abuse, I think. I took some Motrin and read while Paul took one last little hike up to a scenic overlook we had missed. There are a little over eight miles of hiking trails in the park, and we covered them all.


That night, we had a spaghetti dinner and had a great campfire to end a great trip.

I have worked hard to get my strength back since my surgery. These trips have helped so much and I am blessed to feel well again.

Paul has been so great and patient to help me along the way. What would I ever do without him?

Next, we will put our bikes on the truck and head north for a park with good bike trails. We’ll be in touch!!!!