Camping in the fall!

I think I have discovered a new camping season- fall!!!

This last weekend, Megan had a junior high youth retreat over in Iowa, and Matt and I were not too comfortable with her on the bus. First of all, there were not many adults riding the bus plus the kids were allowed to take their phones. We felt this could lead to some unwanted behaviors or conversations and we just felt better if we took her ourselves.

After coming to this conclusion, we decided that we just didn't want to drive three hours to drop her off and come back home for two days, so we made arrangements to camp over the weekend while she was at her retreat. We found a local state park about twenty miles away and made that our home away from home for three days.

This park was amazing!! It was Ledges State Park and it was soooo beautiful in the fall colors. Our campsite was covered in leaves about six inches deep, so we had a lot of fun making piles of leaves and jumping in them. Micah LOVED the leaves! There were also quite a few hiking trails, so we did a lot of hiking (with Micah on me in the front carrier).  These trails were among some canyons in the park. Below these canyons, there were tributaries or streams coming off the Des Moines River. These streams actually went over the road that you drove on through the park! That was super fun! We saw some people drive super slow through the water and others went super fast! Christian always wanted Matt to drive fast, but he never did. If you wanted to walk through the water, they actually had cement blocks that you could walk on to get to the other side. Luckily the water was no more than a foot or so, so if you fell, you weren't going to drown! I walked over them once or twice with Micah on my front. Matt did help me balance though, he didn't want me going down with Micah on me!

We also spent some time Saturday in Boone. Here we road the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad. This ride was about two hours and it was again very beautiful! It took us through the Des Moines River Valley and actually over a trestle bridge that was 150 feet high! That was kind of freaky, but yet fun at the same time!

Matt and I want to camp some more in the fall! For a few years in a row, we took longer trips in the fall, but the last few years, we haven't due to Micah. I think we need to start that again!

As long as the weather is as beautiful as it has been, let's keep camping!

Unfortunately, Christian did bring home bronchitis from the trip, so now we are trying to get him better!