Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Exploring MN State Parks - Lake Bemidji State Park


Day 1

 

Fourth of July weekend was again a success. We enjoyed strawberry picking, pontoon rides, mini golfing (Heather), and a phenomenal fireworks display. We also got to do some fishing and played several games. Nonetheless, we were excited to start out on our second annual week long camping trip after this amazing weekend.

 
We stopped at Itasca state park so that we could stretch our legs, walk in the Mississippi River, and try out the new bike path that is under construction. We also stopped by LaSalle Lake state recreation area (SRA) on our way to spend our first night at Lake Bemidji state park. LaSalle was a nice park with two large cabins overlooking the lake which would be perfect for a future trip.

 
 

We got to Bemidji in the afternoon and we were glad we chose this park because there weren't too many mosquitoes.
 
 
 
We went on the bog walk and saw several pink and white lady slippers in bloom. Jim took some pictures of the bog.
 



 
Then, we went to watch the sunset down at the beach. The water was cold, but the wind kept the bugs away and we returned to our tent to play farkle just after ten o'clock.

Miles biked: 5

 

Day 2


After a fantastic meal of egg sandwiches, we rode our bikes along the Paul Bunyan trail towards the town of Bemidji. We stopped to have some DQ and then headed back to our campsite to relax. Then, we decided to bike back to the bog walk to take some better pictures of the lady slippers. Unfortunately, there were more mosquitoes this time and we were unprepared without bug spray. It rained a little bit when we returned and we retreated to the tent to read and take naps.
 

 
Jim had cooked our chicken earlier in the day so dinner was quick make. We all agreed that chicken wraps were a good decision. Heather wanted to do geocaching so we did this after dinner with only a small section at the end that was buggy. This time most of us changed and used bug spray. We spent the last part of our night the same way as the night before. We went down to the beach and then played farkle. These long days were perfect for camping.

 

Wildlife spotted: one thousand mosquitoes, hundreds of helicopters (dragonflies), and two ticks

 Miles biked: 18

 

 
 

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