Deer Lake State Park, FL

On our trip to Rosemary Beach, we had some time to kill before catching our flight home, so we make a quick visit to this little state park. 

We had just enough time to meander down the long boardwalk to the beach, with its beautiful views.  No crowds on a Monday morning!  What a gorgeous beach.  Below is a view of the actual Deer Lake in the park.  You can do a little bit of hiking on the north side of 30A, but otherwise the park is pretty small.  It makes for a nice little side trip from Rosemary Beach.

Manito Park - Spokane, WA

When my parents were here a few weeks ago, we stopped at Manito Park in Spokane after taking my sister to the airport.  While most of the flowers weren't blooming yet, it is obviously a lovely park!

We stopped at a cute stone bench for a photo op of M with his grandparents.  He thought the bench made the perfect stage, and recruited Granddad to be the "electric bass man" for his band.

 

The greenhouse had beautiful blooms and was a nice warm retreat on the gray day!  I think it was baby J's favorite spot - he loved the warmth.  There were also a couple of men who found a nice bench on which to sit and play a game of chess.  A pretty good spot to enjoy the blooms!

 

 

I'd never seen a climbing onion before!  Anyone know how they taste?

We really only explored a small portion of the park.  On our way out, we stopped by this pond, where M made friends with Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.  We've been reading a lot of Robert McCloskey these days, so he was thrilled to meet the stars of one of his favorite books.

You're lovely, Manito.  We'll be back to keep exploring!

Round Lake State Park

We recently took a little hiking adventure up to Round Lake State Park. I've wanted to hike here for quite a long time, and I'm so glad we finally had a chance to get up there.

It was a beautiful morning for a family hike.  The trails on the east side of the park were closed due to flooding (spring thaw) so we didn't make it all the way around the lake, but we had a wonderful time enjoying the fresh air and exploring this little treasure.

There was still some ice on the lake, but lots of fishermen taking advantage of the quiet to sit on the docks and dish.  With a toddler and baby in tow, we probably ruined the quiet for them and scared off all of the wildlife, but the trails are perfect for exploring and they look like they would even be nice for some trail running too!  We definitely hope to be back!

Running & Biking - Heyburn State Park

Good morning!  How was your weekend?

Ours was great.  I got to run 8 miles on Saturday morning!  They felt fine, but I am still S.L.O.W.  But it was a beautiful morning to be out there.

Here is a little bit of what else we have been up to:

We recently drove down to Heyburn State Park to ride bikes on The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes.  The trail is awesome, we only covered about ten miles (it is over 70 miles long!!), but it is a nice, gorgeous ride along the lake shore.

We crossed over this neat bridge towards the beginning of our ride.  M loved all of the "bumpy spots" and it was very picturesque!

We really had no idea about how heavily the area has been polluted by years and years of mining operations, however.  The trail itself is safe, but the brochure had lots of warnings about not playing/walking alongside the shoreline off of the trail, I think because of lead residue present in the sediment.  That's too bad, because it is lovely!

We had a great bike ride, and I'm excited to go back and ride further!  Check it out, y'all!

Tell me about your favorite biking spots!

Does your toddler like to ride in the bike trailer? Thankfully, M does!

Independence Day: Camping in a Grizzly Habitat

Hello!  I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!  Its my favorite non-religious holiday - I love celebrating this beautiful country that I am fortunate to live in.

This year we celebrated with a VERY rustic camping trip in northern Idaho - yes, even further north than we live now! ;)

We drove up to Priest Lake hoping to catch a first come, first-served campsite on the lake (i.e., "camping light" because you can get running water/restroom access, but really, my style of camping.). All the brochures promote Priest Lake as "the crown jewel of Idaho" so I figured it was time to see for ourselves.

Turns out, they were right - it IS beautiful!

Every campground that we passed on the lake was totally full!  I was shocked.  D remarked about how funny it is that we now live in a state where everyone camps.  Very different from the East Coast!

We headed north up Plowboy Mountain towards a "dispersed camping" spot that D had stumbled upon while hunting last fall.

On the way up the mountain, D tells me that we should "manage our expectations" which really turned out to be code for "be prepared to live like a pioneer for the next few days." =)

After a 6 mile bumpy drive up a dirt Forest Service road, we arrived here:

There were a lot of good spots to set up our tent, and it also had a fire ring and a lot of wood already chopped and ready for our camp fire. 

He just loved playing in the tent!

 And it was about as quiet and peaceful as you can get!  It was a very nice spot and we all had a lot of fun there.  It was definitely off the grid, so my husband was thrilled, but I laid awake all night long trying to devise our escape plans in the event of an emergency (i.e., bear attack)!

Bear locker provided so the bear will only eat you, and not your food.

We toasted our nation's independence by exploring the mountain, roasting hot dogs over the fire for lunch and dining on a gourmet venison dinner. 

Grass-fed, lean, and all organic too!

We didn't see any big game, mostly because M & I did our best to scare them away with our normal noise level, much to D's disappointment.  Although two cars drove by our camp site and stopped to tell us that there was "fresh bear scat" just around the curve from us, and asked if we had seen any bears.  Yikes! #toocloseforcomfort

 M loved exploring and playing in the woods and we all got a chance to get some fresh mountain air.  It was a beautiful weekend, but we were thankful to get home to our showers, a/c and cozy beds. =) 

Icy cold stream won't bother this guy!

 After we came back down the mountain, we did one short hike along the lake shore.  It was really beautiful, M splashed in the water and we found another awesome beach camping spot.  Hope we can get back to claim that one next time!

Awesome little beach on the west side of Priest Lake

 It was definitely an adventure, we'll be back to do some more exploring of this pristine area!

Anyone ever been to Priest Lake?  Seen a bear?

Trail Maniacs State Park Series #1 - Farragut State Park 5 Miler

Last weekend I ran in the first annual State Park Series hosted by the Trail Maniacs.

What a blast!

The SPS is a series of trail runs held at gorgeous state parks in Idaho and Washington all summer long.  There was a 5 mile race and a half marathon race, I opted for the 5 miler because I have my half marathon this weekend (gulp).

I did not have a fast race, but it was a ton of fun!  The scenery is incredible and the atmosphere was really nice too.

We drove up as a family, and D & M were able to explore and play while I ran.  The course had some ups and downs, with one steep hill that I had to walk up.  It was very shaded and picturesque as we ran along the shoreline of Lake Pen d'Oreille.  I was amazed at how sore my feet and lower legs were on Sunday and Monday - mostly from the rockiness and unevenness of the trail - but that is trail running in north Idaho!

It took me about an hour and three minutes to complete the run.  Whew, it was tough - trail running is so different from road running.  They had a great set up of grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, chips, cookies, beer, water and soda available as some post-race goodies.  I ate more than I should have - doesn't everything taste better after a nice, hard run?  There was also a raffle for some cool running gear - sadly, I didn't win anything - next time!

After the race, we hiked around and checked out some of the views.  The park was a Naval Training Station in WWII (yes, I said Navy in land-locked Idaho), so there are some old remnants from those days.  Then we got on our bikes and biked over to one of the campgrounds where our friends were camping.  We will definitely be back to camp this summer.  We've heard the park gets pretty busy as it warms up, but there is so much more there that we want to explore.

The race and the day spent at the park was a lot of fun and I am hoping to participate in some of the other races in the series this summer.  M was in heaven just getting to wander around, play in the woods/grass, throw rocks, etc.  When I picked him up after the race, I noticed that his shoes and pants were wet.  D said he had looked away for .02 seconds and of course, he was already in the water.  Haha!  He is definitely an outdoorsy kid, isn't he?!  It was a long day with all of the running, biking and hiking, but being outside was good for all of us.  We are so lucky to have such beautiful resources so close to home. 

I highly recommend a day (or more) at Farragut State Park and a run with the Trail Maniacs!

Have you done a trail run?  Tell me about it!