Last weekend Rob and I stayed in a camping cabin at an Iowa State Park south of Council Bluffs/Omaha. Fortunately, the cabin had central air. It didn't have running water, so we were still sort of roughing it :). Since the temperatures were in the mid-upper 90s, we really appreciated the A/C.
Waubonsie State Park is a small, relatively secluded, state park in the Loess (pronounced "less") Hills which run along the western side of Iowa. In 2005, the nearby Wa-Shawtee (yes they are both named after American Indians) girl scout camp was sold to the Iowa DNR and they began converting some of their cabins to rent out to campers. We stayed in one of these converted cabins. It was very spacious for a camping cabin and had it's own water spigot and pit toilet just steps from the back door. However, it was a bit of a trek to the only bathhouse at the campground.
After the first extremely hot evening at the park, we learned that they have a bit of a tick problem this summer. Molly was pretty infested. We moved our campfire to the outdoor fireplace on the covered patio to get out of the grass and ended up making an emergency trip to town for to buy Frontline for Molly. After that, it was a pretty relaxing vacation. We built fires, cooked with our pie irons, walked some of the many trails, and spent quite a bit of time inside playing games to beat the heat.
I look forward to going back when it's not as hot so we can walk even more of the beautiful wooded and hilly trails that run throughout the park. I bet it would be beautiful in the fall. More photos from our trip are here.
