Ledges State Park

Last weekend we went camping with family and friends at Ledges State Park near Boone, IA.  Rob and I had been to Ledges for the day once when we lived in Ames and had a good time, so when we were asked if we wanted to camp there it was an easy answer...that and it's only about a half an hour away.

The weather was warm on Friday evening, but on Saturday morning a front moved through along with a steady downpour.  We spent an hour or so in Kris and Marie's camper while it rained hard. When it stopped, there were two big puddles in the tent and a few items of soaked clothing that we had to clean up. We were glad we opted to leave our bags in the car or we would have had a much bigger mess to clean up. After the rain went through, we went for a hike.  Part of the park has been carved out by streams into a small canyon, and there are trails throughout that section of the park.  Most of them involve climbing up the sides of the canyon or descending stairs back down into the canyon.  Needless to say, after a couple hours of walking, all of us were ready for a break. The weather was lovely after the rain and we spent the rest of the weekend playing bocce and sitting by the fire.  I look forward to camping there again.

The rest of my photos from the weekend can be found here.

Andre the Giant Sequoia Turns One

Rob's Giant Sequoia has had a growth spurt this summer.  We decided to have a piece of cake in honor of the 1st anniversary of its sprouting.

Happy Birthday Andre!