Weekend Update: Devils Lake, WI (part 4 - the finale)

07/03/10

The four of us were up early again this morning. (Our site mates are going to be glad when we're gone.) They go to bed late, get up late.....when camping, we're the exact opposite. :-)



In the summer, I'd much rather get up early in the am, and enjoy the cooler temps before it gets hot.

Although, I can't tell you how lucky we were all weekend, when it comes to weather. Blue skies, cooler temps....perfect!!!

Because this day was supposed to be the warmest of our trip, we planned to get some kayaking in. The beaches at this park are INSANELY full because of the holiday, but our goal was to head to the lesser used South Shore.

Beautiful!!!

The lake is crystal clear!! Because of that, it's a destination spot for snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing and kayaking. It's also known for it's hiking, camping, mountain biking and rock climbing.








I stopped paddling a couple of times to watch climbers scaling the cliff faces along the lake shores. Quite a few people in the group we are with are rock climbers. I'd love to try it....but the falling to my death thing keeps getting in the way. Some day I'll meet someone that will be willing to show me how. :-)






I have quite a few of these pictures. Guess what it is? The inside of my PFD (life jacket) pocket.

(giggle) Whoops!! :-)

After kayaking, Sheila and Mike grabbed their gear and went snorkeling, while Mel did some fishing with her new pen rod...a gift from Sheila for the Glacier trip.

Everyone had a great time!!! I'm not a fisherperson, nor a snorkeler, so I stayed back and watched the boats and gear...and did some people watching.




Mike came back before the girls and took a nap on the ground by our table.

Once the girls were done, we all loaded the boats, packed up our gear and stopped at the concession stand for food before heading out to hike again.

Nej "I'll have a vegetarian burger, please."

Concession Kid "Are you a vegetarian?"

Nej "Nope, do I need to be?"

Concession Kid "Oh, you're one of those healthy people, aren't you?"

:-)

The hike we planned to take that afternoon was on the opposite side of the lake. We were going to take the East Bluff Trail up to see Balanced Rock and Devil's Doorway, then head back down.










Balance Rock.


Devil's Doorway







After Devil's Door, we decided to continue on and take the Potholes Trail back down. Just as the trail up was, it wasn't so much a trail, as a set of stairs. A long, tall, grueling set of stairs. :-)

I'm glad we decided to go back down the other way, FAR fewer people!!!!

At the end of the hike, we all plopped ourselves down in a nice shaded area...and vegged out for a while. The heat and humidity had finally caught up to us all. :-)~

Back at camp, the other members of the group weren't back yet, so we went ahead and made dinner.

And then, if there was any question about how full we were....we had a little birthday cake for dessert. It was Sheila's birthday!!!!


Sheila, you lucked out...the one picture I have of you blowing the candles out will not get posted. You can thank me later!! :-)

After dinner...and cake....we all rolled ourselves down to the shower house to remove the 4 pounds of dirt, grime, bug spray and sunblock. When we got back, because it was forecasted to rain in the morning, I started packing up some of my gear (to make the morning go a little smoother).

Earlier in the day, we'd talked about the raccoons in the park. Sheila (being a non camper) was a little worried about them.

As she and I are in the tent packing up our clothes and such...I hear Mel outside "Hey you! Get our of here!!!!"

I was totally stoked! I grabbed one of my hiking poles (those little b*stards can be mean sometimes) and ran out of the tent.

"Don't scare it away yet!!!"

Mel looked at me like I'd grown an arm out of my ear.

I rushed towards it....grabbing my camera on the way.



After I took his mugshot....I shoo'd him away.

The little guy (or gal) had managed to tear a hole in our garbage sack....but that's ok!!!! :-)

07/04/10

The forecasted rain didn't show up that morning. (thank goodness - like I said, we really lucked out with the weather on this trip!!)

Mel and I woke up early, again. She left camp without a word to go get one last fishing trip in....while I hung out at the campsite reading, and packing.

When she returned, the three of us started making breakfast.

The breakfast of all breakfasts.

A "not for the faint of heart" breakfast.

The breakfast "motherload."

I'm not kidding...it was nuts!!!

Pancakes, omelets, fried spam, corned beef hash.

Protein and carb overload...at it's best!!!

Yummy!!!!!

Anyway.....once we'd finished stuffing ourselves to max capacity...we started packing up the gear to head home.

The packing to go home process went much quicker than the packing to leave process did. We knew where all the puzzles pieces fit this time around! :-)

The drive was pretty boring...a pretty typical "leaving paradise to go home" drive.

Boring, that is, until we get about an hour or so outside of Des Moines.*****



The floodgates opened, a dam was lowered, a valve was opened....SOMETHING!!!

We got rained on...and not just any normal, run of the mill rain.

No, this was a "Noah, where's the Ark?" type of rain.

And there was a small amount of wind to go with it.

A "knock Jen's kayak off the rack on top of the truck not once, but twice" type of rain.

By the time we got to Des Moines, Mel and I were soaked...and everyone's nerves were a little frazzled.

We got all my gear into the Jeep, we got all their gear into their garage...and I headed home.

Two more hours of driving....(sigh).

But, no more than 2 minutes outside of Des Moines, I was wearing sunglasses, and the road was dry as a bone.

Gotta love that Midwest weather!!!

At least, that's what they keep telling me. :-) :-)

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend as well!!!!!!!

Nej out!
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***** (Why does Blogger spell check not like the way Des Moines is spelled? It's a state capital for crying out loud!!!!)
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