Lake Shetek State Park.......

                               
                                          Our campsite at Lake Shetek State Park

                                                   
                                                        Christa doing some cooking

                                                       
                                                                      Enjoying our supper

                       
                                      Otis waiting for someone to drop some food for him to eat

                                                                   The trails in the park

                                       
                                                             Sunset over Lake Shetek

                                                               Rick walking the trails

       
                                             Christa on our walk around the island

Rick wanted to shoot the MSAA State Field shoot this year so we made a camping trip out of it. Since I knew he would be gone the whole day shooting I asked Christa and Jese to come along. Jese decided he would shoot the Field too so Christa, Oliver and I spend most of our time at the park.

Lake Shetek State Park is a gem of western Minnesota! If you are camping in a RV you will be happy to hear that it is one of the three state parks in Minnesota that have full hookup. They also have electric sites and tent sites. Christa and Jese stayed in the Oak Woods campgrounds in a tent site and we stayed in the Sunrise Campgrounds in a full hookup site. We were both really happy with our sites, they are very big sites with lots of room to set up all your stuff. The Sunrise campground is pretty new so the trees are still small so if you get a site in the middle of the campgrounds you will be in full sun. I would say that within 5 years it will be shady.

We only got to walk on one of the hiking trails. We took the Loon Island trail, it was about a mile. The trail is crushed rock and very wide and easy to walk.

Christa, Oliver and I spent a lot of time at the beach. The water was clean on the days we were there. The beach itself was pretty small but the water was shallow so it was nice for the little kids. We had floaties so we took Oliver out deeper on them with us. They have a big area roped off for swimmers.

We will definitely being coming back to the park. We are thinking about going back at the end of August. Next time we will be bringing our  bikes for the bike trails and spend more time exploring the hiking trails. We also hope to rent a canoe.

Lastly I have to say how proud I am of Rick. He is having the best summer of shooting that he has had in a long time. He not only won the SMFS but set a new MSAA State Record at the MSAA Field! He could not be happier with his shooting.

Happy Camping
Sharon

Vacation Number Two....

I am behind on my vacation post! We got back from our 4th of July vacation on Sunday the 5th and then left for vacation number two on July 10. We got back from that vacation on Monday the 13th and left for vacation number three on Friday the 17th. For today I am going to blog about vacation number two.

We went for annual vacation to my sisters house on Pimushe Lake. It was a smaller crowd this year but we all managed to have fun. As you can see in the above picture everyone was able to relax.

                                                                     
                                                                          Kyran and Riley

                                     
                                     Otis making friends with one of Diane's dogs, Casper

I love this picture! Casper is huge next to little 9 pound Otis. Otis held his own with all the big dogs running all over the place with them. When he would have enough he would come running and jump into my arms. Morgan on the other hand wanted nothing to do with them and spend most of her time in the camper.

                                     
                                          Jeff and Mitch enjoying the warm weather

                                           
                                                      Diane, Rod, Mitch and Jeannie

                                           
                                                   Rick and I taking the mandatory trip selfie

Fishing was good for the weekend for pan fish. Rick was happy to be out on the lake and be able to go fishing again. It has been awhile

Zack, Bradley and Riley trying to cut a big log. I told then that if they cut through it with that little saw I would give them $10.00. They tried but my $10.00 was safe.

                                               
                                                          The marshmallow roasting crew

More fun on the lake. We had really nice weather while we were there. It rained on Saturday night but then cleared up for us for most of the day Sunday. Sunday night they had big storms all around us so we were lucky not to get them.

Riley is like a fish on the water 

Mitch decided that he was going to get through the log that the boys gave up on. He was finally able to get it apart with the axe.


We had a great time seeing everyone again. It is always fun to get together. We got to do some fishing, swimming sitting around the campfire and taking some nice walks. It was a relaxing vacation.

Up next vacation number three...

Sharon

Perch Lake County Campgrounds.....

                     Rick and Oliver cooking a couple hotdogs over the fire for lunch

                                                                     Rick, Christa and Jese

Christa insisted that we go pick wild flowers and then she  had to arrange them just right in her bike baskets for a picture.

                 Oliver was very excited to eat a beef hamburger for the first time in his life.

                                                                 We love our new camper!

                                           Christa biking around the campgrounds on her retro bike

They had this big sign as you enter the campgrounds. I thought it was funny that it said no liquor but then said no beer containers over one quart. I guess beer is not liquor!?!

                                                   Otis was enjoying the relaxing day.

                                                                             Wild flowers

                                                         The walking trails in the park

                                                                A view of the lake

                              I found this cool looking spiderweb when I was walking the trails.

I also found these cool looking mushrooms on my walk. I was told that they are called chicken of the woods and are edible. I thought it made a great picture.

                                                          Another view of the lake

Otis and his bunny. Otis ripped all the stuffing out of the bunny and now carries it everywhere. He loves his bunny.

Poor Otis still does not like to go on walks. As soon as I take the harness out he starts to quiver and make himself as small as he can. It is so funny. Once we get going he is just fine. He is a great walker and does not pull on the leash.  

                                                         Oliver on the 4th of July

                            Oliver and Morgan watching the woods for squirrels. It was so cute.

                                                            Some more wild flowers

Funny story of the trip. Christa and I were sitting by the campfire when we heard all kinds of noise. We looked and saw this SJV pushing the camper below up the hill to the campgrounds. It was so funny. At one time the camper started to roll backwards and slip on the gravel. I guess the camper broke down but they still wanted to go camping. It was pretty funny to watch.

We decided since I had a 5 day weekend we would go camping in Truman. A few weeks ago Jese came across Perch Lake County Park/campgrounds just 4 miles south of Truman. They only have 9 sites with hookups and do not take any reservations. Since it was the 4th of July weekend we figured it would fill up so we went down on Wednesday night. Christa, Jese and Oliver came to visit. Christa made lasagna for us for supper.
Rick had to work on Thursday so he spent the night in the camper and then went back to Waseca to work. It is just over an hour away. I spend all day Thursday just relaxing with the dogs. It was nice! We went for walks in the woods and I sat in the sun reading. I was so nice to just do nothing. Rick got back around 6:00 and then we went into Truman and watched Oliver play T-ball. It was a good day.
Friday Christa, Jese and Oliver came and set up their tent to camp for the weekend. It was a fun weekend. We went swimming in Fairmount ( there is not a beach on Perch Lake) Rick, Jese and Oliver went fishing. And we just relaxed.

We really liked the campground. I'm sure we will go back there. It is nice that it is small. They have good trails to walk and bike on, the lake had pretty good fishing in it and the playgrounds was big for Oliver to play in. It was a very nice place to stay.

Now it is time to get ready for our next camping trip.....

Sharon