“Here is a great day, here is a perfect choice! A camp in nature! What else do you need? You don’t have to dream because you are in a dream now!” – Mehmet Murat ildan

 

Last weekend we did our first every winter camping trip. I know it is really spring now but we had four feet of snow on the ground and then temps got down to 17 degrees...so it was like winter. 

We went to Jay Cooke State Park in Carlton, MN It is just south of Duluth. It was so, so pretty and we had so much fun. 

We went on a couple of hikes with the dogs. As long as we stayed on the trail all was good. One foot off the trail and you sunk up to your knees...

Otis who never wants to hike in the summer acted like a puppy! I guess he is a winter camping dog. He usually is dragging behind me as we hike but not this time. He was the leader the whole time. He was like a different dog. 

We did run into a couple of very icy spots and may have had to slid down a couple hills on our butts. 

But the funnest part of our trip was the birds. We stepped out of our camper to go on a hike and the chickadee's and nuthatch's just started to fly down to us. I told Rick to hold out his had and one just landed right on it! 

We went and got a tiny piece of bread and crumbled it up and then they had a feast.

It was just so fun to have them just land in our hands. 

We were so happy that everything worked great in the camper van...her ever changing name is Ida at the moment. She kept us warm and cozy. I would do winter camping again in a minute. I am already thinking about where we can go next winter....

So in this endless Minnesota winter you can always find a little joy...

Sharon