Parks with the Clarks

 Our annual adventure with the Clarks changed direction last year, as we have visited all of the Little House on the Prairie sites in the midwest.  Last year, after tenting it, we decided to plan ahead and book a camper cabin at Lac Qui Parle State Park.  On the way there, we stopped for a picnic lunch at Upper Sioux Agency State Park.  GPS led us first to the campground area, where we stopped to check out the tipis that you can reserve and stay in.  We had to take a detour to the main area of the park, where we found the picnic area and "playground".  The playground turned out to be an old swing set with no swings.  Still, the kids managed to make up a game to play as they always do.  

After our picnic lunch, we took a look at the historical sites and took a short hike through the woods, before continuing on to Lac Qui Parle State Park.

We checked in and found our camper cabin, then we headed to the swimming beach.  Unfortunately, a storm was rolling in, so the swimming lasted just a few minutes.

During the storm, we headed to Montevideo for dinner.  We found a little Dairy Freeze (like a DQ) for food and an ice cream treat.  Fortunately, it wasn't raining in Montevideo while we ate outside.  

After dinner, we headed back to the state park's swimming beach where the kids had a blast playing.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset back at the camper cabin, and an uneventful night with little sleep from the moms (somehow, Tiffany and I never end up getting much sleep on these adventures!).  In the morning, after breakfast, we checked out the historic church at the park.

Before heading out of the park, we found MN's largest cottonwood tree.  It was pretty amazing how large it was!

On our way through Montevideo, we decided to stop at a historic village.  We enjoyed walking through all of the buildings, and the kids had a lot of fun playing and pretending like they were a family from the past.

Our last stop was a Subway picnic lunch at the local park that the kids had spotted the evening before, then we made the drive home.  We had a great time, and I think we definitely enjoyed the camper cabin experience together--hopefully we can find another one for next summer's adventure!