Afton State Park

Afton State Park

On Memorial Day we decided that we were not done geocaching for the weekend and that we wanted to get one more park in.  We set our sights on Afton State Park, which is just on the other side of the metro area.  We also decided to picnic because it was a perfect day (a truly summer day with enough humidity to almost make us miss the late spring days we had earlier)!

Marcus enjoying his picnic lunch!  He avoided the wet spot in the grass under the blanket that his dad found.

We got to the park right about 1:30 pm, so we started off by having a bit of lunch.  Marcus really enjoyed the picnic... But once we were done it was time to GEOCACHE!

It was not far to the first location.  We could actually see it from our picnic spot.

We started the hike to Location #2 and decided to stop off at the Information Building.  Unlike some state parks this was not huge, but it did have a few cool posters.

We found the second location quickly and found the above clue.  I have never seen one like this – they actually listed the 4th clue right here.  Normally you can only get one at a time because you could just skip number three and go on the last one.

Right about this time we ran into another couple who was also geocaching.  They were having a few problems with the GPS, and it is similar to the one Luke uses, so he helped them out.

"Yes, what have we got here..."

Have blanket, will travel.

We went on the third cache.  Marcus decided that he wanted to walk... and drag his blankie along... I ended up carrying the blanket for part of the walk.  Let me tell you, carrying a fleece blanket is 85 degree heat is really exciting.  

We actually walked with the other couple and visited for a while.  They were really friendly and were also pretty experienced geocachers from the Cities.

The prairie was beautiful!

  It didn't take long to find number three – but this one was kind of tricky – it was tucked behind a sign on a post.  This was the first time I saw something like that.

We kept hiking onward to number 4!

It was about another 0.3 miles and we found our way to Number 4!  It looks like a bench, but it was a good hiding spot too!

Marcus looking at his "Bock Bock" card...

This is the couple we met – their Geocache handle is LPV2000.  I am not sure if I have ever talked about the log books before.  In the world of geocaching you come up with a "handle", and this is how you record where you have been.  There is always a small notepad in the final geocache to record your name/handle and when you found it (a little like a time capsule).  Our handle is a simple one: FiedlerFamily; my dad's is eyecanfind... we know several other cachers as well.  We also have met:

     -czechcashteam1

     -gingerhiker

Both of these guys are working on the avian adventure and are ahead of us.

When out you see a lot of the same names you get to know a bit about them and where they have been.  It is kind of fun.

This is a map view of the four geocache locations at Afton State park.  It is a fun view to see exactly where we went.

And, of course – here is our prize for this trip.

The whistles of the meadowlark transport one away to the prairie: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/eastern_meadowlark/sounds

Now since we had no place we needed to be, we decided to spend a bit more time at the park hiking around.  The geocache locations were all on the top of the hill and didn't give us any chance to see the St. Croix River at all.  Here are some pictures from our hike after we finished geocaching and went to see the river.  

A very tall hillside and a lot of steps to get down here to the river!

Marcus LOVED the water.

The beach was a bit under water.  The recent weeks had had a lot of rain everywhere in Minnesota.

A final view of the St. Croix.  High waters here like everywhere this weekend!

One last funny story from the day... Luke took Marcus into the bathroom to change his diaper.  I was just hanging out in the Information Center waiting when I heard some commotion... a moment later Marcus came running out of the bathroom sans pants... just his diaper and a shirt.  Luke followed a moment later carrying wet shorts...

During the diaper change Marcus managed to throw his shorts in the urinal right next to the changing table... oops... fortunately we brought extra clothes for him to wear outside in the car!

In the winter Afton Alps opens as a ski area in the middle of Afton State Park, but in the summertime the ski chalet doubles as a clubhouse for the golf course that is there.

Golf season has begun! 

Near the putting green beside the clubhouse and looking down the valley toward the St. Croix River in the valley below.