Father Hennepin State Park

Father Hennepin State Park

After we left Kathio State Park we followed Lake Mille Lacs to get to the next park.  It wasn't very far.  Father Hennepin is right on the lake (almost in town like Flandau was) and is really pretty.  This is going on the list of parks I want to visit again (some of the only sandy beachfront on all of Mille Lacs).

We got to Father Hennpin, and Luke went in and spoke with the ranger – we learned that there is an albino deer in the park that we might see if we are lucky. Sounds cool – wish we would have seen it.

We drove into the park, and the family jumped out of the car and quickly found location # 1.  As I have said before, it is completely up to each ranger how they set up the clues and hide the caches.  When we see an information kiosk that is usually a pretty good hint as to where it is.  That does not tell you if it is going to be just posted or if it is going to be hidden a bit sneakier.  This ranger was a bit sneakier but not crazy.

Look Up!

We followed the path, and it was really pretty.  The park sits on a peninsula so there was water on all sides.  Also this weekend is the fishing opener in Minnesota, so there were people everywhere on the lake.

Nice view on the hike.  Almost looks like autumn!

It is was a nice short walk to the second location.

 Now we are off to the 3rd and final location.

This was a really neat final location.  They incorporated the bird theme into the final cache.

Marcus checking out the card.

On the way back to the car we spent a bit of time on the beach enjoying the water and the sand.

Sandy is most definitely a water dog!  He's in his element here.  Standing in the water, drinking the water.  You know.

One of the accommodations we had to make in order to take Sandy along was to bring a smaller stroller.  We brought along our travel stroller – nice and compact however it didn't roll so great in the grass and the sand.  I missed our big running stroller.

You can see the tracks in the sand.

Mommy pushing the stroller through the grass.  Yes, it was tough!

Marcus was pretty excited – when we walked back to the car we stopped by the playground for a few moments.  Marcus LOVES slides and this one was deceptively fast.

Here is the avian geocache card from Father Hennepin State Park.  This time it was the Common Tern.

One last view of the lake – It was quite the sight.