Mom's Helper Project...

My little climber

Marcus is a climber and sometimes we come into a room and he is somewhere we he should not be.  He loves to be on top of things and stand on things.  Almost every day I find him tying to drag a chair chair around so he can wash his hands or brush is teeth but it kind of scares me and I really wanted to have something that was just a bit safer.  I spent a bit of time searching and found some plans on Anna White's website for a "Mother's Helper Stand" and decided to run with it.

Mother's Helper Link

It was a pretty easy project but I still had a few problems putting the wood toghether (had a few pieces split) but overall it went pretty well.  The entire project took me about 5 hours (including painting).  My favorite part of the project is that I got to the band saw that Luke gave me for Christmas for the first time and it was AWESOME.  I can't wait to use it again.

Here was the final result:

Here it is in action-

(Thwarted by) Nerstrand Big Woods State Park – Part Deux!

Avian Adventures Deciduous Biome

Clues at the park.

At Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

—Northfield, MN—

(a.k.a. Nerstrand Part Deux)

Last week, when we completed the Deciduous Biome, we were really excited to knock this one off.  In order to complete this biome we had to visit 25 states parks, state recreation areas, and state trail.  So it was more work than the first "biome" we knocked off (the so-called Tallgrass Aspen Parkland biome).  We had visited Nerstrand State Park before (Marcus, mom, and dad first, then Luke solo later to try to finish the biome), so we already had the clues needed to determine what the actual coordinates were.  We actually completed them on the drive home from our southeastern trip last week, so we were ready to roll.

Answers to to the clues.

                                                                                                  

On a funny note we would not have been able to solve these clues if we had not visited all of the parks (although Luke almost pulled it off before the rain and dark stopped him from checking all the possibilities he came up with weeks ago).  The last park we saw, Carley State Park, actually had the answer to 2 of the clues... glad we did not try to skip that park!

Kyle making dinner and Marcus watching.

We had talked to some friends from Northfield (the Willkomm family) about giving them a call when we were finally ready to visit this geocache and geocaching it with them.  We made our plans and headed down to meet them for a fun dinner grill-out and geocache hunt at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park (they live pretty close by).  The road we always take to get here is really crazy and there is no direct way at all from Fairbault.  They showed us a much better route up to Northfield on our way home later on.  Also, when Luke was here by himself trying to finish the biome on a late Sunday night he got a flat tire (a bad weld fell off somebody's vehicle/trailer/something and impaled the front tire), making getting home to the Cities rather interesting.

When we finally got through traffic and got to Nerstrand their family was already there and waiting.  Amy and Kyle are good friends of mine from college, and they have an AWESOME family with 5 girls (Anna, Lucia, Darby, Lizzy, and Vivi).  We always know we are going to have a good time when they are around.  Marcus is also a huge fan of the girls.

The adults prepared dinner while Marcus and the girls ran off and played at the playground.  These kids are great with Marcus, and it was really nice to get a chance to visit with Amy and Kyle for a while.  Darby even took Marcus over to the swings and pushed him around for awhile.

"Weeeee!"

 The park was pretty quiet (our usual experience here), and we had a lot of fun just hanging out and eating – between us we brought enough food to feed far more than our families (but doesn't that always happen).  The cutest comment of the meal was made by Vivi.  She whispered to me, "Is is true that Lizzy is your favorite?"  I told her no, that we liked them all, but Lizzy was our godchild.  Super-cute moment!

Lizzy holding her pet grasshopper.

Running off to play.

 After we finished up dinner we were off to geocache... we were all so excited.  The girls have done this before so they are experienced.  Darby actually held onto the GPS and lead the way.  Vivi held Marcus's had so he would not get lost.

We went into the woods, and it was not far until we found the spot that put us really close to the final cache.  Since this was a puzzle cache, we did not have to do multiple stops along the way.

It was BUGGY in the woods!

Our geocaching team looked high... we looked low... we looked everywhere.  Eventually Amy took the younger girls and Marcus out of the forest and away from the bugs, but a few of us stayed behind to continue searching.  I read the logs, and it said it was a hard find and was a smaller container, but people had eventually found it.  We double-checked our coordinates to make sure I entered them right (I did) and even looked over the questions to make sure I did not make a stupid mistake (I didn't).  With ten of us searching (for a long time) we were seriously stumped and for the first time we gave up.  The ranger station was closed, so there was no one to ask about it (sometimes "muggles" find them and destroy/move the caches).

The coordinates put us right near this here sign.  Can you see the final cache?

We hiked back to the main entrance (it was already closed) and met back up with the group.  This is the first time we have been defeated by a cache!  Even though we didn't find the cache it was a really great night, and we loved hanging out with the Willkomm family!

Part of Team Avian Geocache 2014: Anna, Vivi, Marcus (founding member), Lizzy, Lucia, and Darby.

Time to go!

On Wednesday morning I called the park and spoke with an employee – the first thing I did was verify the coordinates to make sure we had answered the questions correctly and found out we were right about the coordinates.  Next I described where we were looking in the park, and he also said that was correct.  He took down my information and said a ranger would call me back after they checked to make sure it was still here.  A few days later I got a call and IT WAS MISSING!!!!  They planned on putting a replacement cache out in a few days.  I have to admit that made me feel a little bit better, but it still makes me crabby that we have to head back or we will be one card short!

Here are few last pictures of our evening at Nerstrand!

Pretty basswood tree!  With poison ivy all around the base of it...

A few of the girls show Marcus how to make noise by jumping on the well covers...  Boy, can they teach him a lot!  He had a really good time.

Carley State Park

Carley State Park

—Plainview, MN—

Carley State Park is a very small state park (209 acres) that is just north of Whitewater State Park.  One of the branches of the Whitewater River actually flows through it.  It does not have a ranger station or as many visitors, so it was very quiet when we got there and were greeted by the registration kiosk.  The initial GPS coordinates sign was right there, so it was easy to start.                                                                 One funny thing that was happening here was Johnball Nationals – we saw that because there was a large sign directing them to a camp site.  We had no clue what Johnball was – never heard of it before.  According to their website: "Johnball is a fun and exciting sport in which players use plastic bats to hit rubber balls at each other. Described as “dodgeball with bats,” the game is largely defined by its dedication to simplicity, inclusivity, and downright good times."  We never ran into this group, but still thought it was kind of funny! 

Johnball Website.

Checking it out.

Marcus at the kiosk.

Location # 2 coordinates.

Johnball nationals...

We left the car near the kiosk (since no one was around to worry about) and headed off to the next spot.  It was just a small walk around the park.  Their was a historical plaque that Marcus was really interested in.

While Marcus was reading the history, Luke found the next location.  It was hiding right behind the bench Luke is standing on.

A little weathered.

Poison ivy behind this bench.

The GPS lead us right down a cute little path into the woods...

A fork in the road... Let's take the smaller one!

Which way now?

The path we took was not very straight, but it was pretty nice.  Eventually we got to a spot that the GPS said was right on top of the cache... look at what Marcus found... yet another tree stump with a box hidden under it.  Since this was the third box today, we got pretty good at identifying them.

What a weird video.  Seems a bit lossy.  And... just weird.

We got our cards and took our time on the trail back. 

We even stopped to look at the overlook of the Whitewater River Valley.

A long day of geocaching completed – it was time to go home.  We hit 6 parks and had 6 finds in less than one day.  This also marks the completion of the deciduous forest biome – we got all 26 cards, so now we can go back to Nerstrand Big Woods and answer all of the questions needed to finish that biome challenge, a milestone since there are only four biomes to do in the state (if you count the somewhat fictitious "Tallgrass Aspen Parkland" biome...).

54 done—a "mere" 27 to go!

We had a really pretty sunset on the way home.  One of the fun things about this project is that we are really getting to know the state of Minnesota and its many cities and roads (in addition to the parks).  These were pictures on our way back to Rochester to get to Highway 52.  The car GPS has some strange directions sometimes, but on the upside we were able to hit one of the only remaining Fazoli's in the state!

Our view while while on the road into Rochester.  Like a Martian sunset.  See below.

Compare the Rochester sunset to the Mars sunset (taken by the Spirit rover in 2005).  Picture taken from Wikipedia.

Much smaller than the sun looks like from Earth.  This is what the sun kind of looked like in the hazy skies on the way to Rochester (with more red color).

Whitewater State Park

Whitewater State Park

—Altura, MN—

 The drive from Beaver Creek Valley State Park to Whitewater State Park was not very long and was very pretty.  The drive followed and cut through the bluffs.  It was hilly and curvy and pretty fun to travel through.  This is really just a super-cute part of the state.  When we got to Whitewater we quickly found the first set of coordinates right outside of the nature store.  It was already closed for the day and the park was pretty quiet.

By this time in the day Marcus was pretty antsy and was sick of being in the car.  He wanted to run and play!

When we entered coordinates for the next point it was across the street, and we saw a trail so we headed over.  The trail was full of steps – with a trail rating of "strenuous" – we hiked for a while and could not seem to get any closer... I was carrying Marcus, and he was getting heavy (this is why I don't have pictures of the hike!).  After hiking for a while, Luke and I saw a little path on the hillside that looked promising, but it also had some poison ivy, so it was up to me to explore.  Luke went back to the car to charge his GPS and look at the map to see if there was a better trail at the coordinates that followed the road along the bottom of the hill.  Marcus and I, still carrying Marcus, went onward... but pretty soon I stopped.  The trail was small—and kind of scary—and once again we were not getting any closer...
                                  I looked down the hill, and it looked like I could see a trail through the woods – it looked like that was where we were supposed to be.  Marcus and I went back down the trail we were on, the Dakota Trail, and went back out to the road.  The right trail was only about 150 feet down the road!

Now we were on the Meadow Trail – I like this name a bit more; with a rating of "easy" this seemed like the right place to be.

Marcus and I made our way to the trail, and after a short walk, we were already at the next location – Marcus found it quickly (he also tried to take the pins out and take it with us)...

We grabbed the information and continued our hike in the meadow.  

Marcus found a glow stick in the car and insisted on carrying it everywhere at the park.

We crossed over a really cute stream.  This was the middle branch of the Whitewater River.  The river and the bluffs are the focus of this state park.

"Picturesque limestone bluffs and deep ravines make Whitewater a very popular southeastern state park. The 2,700 acre park is an angler's paradise with brown, brook, and rainbow trout swimming in the spring-fed Whitewater River and Trout Run Creek..."
—Minnesota DNR website

Once we crossed the bridge we were in the middle of a beautiful meadow.  The wildflowers were blooming; the tall grass was blowing in the wind – if felt perfect.

It was not far until we found the final cache.  Marcus was excited to get his "bock bock" card.

Once we gathered our treasures (Marcus got a small piggy bank with 3 quarters in it), we headed back into the meadow to return to the car and reach Luke.  This was a fun cache, but I got a really good workout in carrying Marcus around!