My Birthday vacation to South East Minnesota *DUW*

yes.. vacation TO minnesota, FROM minnesota

lol

It was about a 5 hour drive one way.. so that surely counts as a vacation.. right?

And thank you for all of the kind birthday wishes!!!


So here is how it all played out..

First.. we left at 6 am on Sunday morning (UGH) We stopped at a small cafe about an hour south of Minneapolis, called "little Oscars" for breakfast.. It was GREAT!

Then to our next stop (no clue how far, I was trying to freaking sleep) Great River Bluffs state park. We spent about 2 hours walking the trails to the top of the cliffs!!

Here is the view we saw


while up there we saw this beautiful guy, jerk glared at me I SWEAR!


and of course these were everywhere


so finally we huffed back down to the car, and went to the next stop, Beaver Creek Valley state park, where we walked these dang stairs.. oh they don't look like much.. but they went WAAAYYYY Farther then you can see, because they had to go left, then right, then left to climb up the wall.. and OMG, my legs hated me!



And here are a few more random photos of what we saw while on that walk

So purdy!!! I love the wilderness Im sure it was nice to get out and enjoy yourself huh?

Great Vulture shot! I love those guys, they look so graceful riding on the thermals

Next we finally got to the small (omg small) personal cabin, at Hidden Bluffs Resort. Learned that there is NO cell service *makes sense due to the surrounding cliffs* and no television. (which I was fine with)

We again, went for about a 2 hour walk up and around.. here are a couple things we saw..







And here is the view of our camp site from atop a cliff (keep in mind I Have the 200mm lens on)


we finally headed home on Tuesday (my official birthday) We first stopped at Niagra Caves.





On our way to the next destination, we stopped to have a chat with these folks


the one ran off, but the other actually came a bit closer, and "chatted" with Chris.. she would head bob.. he would head bob back.. for a good ten minutes, before I started to get jealous :P



and finally, the last stop before home. Mystery Caves.



and this, was amazing.. naturally it is hard to photograph a cave in depth due to lighting.. but this under ground lake *called turqoise lake* was just B-E-A-UTIFUL!



but leave it to me to think of this little guy as the best part of the caves! I would randomly point out.. BAT! and the guide would look.. find it.. and look at me with an odd gaze.. "wow, you got a good eye for them".. these bats were between 1 and 2 inches in length.. lol so very small..



FINALLY.. we came home.. I got to check my dang voicemail/texts.. *sigh*.. now time to catch up on all the cleaning that I didn't do.

*pouts*

Originally Posted by Mooing Tricycle

So purdy!!! I love the wilderness Im sure it was nice to get out and enjoy yourself huh?

Great Vulture shot! I love those guys, they look so graceful riding on the thermals

lol, It was GREAT to get away from it all.. and GREAT to have the dogs "babysat" for 5 days.. lol

we never got bored *but one more day we would have*. we played horse shoes *I won* and mini golf *I won* .. and played catch *guess you could say he won, because I have a damaged rotator cuff and threw my dang shoulder out .. AGAIN.

we played some texas hold'em.. we finally just called it a draw after 2 hours.. lol.. learned a couple "chip tricks"



I NEVER get to enjoy my birthday.. I got to meet Jim Gaffigan a few years back.. that part was awesome *the rest of the day was aweful*


So I am SOOooo happy I finally got to enjoy it.. not sure why, but I ALWAYS get excited when my birthday is coming up.. and for once.. there was a reason!!!

WOOOO! Nice stuff. Get the heck away for a while.

Originally Posted by Uroboros

WOOOO! Nice stuff. Get the heck away for a while.

yup..

and got myself a nice breeding collection of Ticks.. multiple kinds..

Wanna buy some ticks? HA HA HA HA

Originally Posted by Miss Tuniwha

yup..

and got myself a nice breeding collection of Ticks.. multiple kinds..

Wanna buy some ticks? HA HA HA HA

I read somewhere that your ticks are infested with mites, sorry.

:P

Hahahha, Are YOU WC?

Originally Posted by Uroboros

I read somewhere that your ticks are infested with mites, sorry.

:P

Hahahha, Are YOU WC?

HA HA HA HA HA

no mites here to be found, I assure you that..

and .. well.. MAYBE I am a lil WC.. shhhhh

Definitely WC. Awesome pictures, and glad to hear you had a vacation!