Vacation in Decorah - June 2015

We wanted to take a family vacation this summer, but are somewhat limited by what kind of vacations will actually be "fun" with a 1 year old and a 3 year old!  We decided that we liked to bike, hike, and be outside.  However, we are not interested in camping with the kids this age (camping will happen in the future, I promise!).  We also did not want to travel real far.  We decided to go to Decorah, IA, which is in the far northeast corner of Iowa, and close to the Mississippi River. 

We took a million pictures on vacation, both on our cell phones and on the nice camera.  For the blog today I'm only putting pictures from my cell phone, because I have access to those without getting up...if you want to see more pictures and are friends with me on Facebook, you can see many, many more pictures there!

We had a full minivan!  2 Burleys, a baby gate, a high chair seat, a stroller, our bags...traveling with toddlers is complicated!

 We stayed in Whitetail Cabin, which is a privately owned cabin on the southern edge of Decorah.  The cabin is located on the edge of the family farm, and is surrounded by trees, corn fields, and a cow pasture, so it is private and quiet.  The cabin itself was very nice, with a bedroom, full kitchen, and bathroom upstairs and a family room downstairs.  My only complaint was the stairs...not so much that they are steep, but that they are open to the basement with a 5 foot drop off the side!  Of course, the first thing Laurel did when we got to the cabin was ignore my plea to step away from that corner.  Instead she did the opposite of what I asked and backed into the stairway, falling down the first curve, then right off the edge straight to the basement floor!  Fortunately she missed the wooden chest down there, and kept her arms up because she was holding stuff in her hands, so didn't break an arm catching herself.  In fact, the only injury we could find was a bruise on her hip and a bruise on her ankle.  We did watch for signs of concussion, but she told us many times that she did not hit her head.  It was a scary start to vacation, but it did ensure that Laurel was very cautious going down the stairs for the rest of the stay!

Guess where we used the baby gate?  At the top of the stairs!

Nicolas woke up early every morning, and the first thing he wanted to do was go out on the deck and look at the cows.

 Monday

On Monday we visited the Decorah Fish Hatchery.  It is right next to Trout Run Creek, and at the hatchery they raise trout that is used to stock the creek and other streams and rivers.  We really enjoyed throwing food into the fish tanks and watching the trout flop and splash to get the food.

Can we get more food?  It was a quarter for each handful, and I think we spent a few bucks here.

Right across the street from the Hatchery is the Decorah Eagle's Nest.  They have a camera on the nest and broadcast it live on the internet 24 hours a day.

 The Fish Hatchery is right next to Siewer's Spring.  This is a natural spring that flows out into a creek and then into Trout Run.  It has been modified, but is still a beautiful waterfall, and many people were fishing in the creek.

We thought about going for a bike ride that evening, but we were pretty tired.  We decided to ride our bikes right away the next morning, and go to a local playground that evening instead.  We went to one of the schools that had a very nice playground, and the entire area was covered in soft rubber mats.  The kids had a blast, as did Mom and Dad!

Nicolas says Peek-A-Boo!

Tuesday 

On Tuesday morning we got up nice and early, thanks to the kids, and got ready for a bike ride.  Decorah has an 11 mile bike trail around the city.  According to the map, 7 miles were considered "easy," and the other 4 are "strenuous."  We decided to start at a trailhead part way through the "strenuous" part, so we started with 3.5 miles of strenuous, and ended with a 1/2 mile of strenuous.  They weren't kidding about that!  It got very hilly, with long uphill stretches and lots of switchbacks.  Also awesome sections of downhill where you could coast and great scenery.  We brought both Burleys, so each kid sat in their own chariot, and each parent pulled a cart.  I didn't get any pictures along the trail because I didn't carry my cell phone with me.  :)

After we showered and ate lunch, we headed north to Seed Savers Heritage Farm.  I was really looking forward to visiting this place, but it ended up being not quite as exciting as I anticipated.  Partly because it was 95 degrees and most of the farm is in the sun.  And partly because I spent the entire time chasing a 1 year old that never sits still.  I would like to go back on a cool day without kids.  Laurel and I did get to wade through a small creek while there, which knocked another item off our vacation bucket list.

Seed Savers Visitors Center

 After supper we went to Phelps Park, which is a city park on a bluff overlooking the Upper Iowa River.  It had a couple really awesome playgrounds as well as a nature path right along the bluff.

Piggy Back Selfie!

This is the walking trail on the bluff.  Really beautiful rock work and pergolas.

See there, Nicolas?  You can see the river!

Scott and the hot, sweaty, tired kids.

Mom!  I'm looking at the clouds!  I see a dino!

 Wednesday

On Wednesday we wanted to do another bike ride, but were still a little sore from the strenuous Trout Run Trail the day before.  On our way to Decorah we had seen the trail head of another bike trail in a small town 10 miles south of Decorah.  It is a former rail line trail, so we knew it would be straight and flat and an easier ride.  So we packed a picnic lunch and headed down to the Prairie Farmer Trail.  We went 7 miles out and 7 miles back, then ate our picnic lunch at the trail head, which is a former railway depot.

All aboard!

 After lunch we decided to visit Dunning's Spring, which is a 200 foot waterfall in Decorah.  We had stopped there the afternoon before, but Laurel fell asleep in the car as we were looking for a parking spot, so we decided to let her nap and come back later.  It was absolutely beautiful!!!  The waterfall was beautiful, the water level was low enough that you could walk in it safely, the water was ice cold, and you could climb steps to see the cave where the springs originated.  We spent a couple hours there and had a blast.  We let the kids walk in the water for a while, but they thought it was too cold.  So then I put Nic into the sling and we climbed around and had a grand time.

Scott and Laurel were climbing up to the top while Nicolas and I sat at the edge of the water.  I want to note that we rolled straight out of bed, rode our bikes 14 miles, ate lunch outside, then drove straight to the waterfall...the point is, I made no effort to look good for pictures.  No makeup, didn't do my hair, sweaty, crappy clothes.  You know what?  I'm more concerned about having wonderful memories with my family and don't really care how I look. 

Walking in the water

If we had stayed for 15 more minutes, Nic would have fallen asleep.

 After we left Dunning's Spring we decided to drive through Palisades Park, which is on another bluff over the Upper Iowa River.  The Park has a ton of mountain biking trails, which would be fun, but not pulling a kid in a Burley!  We drove up to the lookout point, took some pictures, then drove back down.  It reminded me of driving in Sequoia and King's Canyon Park in California...but without the big trees.  :)

Thursday

When we went to bed around midnight on Wednesday night, the forecast for Thursday was that the rain would begin around 10am.  We decided to get up early and ride the Trout Run Trail one more time before it started raining.  Nicolas woke up at 5am, Laurel woke up at 5:30am...and it was already raining!  So we had to miss out on another bike ride, which was pretty disappointing!  We did a little research on rainy-day friendly activities for small kids in the area, and decided to drive east to the Mississippi River.

Our first stop was a Spook Cave and Campground, just outside of MacGregor, IA.  The campground was surprisingly big and really nice, if you are ever in that area.  I have toured a lot of caves, but never been in one that you tour by boat before.  It was a really neat tour and a good activity for the kids.

Laurel checking out the entrance to Spook Cave

The first 50 feet after you enter the cave are pretty low, and you have to duck down in your seat on the boat.  Nicolas did not like that at all, and screamed loudly!  Once we got into where the cave opened up, he quit crying and enjoyed the tour a little more.  You can tell he is really enjoying it here.

Laurel was also a bit concerned about the low ceilings.

Exiting the cave

The cave was first opened to tourists 60 years ago.  The boats we rode in were the original boats!  When they first opened the cave they built a small dam in order to raise the level of water in the caves and allow the boats to enter.  They also had a small mill-wheel that supplied all the power for the lights in the cave (it still supplies some power, but not quite enough to meet all their needs).

 After we finished our cave tour we drove through MacGregor and Marquette, which are both quaint towns right on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River.  We then decided to visit Effigy Mounds National Monument, which is just north of Marquette.  We went to the visitor's center and watched the movie, then walked the 50 feet or so to this set of 3 Mounds.  Unfortunately, the rain prevented us from hiking to see any of the animal mounds.  We will have to go back there again!  On a positive note, I did get another stamp for my National Park Passport!

Laurel and Scott at the 3 Mounds

 We then drove across the river into Wisconsin for lunch.  How exciting!

Thursday afternoon we let the kids nap in the cabin while we started the packing up process.  Laurel has not napped for the last year and a half, but we much have kept her busy enough to tire her out on vacation, because she took an afternoon nap almost every day!

Friday

We briefly thought about trying to squeeze in another bike ride before leaving on Friday morning, but decided that showering, packing our stuff, packing the car, and watching the toddlers would take too much time.  Instead, we called our nephew Wesley and asked if he wanted to meet us for lunch in the Iowa City area.  It was great to see him for a few minutes!  We then visited Uncle Shawn's grave, which now has a headstone.  

Laurel had picked up a little rock from one of the waterfalls and was bringing it home.  Instead, we decided to leave it on Uncle Shawn's grave.

Saturday

On Saturday we were officially home from our trip to Decorah, but we still considered it part of our "vacation" because we took another road trip!  Scott's Aunt Dixie has a family reunion in June every year at her place in SW Iowa, and we didn't want to miss it.  So we repacked some extra clothes and swimsuits and headed out on Saturday morning.  It was nice to see all the family members and eat some amazing smoked pork loin (and other food, but the smoked pork was so so delicious).

It had rained, and the driveway was filled with large mud puddles.  We would have had to spend the next 4 hours chasing Nicolas away from the puddles, which didn't sound fun or relaxing.  Instead, I decided to just let him play and change his clothes right before we went home.  He and Laurel had a blast jumping in the puddles all day!  Laurel also got to play in the kiddie pool fully clothed at the end of the day.  More outdoor fun!

Laurel and her cousin blowing bubbles