Day in the Life of an Idiot

 I love my friends, I really do. But, apparently, when I explain this project to people I am not terribly clear that what I am looking for in a State Park for Mason and I is not the roads that take a person TO a State Park, but the roads INSIDE the State Park. So, today when I was chatting with my Friday Zoom friends and one of them mentioned Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, my brain went "Ooooo.". Thanks to some of the other recommendations I've gotten and the fact that I've never been there before, I thought: GREAT! That's where we'll go today.  


Image: hidden fall in the park.

Don't get me wrong. It's an incredible park.

It's just that when Mason and I switched seats at the entrance? We drove about a half a block straight into the parking lot. There are no other roads. Technically we could have driven around the campgrounds, but it's also a very small loop. 

Mason, being an amazingly good sport, rolled with this and went on hike with me.

The park is a tough one because it's being heavily impacted by climate change, but we still had a lovely walk and even encountered a bird-shaped friend!  Calling all birders!  Squint at the picture below and you'll see a bird in this road. A plover of some kind perhaps? Google (and the list that the DNR has of possible options at this State Park) makes me think American Woodcock or Wilson's Snipe is actual the better guess. But, my bird fu is very, very low. So, if you know with more certanity, please let me know!


Image: trail bird

Despite driving an hour to drive for one second, we had a great time. Mason and I even made a stop on the way back to St. Paul at a Dairy Queen and had a little ice cream treat. A good day, just not one for Mason getting much driving in.

 
Image: Baptisia lactea (White Wild Indigo) in Afton State Park

It got warmer today than I was expecting (85 F / 29 C) so we didn't do as much hiking as we might have usually, especially since Afton State Park is largely open prairie. Which is to say that the sun was beating down on us pretty harshly. As we started out we ran into a couple who were clearly park enthusiasts. They overheard me grumbling lightly that I couldn't parse the map very well and they offered to advice. What did I want to see?  My answer: honestly, anything interesting!  So, they sized us up (Mason = indoorsy, long-haired nerd + me = fat middle-aged lady) and suggested the river with the caveat: "You do go down a long way." Which I immediately understood to mean, "And that will be tough coming back up."

We decided to brave it, anyway.

So, following the directions offered, we headed down the path. The first thing we encounters was this lovely observation deck, which Mason is modeling for you:


Image: Mason overlooking at the overlook. 

We followed the path down a very steep set of stairs and met many people in presumed better shaped than I am (their outward shape: more thin and pencil-like, mine being more like a comfy pillow) huffing and wheezing up the stairs.  Undaunted, we continued on across a high bridge that overlooked a small stream. Mason's eagle eyes caught sight of a grazing deer.  We stopped and watched her for a long time. At least one other set of adventurers came past us and we tried to get their attention, but they seemed decidedly uninterested in the wildlife around them. I fully believe that State Parks are for everyone, even the casual user, or the person who might just be looking for exercise, but I'm still always a little surprised when people blank you or actively say 'no' when you offer the question, "Do you want to see a deer [or other, fill the blank cool natural thing???]" 

But after the deer wandered out of sight, we continued onward to the beach.

There were a lot of people picnicking or taking advantage of the warm weather to swim. We saw several boats out on the water, as well.


Image: the St. Croix at Aspen

I had wanted to dip my toes in to cool off, because despite all the things that I had prepared in my hiking backpack the TWO THINGS that I forgot were actually deeply critical: water bottles and THE BUG SPRAY. Afton has warnings on their website about the sheer number of mosquitos that have hatched this year, so I can not believe I was so dumb as to leave the BUG SPRAY IN THE CAR. Second, we had stopped for a lunch before taking off for our hike/drive and neglected to remember to buy a couple of bottles of water for the backpack. I was really starting to feel a bit desperate for relief from the heat. However. I didn't end up putting my toes in because at the point I thought to do it, we had passed the sandy section of the shoreline and were nearer the less groomed, more mucky bits. Alas!

After a bit of a wander there, we headed back. We really missed the bug spray on the way back because when we returned to the bridge, we saw the deer again. She had returned (or possibly never left, being unafraid of unobservant passers-by) and was very near an alternate path we could see below. We decided to try out luck at getting close, but some a$$hole bird cried out in warning as we approached.

Seriously, we were whispering and trying to move stealthily, a bird of some kind made two very clear high-pitched BEEP, BEEPs in warning. She did it again when we had the river in sight. So, that bird was a legit narc.

This close to the little river the mosquitos, which have always found Mason tasty, swarmed. So, we tried to hightail it (not whitetail it, because she was long gone) up back to the regular path. 

Which is where I met my old enemy....


Image: STAIRS!!!

These were not Devil's Kettle level stairs, but... oh boy, on a hot day, I had to take my inhaler twice!  Plus, my hair is still kind of moist, despite being home and virtually unmoving for several hours now. 

However, we were rewarded at the top, near the Interpretive Center, by a park ranger with a telephoto lens pointed at an osprey nest. There was a family (of humans, with with small children) gathered near the lens, so even though I happened to be peeking through just as one of the bird parents returned with prey, I quickly handed it back to the smalls so they could see activity in the nest. So, I never saw the babies, at least not exactly, but I did see that the brave hunter parent brought something furry home for dinner!  (Probably just as well that I got murder cam, and the kids got baby cam, as it were, you know??)

Mason also did a bunch of driving, so I would say that the outing was a win. 

 For some reason, I was very worried this time about Willow's big appointment (spay).  I think it's partly because, of all the cats we have ever owned, she is so tiny.



Plus, for reasons known only to Shawn, she decided to schedule an MRI on Monday as well.  Likewise, Mason decided Monday would be a great day to work late at the Science Museum.  

Imagine, too, that in between all this driving back and forth (at least Shawn's hospital and Mason's work are all in downtown St. Paul) that the very first thing a very loopy, but NOT AT ALL SLOWED DOWN, Willow does is rip off her little cone, necessitating an emergency trip to PetCo for an inflatable donut, which I really need to get a picture of, because it's adorable and dorky.


Inflatable kitty donut and unimpressed kitty (don't notice messy house in background.)

She hates this, but doesn't struggle to pull it off, like she instantly did the plastic cone, and it works exactly the same way (plus gives her an aristocratic, Elizabethan look, IMHO.) Also, the vet was like, "she should refrain from jumping, playing, etc.," and we were like, "and we stop her, how???" because like, within seconds of being home she wanted all the plays, including playing roughhouse with our big orange cat. So, we had to separate her last night, by keeping her in Mason's room.

It was a lot of trauma yesterday.

Oh, and for those who care more about the humans, Shawn is fine--she's just had a lot of sciatica in her leg after the hospital stay. We've been blaming the horrible bed in the hospital, but this is also something she's had since giving birth. It just had a bad flair up, post-hospital and the doc wanted us to get an MRI "just to be sure." Which, at this point, with the July hospital stay, we have been over all our deductibles, so we might as well, you know? Shawn is clausterphobic, though, so this means she gets prescribed valium/its generic equivalent. She was kind of hilariously giggly after the imaging yesterday.

As we say in Minnesota. "It was QUITE the day."