One weekend in late June, Nate, Colin, and I went camping at Ouabache State Park (pronounced Wabash). The park is near Bluffton and Fort Wayne, Indiana. For an Indiana State park, it is on the small side - but super nice. There weren't too many people there and the weather wasn't too hot. Just the way we like it.
After we first arrived and got checked in to our camp site we had to hit the playground. We het the playground about 94 times in the two days we were there.
But while we were at the playground that first time, Nate and I started to notice there was a storm blowing in. So Nate checked the radar on the Blackberry. How did we used to function without cell phones? There was one of those storms with the blinking red blobs headed right towards the park.
So I did the smart thing and climbed the 100' fire tower. Megan and Colin pressured me into it - but Colin bailed out after the first flight of stairs. Megan pressed on all the way to the top. The fire tower is pretty flexible at the top. It was really moving around in the wind (what a shocker). I think I asked Megan if she wanted to turn around and go back down every 4th step, but she was determined to get to the top. So when we got to the top I lifter her up so she could see out. We could make out those storm clouds quite nicely from up there. After about a 5 second stay, we headed back down. By the time we got back to the bottom, I was shaking like a leaf. She wasn't even phased. Maybe next time we go it will be better weather.
We almost threw in the towel and headed out while the storm was going on, but it moved out in about an hour. So did the heat and most of the people. So it was perfect for us.
We had brought our bikes, so we decided to try out the park's bike trail before we set up our camp site. We figure we rode about 4 miles in all, which is pretty good considering we had a 5-year old with us and I hadn't ridden a bike in maybe seven years?? The bike trail there is very nice. The grades are pretty flat. Not much traffic. Shady and sunny spots.
The most challenging part was riding with Megan. She was going a snails pace at first and as an adult bike rider, there is a certian minimum speed you have to go to stay upright. We were definitely riding right about that speed for the first mile or so. Then she got a bit braver and sped up. Colin crashed a few times, but as a rookie rider without training wheels, we kind of expected that. So Nate and I just took turns switching between riding with each kid. It was fun.
After the bike ride we headed back to camp and set up the tent and stuff.
In the picture below, you can see the kids and Nate in our tent. After this picture the air mattress you see below got thrown away. It deflated in the middle of the night. We're going to try cots next time.
First thing in the morning we went on a short trail around the wildlife exhibit there at the park. They have a herd of about 5 or so buffalo.
All in all the camping trip was a success. I ended up with very sore leg muscles for the next couple of days. I don't know if it was climbing the fire tower, riding bikes, or sleeping on the ground that did it, but I was really sore. We're planning another trip this fall when the weather cools back down.
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