Making Tracks- Minnesota to Utah

After leaving Canada, we stopped at the Red River State Recreation Area campground in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.  Following devastating floods the cities of Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota joined together to create a greenway that provides recreation and protects the cities from future flooding of the Red River.  We enjoy our stay in this area to restock the cupboards, enjoy the city parks, browse through Cabela’s and view a movie and pretty much all within walking distance!  This year we immersed ourselves into Disney-Pixar’s new movie “Brave”.  We were also treated to a reshowing of “How to Train Your Dragon”.

(photo courtesy of Disney-Pixar)

From point A in East Grand Forks, Minnesota we traveled to Mitchell, South Dakota for an overnight stop.  Wouldn’t you know there’s a Cabela’s there too?  Then we made our way through the edge of the Black Hills and decided to return to Chadron State Park in Nebraska (point C).  We stayed 3 nights before a long travel day with an overnight stop in Lyman, Wyoming.  Moving on to our current location (point E) in Marysvale, Utah to ride the trails before returning home.  According to Google Maps that is 1486 miles from point A in East Grand Forks to point E in Marysvale!

We stopped in Chadron a few years ago and had a great time.  The same was true this year, except there was a bonus!  Due to the drought, there weren’t nearly as many ticks! 

We swam in the warm pool, practiced archery, walked the grounds, played on the playgrounds, and watched the turkeys meander through our site.

Now we are settled in at the South Forty campground where we stayed earlier in our trip to ride the ATV trails!

(Deer Creek Reservoir, Utah)

Chadron State Park- Nebraska

We left the Black Hills of South Dakota for a short drive to Chadron State Park in Chadron, Nebraska.  We can add another state to our camping list!  This park is truly a gem!  It is Nebraska’s first state park and it is gorgeous!

Can you see our fifth wheel over there?  This is a shot from one of the many hiking/biking trails.

Here’s a closer look.  The campground is great!  The sites are plenty big, electric and have shade trees!  In addition to a great site, Chadron has lots of activities to keep you busy.

They have trail rides!  Caleb’s horse was named “Dallas” and he liked to munch on the tall grass along the trail.  The ride was set among the forest but climbed to some overlooks of the Pine Ridge.  It was our family plus the wranglers… our own private ride!  This was a great opportunity since we don’t have our own horses anymore.  And it was Caleb’s first long ride. 

After lunch we were off to the activity center.  They have a snack bar and crafts, but Caleb had his eyes set on the archery range!

Look closely!  That’s 3 for 3 in the yellow centered bullseye!
Next challenge?  Hatchet throwing! 
Wow we’ve had so much fun at this state park.  We’ve been swimming in their pool and played on their playgrounds.  They even have a pond to fish in and paddleboats to ride.  We decided to stay here for 4 nights, but who knows it could be more!