Back From Vacation

This summer we invested in a pool and a deck on our house so our beach vacation was out! So we decided to take a little road trip to Johnson Shut Ins and Elephant Rock State Park. I had no idea how remote of an area we'd be in! Since we weren't on any kind of schedule we set out late in the afternoon and stopped in Herman for lunch. It is a beautiful German town on the river known for its wineries. We arrived to the Shut Ins area around dinner and were literally out in the middle of nowhere! We drove through two small towns and finally found a Motel that actually had a pool. We got a room for the night, had dinner, and enjoyed a swim. The next day we headed to the Shut Ins. We got there early and had the river almost to ourselves! Although it was hot the cool, clear stream was awesome! Unfortunately our day was cut short when a storm rolled in and they cleared everyone out. So we had a quick lunch and decided to drive the short drive to Elephant Rocks in hopes that the storm would blow over. What an awesome place to visit! We started out on the trail but it didn't take long before we were climbing and hiking on these giant granite rocks. Gabi was like a mountain goat and took off up these steep rocks like a pro! The views from the top were gorgeous! Gabi found a tight squeeze between two rocks that she decided to venture through. We wound our way through the rocks and at one point Gabi thought we were lost and said in a matter of fact tone, "Well we better start gathering some wood to build a home." We really had a great time exploring and taking pictures so we decided to head back to the little Motel for another night so we could spend a full day at the stream. We spent all day the following day in the water! Gabi snorkeled and explored the fish and rocks of the stream with her Dad. She is so funny! When she has that mask and snorkel on she is fearless! She can float for hours without so much as a though as to where she's at or whether or not she can touch! But take away her snorkel and she freaks out when she can't touch! So when we were exploring a little further downstream we had her put on her mask and swim and that she did! I wish I had my camera but I had to swim to get there and didn't have a waterproof camera with me! The rocks jutted high from the middle of the stream and formed natural water slides! It was crazy! Well, after two full days of rock climbing, hiking, and swimming we were exhausted and sore so we decided to make the drive home to enjoy our own bed! It was a great workout and one we will do again!