Day 2 of our staycation – on to Maquoketa Caves. We visited here last year and loved it so much we decided to take my dad and mom along with us this year. Unfortunately Eric had to work so he had to stay behind. First we ate our picnic lunch – PB & J sandwiches and chips! As you can see – at the visitor station Drew found a snake to make friends with. He loves all things creepy crawly and thank goodness I’m not too squeamish. I don’t know how I would have survived all these years with three boys if I was! Drew even let me pet this little guy before giving him back to its owner! (Again, I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. Forgot my camera again)
I am always amazed at how the terrain changes so drastically in Iowa. Just a couple of hours from here it is flat and you can see for miles. Here you find this. So many people seem to have the misconception that Iowa is all corn fields. Boy are they wrong!
You can hike for hours in this State Park – up and down the bluffs – down in the bottom along the water, exploring caves big and small. It was a little too rough for Dad and Mom so we spent a little time here and then decided to see what else we could find.
We headed towards the beautiful Mississippi River and the river drive. We drove past the American Pickers headquarters. It’s not much – a couple little buildings. We didn’t stop as there were lots of people. We kept on going – enjoying the Mississippi River.
Mom wanted to try and find Wildcat Den State Park. She had never been there but remembered Grandpa and Grandma Houseal talk about it when she was young. Talk about a hidden gem. It wasn’t easy to find, and we really had no idea what we were getting into. When we first found the park, we didn’t see anything too exciting – another pretty Iowa State Park to drive through. But we had been cooped up in the truck for quite some time and Drew needed to get out and run so we pulled into a parking lot that held lots of cars but no people and let him run. Of course, he found a trail and this is the first thing we found:
A pretty body of water – looked a little deep and was running a little fast. It would have been so relaxing to just sit along the bank and take a nap here! But not with Drew – we had to keep exploring! So onto another trail on the other side of the parking lot – and what a great surprise!
This time we found sandstone bluffs. It was so much fun climbing up and down the bluffs – sometimes between them! There was graffiti all over them – it doesn’t take much carve a name into sandstone. It amazes me that we had never heard about this park. It’s not too far from home. We even stopped for a potty break and mom asked directions and the lady at the counter had never heard of Wildcat Den – and it was just around the corner from the convenience store! I love finding places like this – so much better than anything commercialized.
The park had this beautiful, easy to walk trail. We walked and walked until we found the end and then back to the truck. So much to see, everything was so green and pretty. I hope to go back this fall when the leaves are changing and the air is crisp and cool. I bet it would be breathtaking!
Two full days of hiking, up and down and all around. Hopefully this will keep this little guy content for awhile until our next “adventure”!