We had an excellent (and very full) day of exploring the Loess Hills in Western Iowa. We've driven through them many times on our way to and from Omaha, but I've never explored them quite as in-depth as we did this weekend. Since we had a long weekend thanks to a no school day, we had initially planned to head to the area Friday, spend the night at theHideaway Cabins, and go on numerous hikes. However Friday it rained all day long so we stayed home and spent an extra long day on Saturday in the Hills.
Our first stop was a rest area 40 minutes outside of Des Moines. This rest area has one of the blades for the wind mills that are all over Iowa. The kids have always wanted to stop and see it.
A lot of our destinations were through small Iowa towns and long, windy roads. To get to our first destination, we had to go through a single lane tunnel, with no way to see if anyone was coming around the bend.
Our first stop was the Hitchcock Nature Center. Here we hiked one long trail and took in the views from the outlook tower. Fall colors and good ole Iowa farmland for miles.
That's my daughter hiking topless. One of the things I love most about my children is that they have no shame and no care for what people think. My biggest rule is they can do what they please as long as it's not hurting themselves or others.
We hiked through all of this and then some.
After the Hickcock Nature Center, we ate a quick lunch in the car (pre-packed cooler full of food and drinks saves the day) and made our way to the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. I was a bit skeptical of going there at first but it wound up being a great stop.
We were disappointed to find the hiking trail closed due to a hunting weekend, but we took in the museum area of the Nature Center. On the hike, we had looked forward to seeing the place where a large boat had sunk in the Muddy Mo (Missouri River) in 1865. The kids loved the exhibit of all of the artifacts they pulled from the wreckage and learning about the boat itself. Since the hiking trails was closed, we've put this place on our Spring To Do List already.
One of the funnest moments of the day came from Max. We were looking at this display of 'Then and Now' cans and bottles to show the kids how different things were. Max took a look at the lemonade and exclaimed "oh wow! Their lemonade in 1865 looks the exact same as our lemonade now! I'm really glad some things haven't changed." I busted out laughing when I realized he didn't see the old can next to!
After DeSoto, we took a beautiful drive through the Loess Hills Sate Forest and Preparation Canyon. My favorite hike was the Loess Hills Forest Overlook. We got to hike onto of the hills. It was the perfect time of year to go: no bugs, beautiful weather, and amazing colors to take in as we hiked.
The hiking was great, the sites beautiful, but my favorite part of the day came on the drive home. Even though it was completely dark out as we set out for home, I read Halloween books to the kids and told ghost stories. The last hour of the car ride was completely peaceful and silent as all 3 minis drifted off to sleep. A great day had by all of us!