Hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, and even OHV-ing is what I found when I visited Fort Dodge, Iowa on a FAM trip with Midwest Travel Network. This trip was 3 full days of outdoor activities! Any outdoor enthusiast will never get bored in this Midwest area. Even though this was a sponsored trip, all opinions in this article are held only by Happy Trails Hiking. We started our first evening at the Fort Dodge Grain Silo Mural. This 360-degree mural was created by international artist, Guido Van Helten. It shows local residents "who are part of the industrial and cultural fabric of the community". It was certainly a neat start to our visit to Fort Dodge. Dinner that evening was provided to us by Amigos Restaurant. Biking and kayaking were the activities for our first full day in Fort Dodge. We started our morning on mountain bikes at Lizard Creek Mountain Bike Trails with guides from Fort Dodge Mountain Bike Club and Walker's Bike Shop. Lizard Creek Trails are 10 miles of mountain bike trails along the Lizard Creek water trail. You can access these trails near Water Trail Access 1. Our group rode 3.5 miles on the trails. As a beginner at mountain biking, I only crashed a couple of times, but I was "all in" and enjoyed the ride enough that Matt and I bought bikes when I got home. For the kayaking adventure, we headed to Dolliver State Park on the Des Moines River. After the high-energy on the mountain bikes in the morning, a relaxing float on the Des Moines River was a welcome change. It was a beautiful day on the river from Dolliver State Park to Lehigh, IA We were guided by Karen from Webster County Conservation and Doug Breyfogle. Day two in Fort Dodge started much more relaxed with fishing at Brushy Creek State Recreation Area. Brushy Lake is 690 acres. It is a "no-wake" lake for boating and fishing. Fishermen can fish for bluegill, crappie, largemouth bass, channel catfish, walleye or muskellunge. There is an official swimming area. We had a few hours of fishing in the morning guided by the Iowa DNR officers and a volunteer, Daryl Roberts. I even caught two fish! That is a record for me! In the afternoon, we had an adventure of a whole new color for me. We got a tour of Gypsum City OHV (Off-Highway Vehicle) Park. Gypsum City serves at a destination for OHV riders across Iowa and the Midwest! It is the largest OHV park in Iowa. Gypsum City is located on around 800 acres of reclaimed gypsum mining land. The park offers over 60 miles of trails for riders of all skill levels. There are also fishing ponds and a campground with pull-through sites and a few "tiny houses" that can be rented. This park is managed my Webster County Conservation. On our last morning in Fort Dodge, we got to visit Camp WaNoKi. This park is run by Webster County Conservation. It is a 77 acre forest on the riverfront that used to be owned by the Hiawatha Council and used as a Camp Fire Camp. The Webster County Conservation website says "The primary goal of this property under the direction of the Webster County Conservation Board will be to provide outdoor education and recreation opportunities for the general public." They do have a secondary focus that provides programming for groups. The team building activities we took part in there would be great for organizations. To experience more of the trip to Fort Dodge, Iowa, please see the video below. The places you will see in this video are: Brookstone Inn & Suites, Fort Dodge Grain Silo, Fort Frenzy, Lizard Creek Mountain Bike Trails, Hacienda Vieja, Des Moines Water Trail, Gaga and Hoo Korean Restaurant, - Shiny Top Brewing, Ja-Mar Drive in, Brushy Creek State Recreation Area, Gypsum City OHV Park, Dariette, Buford’s Steak House & BBQ, Soldier Creek Winery, and Camp WaNoKi. I am thankful to all the community and volunteers of the City of Fort Dodge and Webster County that take so much pride in their area and wanted to show us the best they have to offer. I am also thankful that they took such great care of this amatur outdoorsmen as I tried new things on this trip. I couldn't have done them without these volunteers. If you want more information about traveling to Fort Dodge and what they have to offer, please contact Kerrie at the Fort Dodge Convention and Visitors Bureau https://www.fortdodgecvb.com/ She will tell you how you can #DodgeTheOrdinary Other Bloggers on this trip were:
Travel with Sara - Sara Broers Des Moines Parent - Erin Huiatt Simplify Live Love - Michelle Marine Country Pilgrim - Dan Cline
This house is named the "Dibble House" on the National Register of Historic Places, but we all know it as the "American Gothic House". The Dibble Family lived here in the 1800's. The house is a "Carpenter Gothic" construction. It wasn't until 1930, when artist, Grant Wood, visited Eldon Iowa that this small farm house in Iowa gained notoriety.
Mr. Wood saw the house as he was in town for an art exhibition and was driving around with a local friend. He was struck by the house and called it "pretentious" because it had such a large window in the front. He knew he had to get a sketch of it. He then returned to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and had created the painting that he is now famous for. The house was donated to the Iowa Historical Society in 1991. The Visitor Center was built in 2007. There were people living in the house until 2014. (Can you even imagine?!?!) Beth Howard was the last resident of the house. She was known as "the Pie Lady" because she sold pies out of the house. She is now known as a writer and blogger.
Fall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has always been something we have wanted to do. When Kay was a teacher, we never really had that as an option to travel in late October. So, this was a real treat when we got to start planning this trip! We wanted to plan a trip with Kay's family, her parents and her sister. October is Kay Mom's birthday month, so it was a perfect time to spend time as an extended family.
We rented a "Chalet" from Laurel Mountain Chalets in Gatlinburg, TN. It was the perfect place for us to call home base for the weekend. We had a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom cabin up a very windy road. It also had a hot tub and a grill on the deck. It was just what we needed and would recommend it for a stay in the area. We got to the chalet a day before everyone else so we could do some hiking on our own before exploring with the whole family. After breakfast and coffee at the chalet, we headed out to the Little River Trail over in the Elkmont area.
As you can probably tell from the video, we enjoy the beauty of this area as well as the history. We LOVE this trail for times when we need to escape from the world! The leaves were just starting to change color and to fall.
2019 was the start of a new era for Happy Trails Hiking! We bought a camper! Not just ANY camper...we bought "Alf"! Alf is our 2018 Forest River Flagstaff A-Frame Pop-up! This addition to our fleet meant that we had a different outlook on camping and campgrounds. When we were tent camping, we looked at the bathroom facilities and the proximity to trails and other things in the parks we visited. As RV-ers, we look at the kinds of sites available (electric, water, sewer), where the dump stations are, how level the site is, and how easy it will be to get Alf into the site. In 2019, we had 16 different campsites across 6 different states between April and October. While we didn't have campground review videos for all of them, we tried to compile them into one big video. (It will be linked at the end of this post.) In the following sections, we will break down the sites for the first half of the camping season in order and try to show you around a bit. Onondaga Cave State Park, MissouriThis was our very first weekend with Alf. We towed it down to Onondaga Cave State Park with our friends John and Amie. Our first site was a "dry site" near the bath house. This area of the campground was really quiet. It has a concrete parking pad with a picnic table, fire pit, and a lantern pole. Onondaga Cave State Park has two cave tours available as well as hiking trails and walking paths. The campground has 68 sites ranging from Basic, Electric, to Electric/Water. There are a few with 50 amp service. You can see more of our campsite in our Park Travel Short below. Eldon Hazlet State Park, IllinoisFor our second camping trip, we headed to Illinois. The Illini Campground at Eldon Hazlet State Park is huge! It sits on the shores of Carlyle Lake. This campsite had a beautiful view of the lake and the sunsets that weekend were lovely! This was an electric only site. The bath house was a quarter-mile walk away. It was good for getting my "steps in" but not so great in the morning. There was a vault toilet close by. There are 3 sections to this campground with over 300 sites from basic walk-in tent sites to rustic cabins. You can see our campground review below. Giant City State Park, IllinoisGiant City State Park is in Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. We only had one night in the campground. We met Kay's Sister, Lori, for a fun couple of days hiking and exploring. There were a few more eggs in the skillet at breakfast that weekend. There are 85 electric sites (8 of them have 50 amp service) and 14 basic sites. there is one shower house and 3 other restrooms in the campground. Our site had a picnic table and a fire pit with grill. Onaway State Park, MichiganIn May, we traveled to Michigan to visit with our friends, Dana and Eileen. They were taking us on a Michigan State Park adventure! We only got one night to camp at Onaway State Park, but our site on Black Lake was stunning! Site 5 has electricity. There were pit toilets close by. The site was a gravel pad right next to the lake. It has a picnic table and a fire pit. Van Buren State Park, MichiganVan Buren State Park in Michigan was a stop on our way home. We stayed in site 46. The campground was almost empty. It was a Sunday night in May. We had electricity, a picnic table and a fire pit. We were right next to the shower house which was nice. Even though it rained in the evening, we woke up to be able to walk out to see Lake Michigan. The park sit on its shores. Memorial Day at Hawn State Park, MissouriWe got reservations and an electric site at Hawn State Park for Memorial Day. Our site was right across the bath house. This is also our favorite campground. We look forward to coming back to this one year after year. This is one of the smallest campgrounds we visited. There are 50 campsites. 5 of those are walk-in tent sites. The rest are basic and electric sites. 9 sites are 50 amp electric hook ups. Long Branch State Park, MissouriLong Branch Lake was SO flooded the first weekend of June! Thankfully our campsite was at the top of the hill. Our campsite was site 9. It was a nice, large site. We did have electric with a gravel pad, a picnic table and a fire pit. The campground has 83 sites. 9 of those sites are Walk-in tent camping, the rest are basic or electric sites. This is a large campground on Long Branch Lake in Northeast Missouri. Johnson's Shut-ins State Park, MissouriJune brought us to Johnson's Shut-ins State Park for our Midwest Campout. We had a great time meeting up with our YouTube friends! The campground has 4 sections plus camper cabins. The four sections are: Equestrian, Full hook ups, electric, and basic. We had a nice site in the full hook ups section. We had a concrete parking pad, a picnic table, and a fire pit. This concludes part one of our first camping season. In the part two, we will start with our two week road trip to the Rocky Mountains. For a preview of that and to see what we have already covered, please see the video below! *We would love your comments and shares! The plan for Happy Trails Hiking for 2020 is see new places and experience new things in our parks and public lands. This plan started on the first weekend of January when we traveled to Saguaro National Park. We knew we enjoyed other deserts in America during the Winter, but we had not explored the Sonoran Desert yet.
When I thought of dinners southeast Iowa, white linens and salad forks were not the first thing that came to my mind. In my short time in Ottumwa, Iowa, I experienced the kind of dining I would expect from many metropolitan areas. The selection of local restaurants is varied from Mom-and-Pop's diners to three-course, banquet style dinners. Come along with me as I reminisce about the tasty travels I experienced. *Even though this is a hosted trip, all of the opinions are 100% mine. Happy Hour and Dinner - Day 1The lounge in Hotel Ottumwa is called the Tom Tom Tap. This is where our group started for introductions and happy hour. The beer selection was quite good with both local and global beers on tap and the bar tender had a couple of specialty cocktails to mix as well. For dinner our first evening, we went over to the Bridge View Center. I would never have thought of having dinner in a convention center! As you can see from the pictures, Chef Bob Newell at the Bridge View Center does not have your "typical convention food". In the summer months, Chef Bob has a garden to get some of his ingredients. This was a very elegant dinner. Even more surprising was that Chef Bob made this menu just for the 9 in our party after being at work all day and successfully feeding 200+ for a convention. Not only was the food delicious, the Bridge View Center lives up to its name with a beautiful bridge view. Day 2 - Breakfast, Canteen, Dinner, and SnacksBreakfast both Mornings in Ottumwa was at Second Street Cafe. It is a local favorite and was crowded both mornings we were there. The service was fantastic! The food is "diner fare" (a favorite of mine). Eggs cooked to order one day and the "biscuits and gravy test" the next. The biscuits and gravy passed with flying colors! We split the plate-sized cinnamon roll on day two among our table. Mighty tasty!!! We spent the next couple of hours exploring Downtown Ottumwa with Holly from Main Street Ottumwa After being out in the wind, we decided to get a warm up at Top Hat Coffee. I had a delicious pour over coffee and enjoyed the ambiance. All of the antiques made for a feast for the eyes as well! While the Top Hat was not busy while we were there at 10am, their Facebook page shows many events and entertainment in the evenings. Their coffee menu has everything from basic coffee to chai lattes and cold brew. If you are going to eat in Ottumwa you HAVE to go the Canteen Lunch in the Alley. (Well, you don't have to, but why would you not?) This lunch counter has been open in Ottumwa for 92 years with no sign of stopping! We were there mid-week for lunch and all 17 lunch counter stools were taken with people standing to get the next free spot. The menu is limited to 4 sandwiches, drinks, and desserts. The "Canteen", a loose meat sandwich on a bun, is served with ketchup, mustard, pickle, and onion. You can even mix it up a bit and add cheese! They also serve an egg sandwich or a hotdog. Homemade pie is the way to finish out this meal! I shouldn't eat it every day, but it would not hurt my feelings to try. The Canteen Lunch in the Alley has had four owners. Scott and Jan Pierce are the current owners. Scott is a native Ottumwan and wants to see the tradition of The Canteen keep going for future generations. Dinner at Appanoose Rapids was a real treat and a step back in time! Even though Appanoose Rapids faces Main Street, we entered from the "back" of the restaurant. I had to walk to the "front' too see the beautiful bar and the chandeliers. Once I was there, I saw the "Anheuser-Busch Beer" Murals in the front windows. I knew that this restaurant wasn't JUST about the food. It was about the vibe too. The food at Appanoose Rapids is a story in itself. While we were eating dinner, we got to meet one of the new proprietors, David, who talked to us a bit about the food. Sonce David and his business partner, Dennis, took over in July of 2018, they have been focusing on fresh ingredients and hand-crafted cocktails to set their restaurant apart. I'll have to say that in this foodies opinion, they have done just that. From the Rapids Burger with cheese, bacon, cheesy hash-browns and a fried egg on a pretzel bun, to the Pollo al Marsala, it was a delicious meal and a great way to finish our day in Ottumwa. Day 3 - Second Breakfast, Snack and LunchOn day 3, our hosts did not want us to leave hungry. (HA!) On day 2, someone had mentioned doughnuts. Andy, our host, knew that we had to have Main Street Donuts before we left town. And even though I had just had breakfast, I didn't want to be rude, so.... They were SO GOOD! Little did we know that there were more surprises in store. We got to tour the Bridge View Center on day 3. One of the stops was to Chef Bob's kitchen. It is state-of-the-art and well stocked. Chef Bob was there and busily preparing for a lunch at noon. We were happy to be taste-testers for the BBQ, bacon, macaroni and cheese balls. It is "mouth-watering" just thinking back to them. What a treasure to have Chef Bob at the Bridge View Center. If you get a chance to eat there before a show, I highly recommend that you take that chance. You will be pleased that you did. Our final food stop in Ottumwa was a Mimi's Taqueria and Bakery, which features authentic Mexican dishes with very fresh ingredients. I had an "Aguachiles" - Shrimp with cucumber, avocado, onion, pico de gallo, and green chili sauce. It was very good and hit the spot for the drive home. As I stated at the beginning, Ottumwa has the kind of dining I would expect in a metropolitan area twice its size. In my short time in the city, I barely scratched the surface of the local restaurants to try. From casual, American fare to Filipino, Asian, Latin, and even Ethiopian, I am sure you will find something to tempt your tastebuds. For more information please contact the Greater Ottumwa Convention and Visitors Bureau. Other sites I saw in Ottumwa, IowaNestled in Missouri Wine Country is a slice of National history in the form of The Historic Daniel Boone Home. Each December, this reconstructed 1800’s frontier village comes to life for Christmas! Visitors step back in time at the Christmas Candle Light Walk.
In late September 2019, we traveled to Northeast Ohio to explore some parks and meet our new friends, Shawn and Marianne from PANICd Paranormal History and Our Haunted Travels . We had great fun exploring Mill Creek Park and Cuyahoga Valley National Park and seeing those through their eyes too! Please see all of the links and pictures throughout the blog, that way you will see both versions of of our weekend.
We have been to Yellowstone least 5 times in the last 15 years and one place that we always go is to The Upper Geyser Basin, better known as "the Old Faithful Area". Every time we go, it is familiar, but different. We have been to visit in the months of May, June, July, and December. Each time was different and full of fun! We love sharing this area with other people. And we got the opportunity to meet with some fellow YouTubers in this area of Yellowstone and show them around a bit. Mark and Chelsea are from Oregon and this was their first visit to Yellowstone. It was neat to meet them and to rediscover the area through their eyes. On our Winter visit to the Old Faithful area, we got to see Old Faithful turn into a geyser tornado! It was something I just had to see to believe. We were lucky Matt was taking video. We were also 2 of less than 20 people out there to watch it. It was a special time. Another special time we had in the Old Faithful area revolves around the Old Faithful Inn. I had found out that a few people each day (weather permitting) could go up on the roof of the Inn to "help lower the flags". You have to call ahead to get your spot and then plan really well. It was certainly a wonderful experience for Matt to help lower the American Flag and watch the geyser erupt right afterward. We had so many neat pictures of the roof line and the event, we couldn't put them all in the video, so you can see them below! The Old Faithful Area is a favorite of ours here at Happy Trails Hiking and a MUST SEE on our list! We hope you will visit there and tell us your thoughts about the area as well!
In the past, Grand Teton National Park has been a "pass through" on the way to Yellowstone National Park for us. but we camped there for a couple of nights in 2018 and then decided that we had to make it "the location" the next time we were in the area. We are thrilled that we did! Here's why you should too!
It is almost tragic the way local parks and their wonderful programs get overlooked by the people that live closest to them! We have visited The Historic Daniel Boone Home in Defiance, Missouri on many occasions. Sometime we go to support the event that they are holding, but often it is just to go and enjoy a bit of history and nature at the same time. One such time was during June of 2017 when the flower gardens were blooming and the pollinators were going crazy for them!
We left Missouri on July 13. 2018 and headed west in our Toyota Tundra for a 3-week road trip of the USA Rockies! It was a trip of a lifetime! We started out camping in Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed for 2 nights and camped one night on the East side of the Park in Moraine Park Campground and one night on the West side of the Park in Timber Creek Campground.
Moraine Park Campground has reservable sites and should be booked well ahead of time. You can do that here. From the National Park Website: Moraine Park Campground (8,160 feet) is located in Rocky Mountain National Park, near the Beaver Meadows Entrance on Highway 36. It is situated on the north side of Moraine Park, offering beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. We enjoyed this campground because of it's proximity to easy trails to get us started on our trip. The first evening we were there we hiked Cub Lake Trail. It was the perfect way to start out in the park! The rain made it more beautiful. Everything was so green and lush! We are 13 weeks on the Hike 365 Challenge for the year! We love the Spring is finally making an appearance and the hiking is warmer now. Please see the spreadsheet below to see how our group is doing! We have cleared the 1200-mile mark! That is awesome! We have people that have been putting in miles ALL over! This map is fun to look at every week!
Happy Trails Hiking took a week off from posting videos and live shows to go adventuring in California. During that week the Hike 365 Challenge group got in a BUNCH of miles! Please take a look at the spreadsheet below to see how we are doing! We also had a an interview with The Beerbellied Travelers on Hike 365 Live. We hope you will take a look at that! Our hiking community also shares pictures with up from their hikes. Here are a few of them! The Hike 365 Challenge is coming along very well! Everyone has been get out and getting miles in even with the colder weather and rains! So amazing! Matt and I got in 2 hikes for week 5. The picture above is from Lost Valley Trail. We have traveled to Death Valley National Park twice and are ready to make another trip whenever we can! This desert environment is like nothing we have ever seen! Several things surprised us about the Park: The presence of water in the park was more significant than we had expected in the desert and there is SO much to do and see in the park.
This is the lower 48 states largest National Park! Death Valley has everything from high mountain peaks and waterfalls to the tallest sand dunes in California and the Lowest point in America. It truly is amazing and enchanting! Known as America's Wonderland, Yellowstone National Park is amazing any time of year. Traveling to Yellowstone in the Winter has many challenges that good a good travel plan can solve. There are so many programs and activities to take part in in the park during the Winter months! The best way to make sure you get the ones that are right for you plan your trip with the weather and transportation in mind. Please take a moment to see our video with our 6 tips for Yellowstone Travel Planning in Winter. What tips would you add? We hope that this will help in your travel planning for a Winter in Wonderland! Flying in a hot air balloon has always been Kay's dream. So, when we found out that we could fly in Jackson Hole and see the Teton Range from a different view, it was time to make this dream a reality. We had our flight with Wyoming Balloon Company. We had seen them on a show about Grand Teton National Park and found their website from there. We left our campsite very early to meet the shuttle to take us to the launch site. We met them at Teton Village, but they do also pick up at various hotels in Jackson. We got to see most every part of the inflation process. It was really neat to see how small those huge balloons get when they aren't inflated. While we were flying, it was very quiet. We got to see geese and eagles flying from above them. It was a really amazing view! All too soon, it was over and we were landing. It was a once in a lifetime activity. We would highly recommend it for your travel plans! Please see the full video below. There are more close up views of wildlife in the video. If you have any questions about our flight, please feel free to leave us a comment here or on the video. Glacier National Park has always been on our list of National Parks to visit. We got this opportunity to spend our first 3 days there in July 2018. Our visit was a fantastic overview of what the park has to offer and why it is preserved for future generations. We arrived in Glacier National Park in the evening and checked into the motel in Apgar Village. The room was adequate for 3 people. We had 2 rooms and a bathroom with a shower. The accommodations weren't luxury by any means, but they were affordable and better than sleeping on the ground in a tent (after doing that for 8 nights already, we were ready for a bed and shower). In our time in Glacier National Park, we tried to visit all of the lodges and take several hikes. It was an amazing few days! A great introduction to this "Land of Shiny Mountains". Please see the two overview films below. Please subscribe to see more from our trip! Until next time, Keep on Trekking! |
AuthorAt Happy Trails Hiking, we encourage you to live the life you love and seek solace and adventure in America’s Parks and Public Lands. This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesCategories
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