666 moowhawhahahaha!
Sorry, been putting my signature down next to the 6-6-6 all day its bound to make you at least a little bit onery.
Thought I'd update things a little bit. Spent the last two weekends camping here in Iowa, had forgotten how much I enjoyed something that is such a cheap weekend get away. Memorial day we took the kids, hannah's 3 and asher's 19 mo's to a local state park. After three days constantly watching kids near fires I was ready to be done camping for awhile. It turns out awhile is exactly 4 days because Carolyn and I were back at it for our 6th anniversary this weekend. For some of you that tells you exactly how long its been since we've seen each other. BTW I still appreciate the whole group of you yaho's that drove all the way from Chi-town to miss my wedding :).
This weekend Carolyn and I decided that we should try and camp at as many different state parks as we can make it to over the next years and review them for other campers. So with out any further ado the first 2 reviews.
Lake Ahquabi, Indianola Iowa
This park has a pretty nice fishing/boating/swimming setup. There is an onsite campstore that will rent you a paddleboat or canoe, sell you ice and firewood. The beach area is nice, and was nearly completely free of dogs, floating beer cans, or overweight sunburned rednecks flicking ashes off their pallmalls into the water I just did did a cannonball into. The Showerhouses had much to be desired, Carolyn informs me that the women only had 3 showers in their side, and that the third shower was not only positioned right next to the door, but was also the one shower that lacked a stall. The TP was oneply and the bathrooms were slighty moist and had the smell of a slightly overripe herring. The campsites were spaced closely enough that I guessed whodunnit before our campsite neighbors did during their mid-afternoon game of clue. The shade was available at some sights, but not at all, and most of the tent sites seems to have enough slope to ensure that you would end up sliding against the downhill side of the tent in the night. The one redeeming factor for this campground was that it did offer some pretty nice morning vistas of the lake. If a person were able to ensure that they were camping there mid-week, it would almost be a pretty decent place to camp.
Ledges State Park, Boone Iowa
This is the campground we were at Memorial day weekend. While it did not offer swimming, or boating, Ledges is known for it's sandstone formations that give the park its name. The creek that has worn the face of the these sandstone clifflettes is open to wading, and is great fun for kids and dogs alike. It is conviently located 10 miles south of boone iowa, home to the Maime D. Eisenhower museum as well as the Boone and Scenic Valley railroad. The campsites were nice, mostly level, and partially screened from neighbors. There were a plethora of dumpsters, and water hydrants that made drinking and throwing things away a rare pleasure. The DNR representives were pleasant and had a variety of activites for young and old alike. I took Hannah on a guided bug hunt on Sunday morning. The number of snails that small children can find in under an hour is staggering. My one big complaint about ledges is not only is the TP only 1 ply it is my belief that the DNR puposefully squeezes the charmin (as it were) to make it harder to unravel. This would ordinarily not be a big deal, but when dealing with cheap state park 1 ply it means that one generally ends up holding a number of useless shreds of TP with every tug.
Thought I'd update things a little bit. Spent the last two weekends camping here in Iowa, had forgotten how much I enjoyed something that is such a cheap weekend get away. Memorial day we took the kids, hannah's 3 and asher's 19 mo's to a local state park. After three days constantly watching kids near fires I was ready to be done camping for awhile. It turns out awhile is exactly 4 days because Carolyn and I were back at it for our 6th anniversary this weekend. For some of you that tells you exactly how long its been since we've seen each other. BTW I still appreciate the whole group of you yaho's that drove all the way from Chi-town to miss my wedding :).
This weekend Carolyn and I decided that we should try and camp at as many different state parks as we can make it to over the next years and review them for other campers. So with out any further ado the first 2 reviews.
Lake Ahquabi, Indianola Iowa
This park has a pretty nice fishing/boating/swimming setup. There is an onsite campstore that will rent you a paddleboat or canoe, sell you ice and firewood. The beach area is nice, and was nearly completely free of dogs, floating beer cans, or overweight sunburned rednecks flicking ashes off their pallmalls into the water I just did did a cannonball into. The Showerhouses had much to be desired, Carolyn informs me that the women only had 3 showers in their side, and that the third shower was not only positioned right next to the door, but was also the one shower that lacked a stall. The TP was oneply and the bathrooms were slighty moist and had the smell of a slightly overripe herring. The campsites were spaced closely enough that I guessed whodunnit before our campsite neighbors did during their mid-afternoon game of clue. The shade was available at some sights, but not at all, and most of the tent sites seems to have enough slope to ensure that you would end up sliding against the downhill side of the tent in the night. The one redeeming factor for this campground was that it did offer some pretty nice morning vistas of the lake. If a person were able to ensure that they were camping there mid-week, it would almost be a pretty decent place to camp.
Ledges State Park, Boone Iowa
This is the campground we were at Memorial day weekend. While it did not offer swimming, or boating, Ledges is known for it's sandstone formations that give the park its name. The creek that has worn the face of the these sandstone clifflettes is open to wading, and is great fun for kids and dogs alike. It is conviently located 10 miles south of boone iowa, home to the Maime D. Eisenhower museum as well as the Boone and Scenic Valley railroad. The campsites were nice, mostly level, and partially screened from neighbors. There were a plethora of dumpsters, and water hydrants that made drinking and throwing things away a rare pleasure. The DNR representives were pleasant and had a variety of activites for young and old alike. I took Hannah on a guided bug hunt on Sunday morning. The number of snails that small children can find in under an hour is staggering. My one big complaint about ledges is not only is the TP only 1 ply it is my belief that the DNR puposefully squeezes the charmin (as it were) to make it harder to unravel. This would ordinarily not be a big deal, but when dealing with cheap state park 1 ply it means that one generally ends up holding a number of useless shreds of TP with every tug.