On one hand this trip feels like it was so long ago, but on the other hand it feels just like yesterday we road tripped to Beaver's Bend for one last summer hurrah! After spending a day on the river at Dinosaur Valley State Park Nate and I both agreed that we needed to take Mason to Beaver's Bend before school started. So, we did just that. We couldn't find any cabins available on such a short notice, but we were able to grab a room at Lakeview Lodge.
We left pretty early on Friday so that we'd have most of Friday to spend there at Beaver's Bend. Since it was just a short weekend trip we wanted to make the most of our time. We arrived at 11:00ish am only to find our room wouldn't be ready until 3:00pm. We didn't mind though, we had plenty we could do. We knew that we wanted to drive around and see all the changes. When we camped at Beaver's Bend back in December it had flooded and so many parts were closed. Since then we had heard about bridges and buildings that were washed away in the flood. It was crazy! Some parts of the state park didn't even look the same! The bridge that was washed away was at our favorite fishing hole that we called the Indian Hole. It's disappointing, but Nate and I think the re-build will make this area even better.
Disclaimer - this post is going to be picture heavy. (the reason it took me so long to get this posted)
After we drove around and spent some time at the Indian Hole we decided to go on the Duck Tour. It's a new addition to Beaver's Bend, so we wanted to check it out. We really enjoyed it! The driver was awesome and even let the kids take a turn driving out on the lake!
We tried swimming at the swimming hole, but at 55 degrees we just couldn't do it! It was frigid. So, we loaded up and went to the lake where we knew the water was warmer! We also got to see the new paddle board rental area! It wasn't open when we were there, but we checked it out anyway. Nate did some fishing in the lake and Mason and I walked around.
That evening we ate at Grateful Head pizza (our favorite) and then called it a night. Saturday morning we got up and got ready for some canoeing. We got on the water shortly after they opened around 9:30. We wanted to beat some of the heat and the crowd. This is probably one of my favorite things we did the whole weekend. We had a complete blast and I think we need to invest in a canoe so we can all three go out together.
After our canoe trip we had worked up an appetite. We had lunch at a new place in town called Burgers and Blues. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great!
We spent the rest of the evening at the spillway. Nate fished and Mason and I walked around exploring the area. This was another part of Beaver's Bend that was completely different because of the flooding. We never had access to this much of the area before. We had so much fun exploring!
Sunday morning we slept in a tad and then packed up to head home. It was such an awesome trip and we made so many great memories! The perfect way to wrap up summer.
