Minnesota Vacation

Image courtesy of exploreminnesota.com

Last year, I spent a bit more than half of my yearly vacation with my Dad. He, my stepmom, my kids, and I went to South Dakota where we climbed mountains, visited national parks, and had a fantastic time. It was a culmination of a few year's worth of talks about hiking up Black Elk Peak again and, in the process, we got to spend valued time with my kids and with each other. It was such a success that when I started thinking about this year's vacation I ultimately thought about my Dad and whether he would like to do it together again. He did, of course, so here we are, ready to embark on another joint adventure.

I joined the Highpointer's Club last year after scaling Black Elk Peak. My love of hiking, culminated with the thrill of reaching the top of the highest point in South Dakota sparked a new interest in me. A couple of months after our vacation, and after I had joined the Highpointer's Club, we got together again for a weekend and took a day trip to nab Iowa's high point. The year before my kids and I went to Arkansas' high point, so Iowa's made high point number three for me.

This year, amidst a pandemic, I was spurred on to get my kids out for a weekend and do something that was socially distanced. Since I'm a highpointer now, it made sense to go hit up a few more. This is how we ended up at Nebraska's and Kansas' high points on a Mother's Day weekend road trip. When that weekend wrapped up, I had bagged 5 of the 48 high points I intend on accomplishing.

I tell you all this because when I started planning my vacation for this year, nabbing another high point was in the forefront of my mind. It makes sense that I want to go to the high points that are closest to me first, and, while I thought about Missouri, I realized that Minnesota in July would be much cooler. So, my main objective on this vacation is to hike Eagle Mountain, the highest point in Minnesota. We are leaving on the first leg of the trip tomorrow and I'm ready and excited. We have a lot of fun things planned and the place we are staying is going to be amazing.

I won't be posting on Tuesday like I usually do as I'll be busy, but I will be back next weekend when I'll start the first of my vacation posts. Have a great weekend, friends!