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| Image courtesy of imgflip.com/i/7dgrve |
It's not a secret that we love adventures of all sorts but particularly camping adventures. This began the first year we were married and has continued.
We started out using a pup tent, and for all newly married couples this is a fine and cozy sleeping arrangement (wink, wink). After that, we upgraded to a 4-person tent that was really only big enough for 2 people and all of the crap that they need to bring along!
Then the kids were old enough to come along camping and we had to upgrade again. We tried one of those cabin tent things that has a partition in the middle so the adults can sleep on one side and the kids can sleep on the other side. That was so hard to put up that we only used it once. We decided a better option was to have two tents, one for us and one for the kids. That worked just fine.
After the kids flew the coop and it was back to just the two of us who were now in the stage of life where all of the Rice Krispies we ate as children came back to haunt us with snap, crackle, pop if we tried sleeping on the ground in a tent.
New approach: camper cabins! These have been a game changer for us because we can still get the back-to-nature, semi-roughing it feel of camping but with a real bed plus electricity and possibly heat and/or cooling systems. We've been reserving these cabins for about 10 years now and love it.
Several years ago when we stayed in a camper cabin at Afton State Park with some friends, we snooped around the yurts that are available at Afton and were intrigued. The attraction was that it was something completely different than anything we'd done before, plus there was a wood stove in the yurt that would make cold-weather camping a possibility.
We made reservations for that winter for mid February and were super excited about a new adventure. Unfortunately, we were not able to stay at that time because there had been a CO2 alarm during the night and the local fire department declared it off limits for 48 hours. Dang!
This winter, we finally tried again and were able to reserve and stay in the Coyote Yurt at Afton State Park. I'm here to say, it was heavenly! I won't say that we were completely unplugged because we did make sure all of our devices were fully charged before we got there.
We arrived at the yurt around 4:00 because Captain had been needed at the Reber Ranch until mid afternoon. We had to park some distance away from the yurt and haul our supplies in with hand carts. We've done this before and it's not a terribly ordeal, but on this occasion we were pulling the carts of a muddy incline so it was something of a struggle. Thank goodness we both thought to bring our muck boots along!
Upon arriving at the yurt, we unlocked the door and stepped inside. The yurt is round and approximately 20 feet in diameter. The roof is peaked and has a screened opening covered by a clear plastic dome. There is a crank apparatus that can be used to open that plastic dome in the summertime to let in a breeze but we opted to forego that pleasure.
In the center was a 4-person wooden table with two chairs and a bench. To the right were two sets of twin bunk beds, and on the left was a full size futon bunk bed. Straight ahead opposite the door was the wood stove.
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| View of the right side of the yurt |
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| View of the left side of the yurt |
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| Woodstove in the yurt |
Some kindly soul had filled the wood bucket so using the fire starter sticks I had bought at Menards, Captain had a nice little fire going in the woodstove in a matter of minutes. As he was doing that, I was rigging up our light situation. There was a bungee cord that went from an anchor on the wall behind the wood stove, up the wall and ceiling through eye hooks and then hung down from the center of the yurt with a carabiner attached. To this carabiner I hooked our brand new 1200-lumen battery powered LED lantern.
Holy let there be light, batman--that was as bright as anything I've seen! We also had two small and one medium battery powered lanterns that we placed a post on each of the bunkbeds so that there was ambient light from all directions, not just from above.
While the yurt started to warm up, I made up the futon with the flannel sheets I'd brought along as well as a queen size crocheted bedspread and a queen size comforter.
Meanwhile, Captain was getting the outside fire going because that is where he was going to have to cook supper. We had stopped at Duff's Meats in Hastings on our way to the state park to pick up some ring bologna to have for supper and sausage patties to have for breakfast.
Anyway, Captain got the ring bologna and fried potatoes cooked and we had a nice supper at the table. Normally we use enamel dishware when we camp but since I didn't want to stand outside in the chilly night air and do dishes, we opted for paper plates and plastic silverware.
After we finished supper and cleaned up, it was the relaxation portion of the trip. I stayed in the rocking chair near the stove and finished a large mandala fugly blanket while I listened to my Roasary study guide podcast and Mike caught up on the news of the world on my tablet. We literally spent nearly 3 hours like that, and although Bigger doesn't believe me, it was glorious!
When I snuggled under all those covers on the bed, I used the last of my phone's battery to listen to an audiobook as I went to sleep. Sometime during the night I woke up to reposition, and I could hear rain pattering on the yurt. Since I was snug and comfy, the sound was soothing and I went back to sleep.
We started stirring in the morning around 7:00, and believe me, we just eased into the day leisurely. When nature called and I had to walk the 100 yards to the facilities, I'm sure I was quite the picture in my blue hoodie, purple polka-dot fuzzy lounge pants, and my muck boots, but I kinda didn't care!
It took awhile to get the coffee made, so we took a little stroll around and spotted two deer crossing in front of us. Further on we saw another deer that must have gotten wounded during hunting season as she was limping quite heavily. I also heard a chickadee and a cardinal singing, amongst other birds I couldn't identify.
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| She's kind of hard to see, but there is a does just walking into the woods |
Back at camp, the coffee was percolating nicely on the fire, so I filled my cup and went inside to start packing up while Captain stayed out by the fire to make breakfast of fired potatoes and sausage patties. While we were eating at the table, I saw those same three does through the window walking on the opposite side of the yurt where we'd seen them earlier, so they must have just made a big loop on their journey.
We finished up breakfast, did the dishes, and finished packing and cleaning the yurt before we left. Let me say, hauling the carts back to the parking area was much easier than hauling them to the yurt!
We stopped at the ranger office to return the key, and while I was there I purchased the state parking Hiking Club journal and the Passport Club journal. What can I say--I'm a joiner; I love being part of a group!
From the ranger station we drove to the visitor parking to walk the trail down to the overlook area for a panoramic view and a selfie. The trouble with our selfies is that my little T-rex arms are too short to get a good picture, and Captain's fingers aren't nimble enough to do so. But, we do the best we can.
From Afton State Park, we detoured to Ellsworth for...you guessed it...warm cheese curds! We only need one more punch on our frequent buyer card to get a free bag of cheese curds. Suh-weet!
From there we rambled our way home, once again rejuvenated by just a short trip back to nature. Thanks for coming along with us!
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