Kanopolis State Park -- Days Two and Three....

After our first night of Luke sleeping VERY WELL at Kanopolis State Park, we had a nice big breakfast -- at the request of Marc.

For those of you who know Marc well, it will not surprise you that he wanted bacon. Since we were on "vacation," I graciously made bacon, eggs, and toast -- both mornings even.



When first planning this trip, we had originally planned on doing some hiking as there are quite a few really scenic trails in this park. The plan was to somehow obtain a hiking backpack to carry Luke.

We didn't want to buy one because we don't hike that much. We couldn't justify the expense.

We tried E-Bay and Craig's List. We came very close on E-Bay to getting one until somebody out-bidded us the last two minutes of bidding.

We knew somebody who had one, but they were needing it as they have a little girl about a month younger than Luke. They're HEAVY users of the backpack.

I called around to a couple of "outdoors" type places in Wichita to see if we could rent one....Nope -- you can't rent one in Wichita anymore (that's what some helpful person told me).

So, we resorted to hauling along the jogging stroller -- one more big thing to pack in the Trail Blazer.

While we didn't take the jogging stroller on any rugged trails, we did do quite a bit of walking around the park. It was chilly outside, but don't worry -- we kept Luke plenty warm.



Because it was obviously "off-season," there was really nothing going on in the park -- a little bit depressing in a way but also at the same time, very quiet and peaceful. See -- nobody camping....



Kanopolis Lake is a small lake by you "lake people" standards. Plus, Kansas does have lakes, but they're nothing compared to other states.

Just for fun....here's a photo of the small marina at the park -- obviously, closed for the season.



After a really nice walk, we were getting chilly. So, we headed back inside.

Luke found things to play with -- in this photo, he's playing with my shoes.



After a good lunch and naps (which Luke didn't take a great one)....we hopped into the Trail Blazer and went about 15 minutes away to another very SMALL state park -- Mushroom Rock State Park.



This park originally had a trail go through it many years ago (horses and wagons). It was donated to the state of Kansas by Ellsworth County. It does have some cool rock formations as well as small picnic areas -- like I said, very small but kind of neat.



Here are the neat rock formations. I think you all will understand how the park got its name.







After that little visit, we headed back to our cabin. We had supper and played some more games -- with which Marc beat me again.

The next morning, as we were preparing to leave, the sun came out (of course). It really is indeed a pretty view from the porch of the cabin -- especially when the sun is shining.





After we got packed up, we actually headed just a bit out of our way (15 miles or so) to visit a Dairy Queen I used to work with -- sorry, but the owners of this location are very nice people and they run a GREAT Dairy Queen. I guess I just can't fully get away from the business :)

We had lunch there (Luke LOVES his ice cream cones). Then, we drove home.

Overall, it was a nice, quick, and close-by vacation. We both agree we would go again, but we'd like to maybe go when it's hot so we could get in the lake.

It would be REALLY fun to have another family to go with us. However, the cabins would be much too small for two families. You'd have to get one cabin per family.

Also, now that they're building more cabins -- it would make a GREAT Community Life Group trip -- for all of you Grace Community Church Young Family readers.

If you're interested, you can talk with Marc or me about the details of making reservations and paying the park for cabin use.