We were able to get an overnight trip in to Ledges State Park near Boone. If you've never been there, it really is a pretty unique park. Surrounded by the typical central Iowa cornfields is the park whose gorges were developed during a glacial melt 13,000 years ago (says wikipedia). There are around 15 miles of hiking trails in the park, which, for this park of the state, is pretty nice. We brought Ada along with us, and she had a great time being off her leash and running around.
The park is right on the Des Moines River. Next year we're planning to do a trip where we put the canoe in north of Boone and canoe down to Ledges to camp. It's always fun to combine canoeing and camping. In the photo above Fabi is enjoying the nice fall view. We were a couple weeks late for the peak tree colors.
Ledges has several "hike-in" campsites. While the hike in is less than a quarter of a mile, it is still really nice to be able to camp away from all of the RV's. The sites all have fire rings w/ grills over the top of them, which came in handy when it came time to make our food.
When we arrived we set up camp and then went hiking for a few hours. Fabi was looking for things to climb and this rock column offered the chance for some bouldering.
Did I mention that Ada had a great time camping? She has had her fur cut since this photo, so she isn't quite so fluffy anymore. She did a really great job being off the leash.
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After trying s'mores at my parents cabin in September, Fabi couldn't turn down the opportunity for more marshmallow and chocolate goodness.
The temperature during the day was over 70 degrees, but it still got down into the upper 30's that evening. Ada slept in the tent with Fabi, so he had some extra warmth to keep the chill out. Last year Krissy and Seth went camping with Ada and all three of us fit in this tent. Ada was happy to only have one tent companion this time as the tent really was way too small for 2 adults and a dog.
When the river is higher, this is a spot where kids will jump from the cliff down to the water. Seems pretty crazy, in my opinion.
Other than that, there hasn't been a whole lot going on. Krissy and I spent a day in Chicago for a wedding and it was nice to catch up with some friends there. Below is a photo of Krissy from the wedding.
I think when Fabian leaves he will be more sad to leave the cats and Ada than me and Krissy.
We try to eat at home as often as possible. This is one of the rare occasions that Krissy did the cooking. Actually that isn't really true. I used to do most of the cooking but we divide the duties pretty evenly these days. Next spring we are planning on drastically increasing the size of our backyard garden so that we can have our own fresh produce throughout the year.
Last week we went to the local German restaurant, The Hessen Haus. We had schnitzel and red cabbage. We all agreed that it was pretty good. We liked the red cabbage so much that we decided to make some at home, as well (although that is not what Krissy is making in the photo below). Our version turned out very good. Fabi also tried his hand at cooking. He made us some German pancakes. They were really good! We ate them with maple syrup and with some of the homemade grape jam we made a couple of months ago.
Fabian making us his world-famous German pancakes.
Just the right amount of flour!
And now for the obligatory cat photos......
Fabian made whiskers a little castle. Whiskers enjoys it quite a lot.
And finally----The first snow of the season. This was during the week. Yesterday we got another 2 inches so the ground is covered.
