Lake Itasca

So we live in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" and yet, we have to drive quite a distance to find a real lake.

We live close to the ND state line, so our surroundings are more cornfields, less lakes and rolling hills. But once we started driving east, we soon saw tons of lakes and cute little cabins surrounding them. Our neighbor told us it was a shame we'd be moving before we saw Lake Itasca. Fear not neighbor, we're gonna squeeze that in despite all the chilly temps and dead grass.

I won't go into the history of the lake, but basically, it's where the mighty Mississippi begins!! I've only ever seen the massive portions of it that require crossing a major bridge, so to literally be able to walk across it was kind of surreal. We tried to convey to the kids how big this river actually is, but for people who think 9,000 is greater than one trillion, eh, it's tricky.

Born right near the Cumberland River!

The visitor centers were closed for the season, but luckily there were lots of pictures and diagrams and visuals outside of the visitor centers to show the kids the magnitude of the river and how long it is.

Will was so enthralled with the dirt and rocks and had it been warmer, I think he would have crawled right in and sat in the river.

That static hair!

Since the visitor centers were closed, that meant the bathrooms were closed too. Luckily, they had "vault toilets" open near the lake. Turns out a vault toilet is Minnesotan for "hole in the ground with a toilet seat propped on top" so that was fun. They did provide toilet paper, which was handy! Molly really thought she might fall in. It helped potty time move with more of a purpose, so the vault toilet is not all bad.

Everyone had to cross it, of course.

We had our picnic lunch and watched Steve and Sam fish for a bit.

Despite the lack of overall greenery, the nice thing about coming here in April ("the off season") is that there was no one else around. There were a few folks at the headwaters, but no crowds, no tight parking lots, and no traffic (not that I've run into traffic out here yet- still worth noting). It was very peaceful.

I love watching Sam at this age and wondering if this is what Steve was like when he was younger too.

Overall, we had a great time and really enjoyed getting to see such a cool natural wonder so close to home. The kids were exhausted from running nonstop and slept soundly for most of the car ride home (bliss!). We ended up coming home and picking up their friends for a sleepover. A sharp 180* from the peaceful morning on the lake. Heh.

Still cannot get over the fact that this tiny, shallow stream is the Mississippi River