Fits on the Road: Hiking in Willow River State Park

Go USA/Happy 4th of July- I definitely dressed the part today for work, donning every piece of red/white/blue I own. Overboard? Failed Fit?  I also enjoyed a red/white/blue bomb pop at the office as part of the soccer viewing activities. So good...

Are you a big soccer fan? I will be honest that I am not, but a lot of my coworkers are, so its easy to get caught up in the excitement.

So let me change topics here from soccer to hiking!

Last Sunday, we took advantage of the gorgeous summer weather and drove to Willow River State Park. Located in Hudson, Wisconsin, this park is about a 45 minute drive from Minneapolis. My friend Vicki (an avid hiker with lots of good advice!) had told us we should check this park out with Matilda, particularly because of the cool waterfall there. 

The daily fee to enter the park was $10, and the park ranger gave us a helpful map of the trails upon arrival. We drove about five minutes into the park before we parked our car and headed out for a hike. 

The trail we took was about 2 miles long to get to the waterfall. It was mostly shaded and had nice views of the nearby lake.

We could definitely hear the waterfall before we could see it; with all the recent rainfall, it was really moving fast!

Vicki had told me that they went swimming by the falls when she was at this park last summer, but the water was just too wild to swim this year. There were a few brave souls wading in the shallow areas on the sides, but most people just hiked around the water for the view. I'd love to come back when we could swim there!

Matilda seemed to enjoy her first waterfall.

A family photo at Willow River State Park.

I posted HERE with some tips for hiking with your dog. As a reminder, we are always sure to bring plenty of water for her. We also checked her for ticks afterwards, in addition to using Frontline.

More recently, we have to be sure to keep an eye out for the blue-green algae that has been blooming on some Minnesota lakes. Read this article for more information on what you should be looking out for. This algae is highly toxic to dogs, so you really want to be sure to avoid it. There were signs up at the park warning patrons of this algae in standing waters, so we did not let Tilda get in the water.

The trails we walked were all very easy. There were some more challenging trails in the park, but we only had limited time. We will have to come back to check out more of this cool state park. The campsites looked pretty nice too, so we discussed potentially camping here for a night as well this summer.

More things to add to my Minneapolis Summer Bucket List!

Have you been to Willow River? Did you go swimming in the pools by the falls?

Fitting Remarks: Minnesota Bloggers.

I recently joined up with a Minnesota blogger group. They have a Facebook page that is really informative and helpful for a "new" blogger like me. Though I haven't yet had a chance to attend, they also organize blogger meet-ups and volunteer events around the city.

They even have a Minnesota bloggers' BLOG. How great is that? You can check it out HERE for a full list of all the Minnesota bloggers you can follow. In fact, you might have noticed the new button on my blog, noting that I am a Minnesota blogger!

I read a ton of blogs, but until recently, I didn't really follow that many local ones (My bloglovin' feed is probably a little too heavy on those SoCal bloggers....) But I didn't follow any local bloggers because I didn't know about them!

Now I am a follower of several, one of which recently posted a "liebster award" post. The rules of the liebster award are that you're supposed to nominate 11 other blogs with less than 200 followers, and these bloggers need to answer 11 questions about themselves. I don't actually have 11 blogs to nominate, so instead I'll just share some information about 5 local blogs that I read, and maybe one or two of them will in turn answer the questions (though wonderfully unkempt already posted her answers HERE)

1. #1 of course is Minneapolis Running. This blog is really awesome, but they have way more than 200 followers...they don't need my liebster award! But local or not, if you're a runner, you will enjoy this blog. They post recipes, injury prevention advice, run club advice, race schedules, trail routes, just about EVERYTHING running you could imagine.

2. wonderfully unkempt: I just started reading her blog. She writes about a random variety of topics, and shares my love of coffee and all things Minnesota (um..except this weather- a blizzard in April? seriously...)

3. Finding a Balance: I can't remember how I found Hyedi's blog, but she's a Oiselle runner, who most recently started posting about running while pregnant...She's a fellow dog lover and cold weather runner. I've enjoyed reading her blog, as she seems to be at a similar stage in life as me (minus the pregnancy part!), and both she and her husband are local runners, like Dustin and me.

4. Real World: Minneapolis- I found Ali's blog when I first ran the Moustache Run (remember that race?).

Ali did a review of the race, and I think I saw it on Facebook. She seems like a friendly, down-to-earth, funny Minnesota girl, who really knows how to do the "up north" cabin life the right way in the summer! Relaxation station, anyone?

5. The Yoga Garage: This is my friend Meggan's blog. She's a yoga/barre instructor, as well as a fellow marathoner. She primarily uses her blog to share information about her Yoga by the Lake classes in the summer (so fun! put them on your "to-do" list for this summer!) She also hosts private yoga sessions- great idea for a healthy bachelorette party!

(at the Steamtown marathon with Meggan and Susie)

Okay, so there are five local blogs that I follow, and here are my 11 questions for the liebster award!

1. Why did you start your blog?
 
I started The Right Fits with my younger sister. We were always texting each other for advice about outfits we were thinking of wearing, or to share the details of different fitness classes we tried, and runs that we did. We decided to share our adventures via a blog, thinking that it would be an easy way for us to share stories with each other, and maybe with a few others. Unfortunately, she moved to a new city, where her new job keeps her too busy for blogging (though I do really miss her...) 

Now it’s all me on the Right Fits. I’m still sharing my adventures in Fitness, Fashion, and Fitness Fashion. I love having an outlet to share vacations, race reviews, fitness classes, or just things to do in Minneapolis!

2. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? If you don’t like ice cream, please explain what’s wrong with you.
 I’m not going to lie, I’d pick frozen yogurt over ice cream any day- not because it’s “healthier” but because I love all the fun flavors and toppings, which I know you can do with ice cream too, but there just aren’t as many places that do that!

3. What do you like most about yourself?


I like to think that I’m honest.

4. What’s your favorite season, and why?
 

Summer. We suffer through the Minnesota winters because the summers are really that awesome. 

They truly are.

5. If you could go to one place in the whole world, where would it be?


I would like to go to the Galapagos Islands with Dustin. I also wish my dog Matilda could come

 because I miss her when we travel, but I don’t want to fly with her because I have heard such bad 

things about how dogs are treated in cargo on planes...

6. What’s the most delicious thing you know how to make? 
My husband would say its these

snickerdoodle blonde brownies that I make occasionally, but I would say it’s a caramelized
onion/fig/arugula pizza that we both love. It's Deena Kastor's recipe from the Runner's World
cookbook.

7. If you could be any animal for a day, what would you be and why? 


Probably a dog. I’d like to know if they really feel human emotions like we believe they do.

8. What’s your favorite book? 


I really enjoyed Cheryl Strayed’s Wild…It made me want to go backpacking by myself. My run club

girlfriends started a book club over 2 years ago, and we are still going strong every month! I'm so

proud of us. The book club has really broadened my horizons, so to speak, on different genres, as
each host selects the book for the month. We end up reading a wide variety of books. Outside of book
club, I just finished the Poisonwood Bible, which I really enjoyed.

9. What states/countries have you lived in?


I love to travel, but I have only lived in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I'm a midwest girl through and
through. My husband went to high school and college on the East coast and he said that he knew he
would marry a Midwestern girl, because we are the best type of girls. 

10. If you had a choice between leaving your hair exactly the way it looks when you get out of

bed OR putting makeup on for the day, what would you choose?


I think I would choose leaving my hair the way it looks…These blond eyelashes need some mascara!
But if I chose no makeup, maybe I could get an eyelash tint? That would help.

11. What’s your least favorite chore around the house? 


Scooping the cat’s litter box or scooping the yard from the dog…nasty. Or cleaning toilets.

Basically I don't like dealing with poop....

Blogger or not, I'd love to hear how you'd answer these questions! Please share!