Hearts in Hawai'i
Our 2024 Minnesota State Parks Trip--Day 4
6/13/2024
State Parks #12 & #13--Whitewater & Carley State Parks
Starting with today, we still have eight state parks to visit and today we found two of them. One was great, one was lousy.
We were out the door a bit later than ususal this morning due to the early morning rains which we had to wait out. Once at Whitewater State Park, we got a little lost, not realizing there is more than once entrance from the highway to various tails. The main entrance to the park is to the west of the highway but the trail we wanted to hike (Trout Run Creek Trail) is to the east.
One of the biggest benefits of Avenza Maps is being able to follow that little blue dot indicating where you are as you drive through the park in the direction of the parking lot where you'll be hiking from.
The Chimney Rock Trail is one of the shortest and has the greatest rewards of the Whitewater River below. It's only 0.7 miles but steep and hilly. Another trail, the Dakota Trail, is equally difficult and much longer at 4.2 miles (this is a loop trail)
The trail we chose, the Trout Run Creek Trail, is a nice one with several vantage points of Trout Run Creek. The only disappontment here is that the DNR had closed off a significant portion of this two-mile trail at the second wooden step bridge crossing the creek due to deterioration of the wooden bridge. We could have probably foraged this small creek and gotten our feet and calves wet but when the DNR posts a sign saying "Trail closed", you really need to pay attention to the advisory. So we turned back and found a stairway (100+ stairs from bottom to summit) heading to an overlook called Inspiration Point (Happy Days fans will smile at the reference which I don't think is accidental). We started climbing the stairs, aided by a handrail and kept looking up trying to see the end of the stairway. The stairs kept climbing, turning left, turning right and still no view of the summit. Finally we said "Oh, screw this" and went back down to the Trout Creek Run Trail. Even while our hiking was shortened, this was a fun park to check out and there was a very large section of this park we missed ouot on.
The Trout Creek Trail was an easy hike
Until we found a bridge out and the DNR posted not to go further
Looking up the stairs leading to Inspiration Point
Me at the base of that loooong stairway
Patty doing a little bridge crossing
Then it was on to Carley State Park and the most disappointing park we visited during our trip. It's small--there didn't appear to be anyone else here. Looking for a bathroom, Patty finally located an outhouse only to find she had company there in the form of a raccoon! Those little buggers can be so cute! Until they attack you because they feel trapped. Patty wasn't going to find out and beat a hasty retreat. We coudln't locate any trails so drove back to Rochester, encountering more rain on the way back.
One of the benefits we've found by visiting these parks during the week rather than the weekend was how isolated everything seems. There were many, many places where we didn't see another soul. It was just us and the sound of wind and any water which may be flowing close to the trail. It was a wonderful sensation, one we don't experience when visiting most of the state parks on Lake Superior's North Shore, especially on a weekend.
The skies cleared later in the afternoon and we checked out Boulder Tap House for dinner. BTH is a chain restaurant and this was the third location we'd visited (Grand Rapids MN and the recently opened Superior WI being the others). It's reliable and they have the best Boneless Wings I've ever tasted. Their Sweet Chili sauce is perfect. Likewise, their Classic Caesar Salad is as good as anybody's, with bacon, hard boiled egg and parmesan cheese along with croutons. Patty loves their Totchos--she prefers the chicken version to the pulled pork version. These are excellent!
Here is our review of the room (and hotel) where we're staying:
The location is excellent from the standpoint of being adjacent to the US 52/US 14 interchange. Whenever we head out to a state park to either the north or the south of Rochester, we're on a freeway within a couple minutes and out of town within ten.
Staff here are very welcoming, efficient and work hard to resolve any issue which may arise. We did a pre-check in of sorts so the process once we arrived was quick.
We had a King Suite with a separate area having a second TV, couch and a computer desk. The only quibble we might have was that pictures of the Suite showed a second table for holding your drink or whatever. No such table existed.
The bed is quite comfortable, as comfortable as our bed at home. Blackout drapes prevent outside light from getting into your room at any time. This was good! Because there was a large LED billboard which changed pictures every ten seconds or so which certainly lit up the area. There were two drawers in the bedroom to store items and a smallish closet with enough hangers to hang eight shirts.
The couch is comfortable and the microwave and mini-fridge worked well.
The bathroom is excellent and has plenty of sink countertop space for various items. This is good because Patty always bring a lot of such items! No tub but a very nice shower with full length, glass doors. The hotel supplied plenty of shampoo, conditioner and body wash in bottle with pumps on them.
Plenty of plug-ins exist in the room. The TV's work well but have a very limited channel selection (48 channels). They both have the standard hotel style remote. One of the remotes only reduced volume to a certain level. If you wanted it quieter, you had to grab the other remote. The built in Netflix and Youtube aps worked but were very slow at times.
The free hot breakfast was decent--better than the Americinn hotels we've stayed at, not as good as the Best Western in Rapid City. There were no potatoes offered on any of the eight mornings we were here. It was basically turkey sausage (every day), scrambled eggs (every day and somewhat runny), cheese omelets (most days), sausage links on a few days, fruits nearly every day, yogurt every day, a variety of cold cereal, oatmeal and bagels (none of which I tried). Three types of juice but not POG (I love that stuff).
We got this room for about $140/night including tax. We had a regular King room for $110/night but Patty called just before we left and got the upgrade. The increase in room size was worth the extra $30/night. These are, by the way, extended stay rates. If you're here for only a couple days, then the rates jump.
Overall, the hotel and room are well worth the rate but I'm questioning the #2 rating in Rochester which Trip Advisor has awarded it, considering how mamy hotels are in this city. Still, we would likely stay here again should we return to Rochester.
Computer table and one of the TV's
Nice sofa in the main room
Messy bed! 
Leading to the bathroom
Bedroom view
Bathroom
Previous: 6/12/2024--Our 2024 Minnesota State Parks Trip--Day 3
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last updated june 19, 2024
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