Lake of Three Fires - Bedford, Iowa

 

The park is named after three Native American warriors that were members of the Fire Nation, Pauite Tribe who lived in the area.

First stop was the RV dump in the main campground.

This little fellow was left to greet us on the picnic table for our campsite.

Our campsite came with a high line. We put the horses in these corrals since we didn't think any campers would be using them, but they were not that secure. We were worried especially about my horse getting out.

So we put up our portable corrals to be on the safe side.

We had electric hook-up and there were water pumps sprinkled about the campground.

None too close to where we were, but we had enough hose to get water to our trailer and to our horses.

I was looking forward to riding around the lake. We were saddled up and I was walking my horse to a picnic table to use for mounting up when Mercutio stepped on my right foot with all his weight - breaking the pinky toe. I could tell immediately it was broken.

I iced it and elevated it and buddy taped it.

Luckily, I have pain meds left over from previous injuries.

Ari rode around the lake on his own the first day and the second day we loaned my horse to another camper named Mike. Mike and Ari rode together for a couple of hours. Ari said the trails were fabulous.

Because if the trails were lousy, I wouldn't feel bad about breaking a toe.

I expect I can ride in a few days, but it will be a few weeks before it will heal.

Wabounsie State Park - Hamburg, Iowa

 

Another state park where the equestrian area is outside the state park. Instead, you drive past Wabounsie Road, and the equestrian entrance is two driveways down on the left.

The campground was pretty empty, so we were able to put each horse in their own 20' x 10' pen. They had plenty of room to move around and some shade as well.

There are high lines sprinkled through out the campground. These are nice to allow the horses to graze on the grass a bit, but we prefer to keep the horses in the pens most of the time.

This is a primitive campground - meaning no hook-ups. There are water pumps here and there so we can access water for our trailer and for the horses. 

Our Winegard connection was sufficient to stream movies.

Ari had no cell reception on Verizon, but my Google phone had full bars.

We are riding sections of the same trails used by Lewis & Clark on their expedition. It is heavily, wooded and quite shady. The trails are very pretty, but there is only about two hours of riding here.

Omaha, Nebraska is an hour north of this campground, so we opted to spend an afternoon exploring the Old Market area. This store was great.

I bought two t-shirts (not any of the ones in the pictures). They had an amazing selection of shirts, coffee mugs, etc. with various cute verbage.

The equestrian camper next to us has this fabulous blender that uses a lawnmower pull to operate. Apparently, it sounds just like a chainsaw. She is camping in a weekender, so she doesn't have all the bells and whistles we have in our LQ.

This is Jack. He is 3 years old and he got a pony ride. His family was camping near us and he had never been on a horse. We regularly give pony rides to kids wherever we are, if we can. He was scared to ride on his own, so we had his mom ride with him, so he would feel safe.

He did just fine.

Jack is a survivor. He has been battling some medical issues and has had several surgeries, but he seems like he is on the other side of all that and has his whole life ahead.

Wolf Creek Trail Ranch - Correctionville, Iowa

 

No RV Dump at Turkey Creek Ranch and no RV dump where we were headed, but luckily Sioux City Park was three miles before our destination and only a slight detour, so we stopped there to dump our tanks.

Wolf Creek Trail Ranch is a working cattle ranch and horse motel. 

Cindy, the owner, is a lovely host. Our horses got large pens - 20 ft x 10 ft. No cover.

Mostly, I was looking for a layover stop to break up our drive.

Our LQ was parked next to the large rodeo arena. We had electric hook-up and water close by.

Cindy and Ari rode through the 400 acres on the property. They were riding through Cindy's herd of cattle, so I stayed behind. I didn't want to risk my horse spooking and bolting on me.

Ari said it was a wonderful ride and Cindy is a great guide.

They had more acreage, but their property taxes keep going up and the price of cattle is not going up to keep up with the property taxes. The County has been nibbling on their property to pay for the back taxes. That seems a shame. Cindy also told Ari that the cows are expected to birth at least one calf a year or they will get sold as the only way they can maintain the herd is if they keep up with the number of cattle they have to sell in order to pay the bills.

Ranching is a hard life.