Two Nights in Afton State Park (with a Ski Trip in the Middle)

When the boys got out of school for Christmas break, we headed straight for Afton State Park. We reserved a camper cabin and planned to ski at Afton Alps around the corner for our full day there.

Hanging out behind our cabin in the woods on our first night.
(We also drank some fancy root beer later that night.)


The ski hill lit up early the next morning as I took a walk.


Three deer watching me walk.


Charlie came out to "help" with the breakfast fire.


Burning a stick as I cook bacon.




Bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches.


A MUDDY parking lot at Afton Alps! We had NO SNOW on the ground until Dec 31st!


Both boys on freshly groomed slopes!

We got there just after it opened at 10 a.m., and we were planning to stay most of the day. The boys skied and snowboarded well until the lights came on! We had no other plans, so they could stay as long as they wanted. We headed into the main lodge mid-day for lunch:

$58 worth of burgers, chicken strips, and fries. Sheesh.


The fellas heading back out.


Charlie catching a little air.


My work station.


Charlie catching more air!


Hitting the rails.


Yep, muddy in this spot too.


Henry got faster on this trip!

Here are 2 short video clips of the boys:

Direct link: youtube.com/shorts/JKt39W0B5jc (Clip also seen in yesterday's short video.)


Back at our little cabin.


I have no explanation.


Naan and sausages over the fire.




The boys love to play catch between the bunks.


Another night of Catan...


Charlie "rage quit" after 45 mins, and then Henry connected his roads to win!


We went to the "actual" bathroom to clean up
for the evening. (We didn't the night before.)

The next morning, I got up early for a run. It was still dark (like the 2nd pic at the top of this post), so I stayed on the main road through the state park for the first few miles. As it got lighter, I ventured out onto some paved trails, and even ended with a grass trail. I hit some hills:

This was 551 feet of ascent over 6.45 miles. Two days before in St. Paul
(on my "normal" route), I had 201 feet of ascent over 6.26 miles.


Looping all around the state park. Ski hill to the north.

We packed up and went to explore a fun area along the St. Croix River. This didn't last too long though as shortly after I took this photo, Charlie was breaking thin ice and soaked one of his feet:

Always fun to get out with the boys for a few days!