After a whirlwind month of meetings, sicknesses, and an expired parks passport, we finally got a new passport and had a free afternoon to go exploring! This time, we headed up highway 321 through the country to Chester State Park. I’d never been here, nor have I ever really been to Chester. (I’ve been above Chester before while skydiving, but that’s another story for another day.)
I’ll file Chester State Park as one of those parks that is great for an afternoon in nature if you live close by, but I don’t know if it is the type of ‘destination’ park that, say, Table Rock or Huntington Beach would be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got a beautiful lake in it, and if you like to fish, this is your place. And the escape into nature (both in the drive here and while in the park) was just what the doctor ordered considering the previous month we had had.
When we got there, the girls first took advantage of the playgrounds there. In the meanwhile, I was observing a lot of bluebirds fluttering about in the pine trees.
We eventually pried the girls away from the play structure and headed over to the bridge. There were a couple of people fishing, and while Tiffany was talking to the woman, an otter came out from the brush and swam across the water! Though I didn’t get any picture, it was super cool to see; it was my first wild otter I’ve seen.
On the other side of the bridge, we walked along a little trail, even finding a tree or two that beavers had taken care of. I can imagine that there are also so many other woodland creatures here.
One surprising thing is that there was only one geocache in the park. We would have had to hike a trail for a couple of miles and, well, we’ll just save that for when Sage is a little older.
Check out more pictures from our trip below, and if you’re ever in the area and/or want to escape from the hustle and bustle, check out Chester!
Beavers in the Park 