Baby's First Camping Trip

Camping at Jay Cooke State Park in Northern Minnesota

By Andy Johnson III

August 28^th, 2018

Bethany wanted to go camping for her birthday this year so we planned a trip for a weekend in August when the weather was forecasted to be cooperative and made our plans to head north to Jay Cooke State Park. When we arrived at the park, I went in to get our parking pass and when I came back out to the car, Havana was sitting on Mommy's lap in the driver's seat with the most excited look on her face as she handled the steering wheel.

Hiking

After setting up camp and seeing our new tent all setup for the first time, we decided to go for an evening hike. We followed a 1.5 mile path that included the River Trail, parts of the Silver Creek Trail and a small portion of the East Ridge Trail.

Sleeping in a Tent

Our evening dinner came to a screeching halt when our sweet little Havana Grace began to wail in a meltdown like we had never seen. These are the moments when you wonder what you were thinking for taking a baby camping. After she finally fell asleep in Daddy's arms though, she did manage to sleep okay. The next morning she initially looked like she was trying to figure out what just happened but before long she was her normal smiling happy self.

Making Breakfast Over the Fire

There's nothing quite like breakfast over the fire. We used our new camping pots and pans and they worked great for preparing bacon and eggs to go with the crepes that we brought.

Playing in the water

This was Havana's first time wearing this adorable little swimsuit and she was so excited about it. The St. Louis River runs through the Jay Cooke State Park and there's a swinging bridge across it. We walked down to the riverside and waded in so that the baby could dip her toes in the water.

Havana loves the water but this Northern Minnesota river was a little cold for her at first and she seemed unsure. Soon she was smiling and kicking her legs in the water. Seeing her joy is life to us. We are thrilled that she loves water!

Jay Cooke State Park

Jay Cooke State Park ended up being a great place to camp. We loved our campsite and the river was beautiful. Since it was just about 20 minutes from Duluth, it made for a great place to camp when intending to visit the North Shore.