Pipestone National Monument

    Before we left Iowa, we had to make a quick stop to get the camper looked at. Our hot water heater stopped working again so we found a repair shop along the way to Minnesota. The staff there was the greatest and found our problem in no time. Turns out Camping World never actually fixed the issue so we fried the heater again as soon as we tried to make hot water. So now we feel a lot better about the situation and don't foresee any problems with it for the rest of the trip.

    After lunch and a few hours in the truck, we arrived at Pipestone National Monument. This site preserves several quarries that Native Americans from all over the midwest would travel to for the soft, red rock that could be carved into ceremonial pipes. The most interesting thing I learned was that even though the pipestone is a sedimentary rock formed below an ancient sea, there are no fossils to be found in it because of its age. The stone layer is older than any known life on Earth so nothing was around to get fossilized.

    After we watched the informational video and the kids earned their Junior Ranger badges, we went outside and the kids immediately found a couple of birds' nests with very active parents. I'm raising them so well! Then we went for a walk through the surrounding prairie to see a couple of the quarries. The trail from the visitor center is a loop, but it was partially closed because of flooding so we decided to start on the north side and head toward a waterfall.

    The creek that the path followed was raging so it made for a fun sight. Once we made it to the waterfall we could see why the trail was closed going forward. The bridge over the creek was getting lapped by waves coming downstream. Definitely not a place you would want to slip. The kids got to climb up a rocky staircase and see the falls from above before we returned the way we came. Another great little park in the books!