Summertime in the far north...

If I had to sum up our summer in just two words, it would be...Lake Sakakawea.

To be more precise, Lewis and Clark State Park...the swim beach...

Close enough to Williston that we didn't mind making the drive a few times a week.  The drive itself was beautiful, those wheat fields <3...

...yet far enough that apparently most people don't bother.  Only once was the swimming area full, and that was on a holiday.  The rest of the summer it was blissfully empty.  Usually just us and one other family with kids.  Perfect for the kids, perfect for the parents :).

We would always pack a picnic the night before and have everything ready to go, not wanting to waste a minute of our lake time doing that kinda thing.  The summer days this far north are not guaranteed to be sunny and warm.  So, when the forecast says warm you make the most of it.

Daily admission to the park is $5 per car or you can get a one year pass for $20 that is good for all state parks in North Dakota.  Obviously we went with the pass, but if you are only in the area for a day or two the daily price is cheap, too. 

Once we reached the parking area for the beach, the kids were always a ball of wiggles.  "Can we go?  Can we go?  Can we go?"...hahaha

When everyone had grabbed something to carry, they could "go".  I have never had such eager helpers ;).

The lake is huge, at nearly 200 miles long it is one of the largest in the country... 

Sand, sun, and waves.  Does it get any better :)?

Well yes, it does if you are a certain little boy that loves sticks.  This place is stick heaven...big ones, little ones, all sizes...

so much pretty driftwood

They had the best time making things...rafts and boats, tipi's, forts...

who needs pool noodles when you can float on logs ;)

they found some rope and began building a raft...

if they ever get it finished they might just sail away ;)

We didn't really see much wildlife down there, which isn't necessarily a bad thing when you're running around barefoot and in a bathing suit.  We saw a few snakes and more dragonflies than I have ever seen in my life.  Clouds of them, it was neat...

While we preferred the warm days for swimming, the cooler days didn't keep us away.  On those days we would load up our fishing poles and go to a different part of the lake (still in the same park) to do some fishing...

...and playing with more sticks ;)...

The fishing was good, we always caught something.  Often we'd let them go, but the ones we took home to eat were really good...

It just amazes me that we pretty much always had the place to ourselves.  I just can't imagine NOT wanting to go out there...for us, getting away from town and all the noise was not optional.  Not for me anyway.  I like towns for the physical conveniences they provide, they can be fun.  But natural spaces are where I feel truly alive.  Corny?  Maybe.  But it's true.

Ya'll can have the cities and towns, I'll take this anyday...