Camping at Mark Twain, Again!

We headed back to Mark Twain State Park to the camper cabins a couple of weeks ago, this time with friends!  This is one of our favorite spots!

In preparation for the trip, knowing that in the past we have found LOTS of fossils, I picked up guide books on rocks & minerals and fossils.  

 

I also picked up this book, which was listed in the R.E.A.L Science Odyssey Earth and Space (level one).

We also put together a rock and mineral testing kit.  We included:

1. a glass plate
2. a piece of ceramic tile
3. a copper penny
4. a nail
5. very diluted hydrochloric acid
6. vinegar
7. lemon juice
8. rubber gloves
9. goggles
10. a magnet
11. magnifying glasses

We tried out the kit before we took it camping, with rocks in our backyard and some we had collected in other locations.  The girls were really excited to try out the tools.  Probably the most exciting part was the acid fizz test.  We were not able to get either the vinegar or the lemon juice to produce a reaction, so I think we are just going to stick with the hydrochloric acid.

I was initially concerned about the use of hydrochloric acid.  However, I was sure to dilute it well, and make everyone wear gloves.  It has seemed to work out well for us.

Anyway, we were able to find some really nice fossils while camping.  They were mostly crinoids and brachiopods.  Unfortunately I did not get any really good pictures of fossils.  We also learned about chert and mozarkite.  I did get picture of Madeline searching for fossils and interesting rocks.

Beyond rocks and fossils, there was campfire building, cooking, campfire sing-a-longs, looking for tracks,  friendship bracelet making, rock skipping, boat making from driftwood, and just a general good time.  It was really nice to have other kids for them to explore with, and lots of adults to accommodate everyone's interests.

animal tracks

Trying to start a fire with chert and char cloth

Playing the lap harp during the campfire song-a-long

Playing with the driftwood in the lake

A general good time!

First Camping Trip of 2010

I am a bit behind in posting, but I did want to share some information on our first camping trip of the year, which was at the end of March.  We went back to Mark Twain Lake State Park here in Missouri.  The weather this year has just been fabulous, so we decided to go at the last minute.  We really love their camper cabins, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to camp, even though there was no running water or flush toilets.  As an aside, the pit toilets there were amazingly clean.

The girls were really excited, but I think we might have done better if we had kept the trip a surprise until the morning we left.  The girls were so excited and wanted to stay up late helping us pack.  Unfortunately this lead to some tired kids while we were camping.

Being so early in the season, it was very quiet at the campground.  We were the only residents in the camper cabins the night we were there.  Most of the tent sites were also empty.

We spent a lot of time hiking.  We did avoid the really long hiking trail we took last year, but found several other areas to explore.

Isabella was was the navigator for one of our hikes.

The girls improved their campfire skills, and their cooking skills.

Isabella was the breakfast chef.  I forgot to get a picture of her making the eggs and sausage, but I did get one of her enjoying her meal.

I was impressed that Madeline was able to identify the turkey vultures flying overhead.

The girls also spent a lot of time at the lake throwing sticks into the water and then throwing stones to try to direct and redirect them and speed up their approach to shore.  Hailey eventually did fall in, and let us know that it was really cold water.

They found lots of fossils, including this one.  They always love finding the fossils, and there are tons at this location!

Here are my tired campers.

We are looking forward to more camping trips this summer, including a few with friends!

Camping and Fossils

We packed up and took the girls camping at Mark Twain State Park at the beginning of the month.  It was the first trip for all 3 of them, so we chose to try cabin camping.  It was a fabulous experience for everyone!

The girls got to learn how to build a campfire and cooked hotdogs over the fire.

Our cabin was right at the lake, but it was down a somewhat steep hill.  It was very picturesque.  Madeline decided to draw the scene in her nature journal on our first night there.

The girls searched for and found many fossils in the rocks by the lake.

Of course there were s'mores.

They learned about cooking on a camp stove.

We had a great hike, although the ticks were particularly bad.  Madeline says that she took 13 off of herself.  I'm not sure it was quite that many, but there were quite a few.  We were finding them days after we returned home.

We also found quite a few snails on our hike.  

And some great deer tracks.

The girls made ice cream for snack.

We went and played on the beach.

And we all enjoyed the campfire at night.

Mark Twain Lake is controlled by the Cannon Dam.  We decided to also take a trip to see the dam while we were there.  It was very interesting.  

We had to hike up a few steps to get to the look out.  Most of the areas at the dam were closed, I believe for security reasons.

This is a picture of the dam from the look-out.