I have shared the importance of adventure in our lives, how it inspires us, helps us grow. My hubby and I have purposed to create opportunities to experience adventure with our grand kids. Our first grandson is now old enough to embark on these adventures, and we tell him we are going on an adventure. (Funny thing happened the other day when I was watching the boys and we were leaving their house to go to our house, my oldest grandson asked if we were going on an adventure!) But what does one do for an adventure with a two year old? This is where micro-adventures come in! Yes that is a term.
Alastair Humphreys (an English adventurer) coined the term micro-adventure. “Micro-adventure is an adventure that is short, simple, local, cheap and yet still fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing, and rewarding. It offers a realistic escape to the wilderness, simplicity, and the great outdoors.” Remember Adventure is a state of mind!
So our micro-adventure began with a trip to Gale Woods Farm in Minnetrista, Minnesota. It is one of the parks in the Three Rivers Park District. The forecast was for a very wet day, but we decided we were going to go anyway, why not? We had our rains coats ready just in case. This is just a part of the adventure, right? Oops, I mean micro-adventure.
“Clover pooped.” per grandson
The Gale Woods Farm is a real working farm and provides educational opportunities for people of all ages. We had the opportunity to visit the barn area which had a cow (Her name was Clover and as my grandson will tell you “she pooped.” Yes, that was exciting to watch.) We petted baby chicks, harvested eggs from the chicken coop, petted the sheep, and visited with the resident guard dogs. The dogs were napping most the time we were there. They must be up all night guarding those sheep.
There are self-guided tours through the area where we saw the garden area (the raspberries were ripe so we had to test how good they were), turkeys, chickens, and cattle. They also have pigs, but we didn’t get far enough on the trail. Remember a two year old doesn’t necessarily like to walk long distances.
The farm has fresh food, eggs, and meat for sale that is grown right on the farm. Since grandson was able to gather one egg from the coop, we decided that we would purchase a dozen of the organic eggs. I love that the eggs are different colors!
On this Saturday morning we could also taste some of the fresh produce from the farm. We tasted a lemon cucumber; it tasted a bit sweeter than a regular cucumber. I didn’t know there was such a thing, did you?
Cool Poster on the Wall!
The next leg of our micro-adventure was lunch at Dakota Junction Cafe in Mound, Minnesota. The fun part about this cafe is they source some of their food from Gale Woods Farm! The menu changes according to what is available and is on the chalkboard when you enter. The staff was friendly, atmosphere was fun. They had a basket of games and books, so that was great to entertain grandson until our food arrived. I love trying restaurants that incorporate local foods into their menus.
All in all it was a fun day, and we had the opportunity to experience some thing new, enjoy some interesting conversation with a two year old, and had a nice lunch.
Have you visited Gale Woods Farm? Do you plan regular micro-adventures? What has been your favorite micro-adventure?
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