Enjoy merits of staycations

One weekend earlier this spring, my 8 year-old son asked me, 'Daddy, don't you think this is the best camping weekend we've ever had?” I said of course it is, even though he asks that at the end of every camping trip.

Those are the moments that make up the collage of vacation or weekend outing memories that will last a lifetime as a father. More important, they are the vivid and lasting family outing memories for my 11-year-old daughter and my son, memories they hopefully will pass on as an outdoor experience tradition with their own kids.

My kids and I have taken full-fledged vacations to great outdoor destinations like the Colorado Rocky Mountains or the ocean beaches of the North Carolina Outer Banks. However, those take a great deal of time, money and planning. I have turned to 'staycations” as an answer to my limited budget and time.

TREAT IT FOR REAL

A 'staycation,” according to Matt Wixon, author of the 'Great American Staycation,” is a vacation in which the vacationer stays at home, or at a destination nearby, while creating the environment of a traditional vacation. Of course, 'creating the environment of a traditional vacation” is the key to a meaningful staycation.

Treat your staycation like a real vacation and plan ahead for the family fun that can be obtained right here in Linn County, the Creative Corridor area, or a short drive within the borders of Iowa.

On a recent Friday, the kids and I (and our dogs Frank and Jack) made our way 15 miles north of Marion to Pinicon Ridge County Park just outside of Central City. Pinicon Ridge is a 925-acre park along the Wapsipinicon River with plenty of scenic natural beauty to enjoy via miles and miles of park trails. Camping at Pinicon is popular and is open from April to mid-October, with a variety of modern and primitive sites.

Four camping cabins with varying amenities are available by reservation. All have heat and air conditioning. The kids and I rented one of the cabins for our three-day staycation, enjoying a relatively perfect weekend with sunny, breezy conditions.

CANOE SHUTTLE

Pinicon Ridge also has a watercraft concession service. Perhaps the most popular service available is the upriver shuttle canoe trip. Park staff transport visitors with the canoes to one of three upriver drop points on the Wapsipinicon River. The float trip to the park is very scenic and proceeds at a relatively slow pace. The concession also provides 'in-park” rentals of paddleboats, in addition to the canoes and kayaks.

There are also many areas to fish in the park, with those near the concession well-stocked with fish for you or your kids to catch.

Staycations in the Linn County area are the perfect remedy to a shrinking discretionary family budget, higher gas prices, and the hassles of rental cars, hotels or airfare. No first day and last day of your vacation time being lost to traveling to and from your destination. No standing in long lines for a few minutes of entertainment. No TSA pat-downs, or long cross-country drives with the inevitable never-ending back seat question of 'are we there yet?”

OTHERS CLOSE BY

Iowa and the Linn County area have so many great staycation destinations. Among others are the 900-acre Squaw Creek Park near Marion, the 900-acre Palisades-Kepler State Park between Mount Vernon and Cedar Rapids, and the nearly 2,000-acre Pleasant Creek State Park near Palo, which offers a beach for swimming and a lake for boating.

Head down to Coralville and Iowa City to camp at Sugar Bottom and enjoy a weekend on the Coralville Lake. The Devonian Fossil Gorge is 10 miles away, just below the Coralville Dam. It offers a unique opportunity to explore a 375-million-year-old sea floor and discover fossil remains of sea life that once inhabited this tropical marine environment.

Backbone State Park in Strawberry Point, a little more than a 40-minute drive from the Cedar Rapids area, has cabins and campsites and is absolutely beautiful anytime of the year (we go in the dead of winter to snowshoe).

As spring comes into bloom and summer approaches, do yourself and your wallet a favor and plan your next staycation right here in Linn County, the Creative Corridor, or a short drive away in a beautiful Iowa destination you have yet to explore. Chances are that you or your kids will pause to ponder about one of the best weekends ever had - so close to home.

l Brent Oleson of Marion is an attorney and a Linn County supervisor. Comments: brent.oleson@linncounty.org