June 13th, 2013 we decided to take a little road trip and visit Indian Grinding Rock State Park. It's not terribly far from our house and so it was easy to make a day trip out of it. The state park is nestled near the town of Pine Grove. It has open meadows with tall, large and old oak trees that once provided the local Native Americans with a decent supply of acorns. They would gather up the acorns and bring them to a large slab of marbleized limestone where they would grind them up in mortar holes within the rock. It's said that there are over a thousand mortar holes in the rock. The state park was created to help preserve such an important part of history. The local tribes still use the land today. Where we're standing as a family is an overlook for the rock. It's actually pretty neat to see.
It's a relatively small state park and there was hardly anyone around while we were there. So we let Jaden out of the stroller so he could run around. He loved it! He started running around like 'I'm free! I'm free! I'm free!' It was cute and funny at the same time.
Because there weren't many people there at the time we could take our time as we walked up the path. The local tribes still use the land and asked that we treat it with respect and only walk along designated area's. We could walk up to the ceremonial roundhouse but it was locked and we couldn't go inside. There was a smaller version of the roundhouse behind the bigger one that we could go inside and see what it was like. Aside from the door the only light source inside the roundhouse is an opening in the roof top. While we were inside looking up it was really fun to see this little bird keep peeking in and out. I'm not sure if there was a nest inside or not, it was to dark to see. But the little bird would peek in and then hop out for a few seconds and then peek back in. It was as if the little bird were waiting for us to leave. I'm not sure what kind of bird it was but I loved watching it. It looked like a shadow bird against the daylight.
There are a few of these bark houses in the main area where you can go inside. There's also several of the bark houses set up in one of the campgrounds. I guess you can camp inside one for a few days and see what it's like. It would be a get back to nature camp out as you have to pack all your water and stuff. I'd love to camp there but I'm not sure the rest of the family would. I miss camping though. Hopefully we can do more of that soon.
We really had a fun visit to the park. It was a beautiful day and there was a great sense of peace while we were there. We ended up having to leave earlier than we planned though. Poor little Jaden got a little to excited with being able to run around on his own. As he was running up ahead of us he tripped on a rock and hit his head. He was alright however he gave himself a good sized goose egg on his forehead. Luckily I came prepared and had some frankincense oil with me. It really helped with the swelling. Poor little guy tho, you could tell he just didn't feel very well. It was also lucky that he didn't show any signs of a concussion or anything else more serious. We were told to just keep watch over him in case anything changes.
Despite Jaden's accident we really did enjoy our day. It was so calm and peaceful. Standing underneath the giant oak trees, they just demanded respect. They were so beautiful with their stretched out twisted branches. I love old trees. You can only imagine the stories they would be able to tell. It was a fun visit and we'd like to go back. Maybe next time we'll be able to go back when they have the big ceremony weekend where different Native families get together for the acorn gathering. I guess it is like a festival in it's own way. I think it would be neat to see. Either way, I'm so happy I got to share this day with my family!
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