A five-year-old girl and her mom chased 67 waterfalls amid the pandemic and family struggles.
After the pandemic shut down her preschool, five-year-old Wynn Radke and her mom, Colleen, set out on an adventure that will take them to 67 waterfalls.
"I just thought of it in my brain," the little waterfall chaser answered when she was asked how she came up with the idea. Colleen told KARE 11 that she asked her daughter to pick an outdoor adventure while school is closed due to the pandemic.
She told her that they would not sit around and watch YouTube all summer while in quarantine. So when she challenged Wynn to choose an outdoor adventure, her little girl quickly answered, "67 waterfalls."
Wynn has always loved waterfalls
Wynn fell in love with waterfalls the first time she saw one two years ago, ABC News noted. It is not surprising then that Wynn answered, "67 waterfalls," when asked what outdoor adventure to pick. Colleen loved the idea, but in her mind, probably they will see six or seven.
Thus, they started chasing waterfalls last March 28, 2020. Their first stop was Fairy Falls and proceeded from there, enjoying each adventure one waterfall at a time. The mother and daughter visited waterfalls all over their home state, Minnesota, and some waterfalls in Wisconsin, including Willow Falls, Hidden Falls, Caron Park Falls, and Buttermilk Falls. They even had to camp overnight at some point and hiked miles and miles.
In May, after visiting Buttermilk Falls, Colleen was to be out work again after the jewelry store where she was working was looted. Colleen recalled that she was back at work for about ten days when their store was looted during the George Floyd protests.
Their adventure helped Mom and daughter bond and heal together
With her job on hold again, they hit the road once more to complete their goal. Still, more sad news followed the pair. In June, while they were at Big Falls in Eau Claire, Colleen got a call informing her that her divorce was finalized. Colleen said that it was a very difficult divorce.
The whole adventure would turn out to be an opportunity for them to take their minds off the struggles and stress that the family is going through. Colleen said that it took their minds off it all.
Wynn could feel her stress during everything, Colleen added, and their waterfalls adventure helped shield her little girl from the craziness going on. The pair just saw to it they will just have a great time bonding and healing together, Alive noted.
It was also therapeutic for her. "Mother Nature cleanses me," Colleen said, "makes me feel whole again."
Wynn and Colleen completed their goal at Winnewissa Falls in Pipestone County with Wynn proudly posing and holding her sign "67th." Wynn returned to school for hybrid learning after that while Colleen is now back at work.
Colleen said that they had so much fun while completing their 67 waterfalls adventure just "doing us, being us." And when asked what she thinks of this entire experience, Wynn said with pride, "I did it."
