Yet another catch-up post... one resolution for 2012 is to keep this blog up-to-date! (Cross your fingers.)
In October we decided to make a fall color road trip an annual event for our family. (Yes, that includes Orion.) One of the first things we did after we adopted Orion in 2011 was to take a road trip to Wisconsin to hike and see the leaves. Orion loves hiking! And I love the fall leaves, so it's a great mini-vacation.
This year we decided to see more of our current state of residence than just Chicago (which almost doesn't count). We drove down the Illinois River Road to the middle of the state.
Our first stop was the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. This 20,000 acre area is being actively restored to the natural prairie land most of Illinois is (or was before farming began). It was really quite beautiful. We pulled off at one trailhead and walked until there was no longer a trail.
Then we got back into the car and went to a loop trail.
We don't know what these are - some kind of seed? They're bigger than the size of your fist.
Orion wasn't a fan of the bright morning sun.
Family photo time! (Yes, I totally bring a tripod on all our road trips, and even some of our longer trips.)
The people who work the land were doing experimentation with different strains of prairie grass.
Back in the car, we drove until we reached the
The town had an Old West feel to it.
They had a whole display of painted over-sized top hats. This one was the prettiest. (Orion's thrilled, can't you tell?)
We continued on to Starving Rock State Park. I'd been told to go in winter to see the frozen waterfalls, but it was just as amazing in the summer.
This is the view from one of the overlooks. That's the Illinois River! It's mostly used for freight transportation now.
The park is just a huge area of giant cliffs and valleys. Okay, maybe not that big, but they're huge for Illinois! Most of the state is very flat (as you'll see in a later photo). Look how deep this crevice is!
View from the top.
Orion loves to jump on everything, including the rocks.
Yay, pretty fall leaves!
This is how our hikes go - Orion is full of energy the entire time and pulling like crazy to smell every single leaf, tree and rock. (Then at night she passes out.)
The park had these nifty signs to tell you whether you were heading towards the Visitor's Center or away. (Away! Further away! Get away from the tourists!)
We spent the night at a hotel in Bloomington. Dinner location was decided upon the number of televisions available. Logic being more televisions = more chances they'd let us watch the Gator game on one of them. We lucked out and got our own TV at our table!
The next morning we headed towards Havana. Illinois, not Cuba. That's a bit far in a Subaru. This is what most of Illinois looks like. Fields. They're really pretty.
This is how Orion enjoys most car rides. Lazing in the back seat. Sometimes she looks out the window, but she prefers to nap.
We arrived in Havana and really liked their water tower. (It's so old!)
One of the suggested things to do was walk along the river front. Remember how I said earlier it's mostly barges? Yeah, not particularly scenic. But we walked anyways.
More old-fashioned buildings.
We pointed the car back toward the north and made our way slowly up the western side of the river. This preservation area said you could hike, but there weren't really any trails.
We made it to Peoria in time for lunch on the river front.
They were lacking for local foodie spots, so we had crab!
This railroad turntable is in the middle of a park. Why it's there, it doesn't say. There aren't any tracks around. It's a mystery.
We drove up along a road in the hills and found where the well-to-do live in Peoria. (Giant mansions!) They had some hiking trails too.
This is the view from some of the mansions.
We liked Starved Rock so much we decided to go back. Plus, we didn't really see much the first time and ended up sticking in the area most visitors see. This time, we grabbed a trail map and went off on our own.
Literally.
Not really, though. We did see a total of four other people hiking between the three trails we took.
Look how giant the rocks are! Can you see me and Orion?
Orion demonstrated how brave she is.
Then we headed back to Chicago and somehow managed to not run into crazy traffic or construction!
Oh, and for anyone that's detail-oriented like me and wondering, "Why is Orion wearing a harness but you have the leash clipped to her collar?" We hook her leash to her harness in the car (safer for her and us) but use it on her collar when hiking in case a tree falls in the forest and makes a great noise and she tries to bolt.
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