What a day. I love Memorial Day – aside from being the “official” beginning to summer, it reminds me of when I was a little girl. One of my favorite memories (and I have no idea which holiday it actually was) was when we were with my Dad for a weekend and we were in a small town somewhere. I don’t even know what state we were in. But there was a parade – not a big city, crazy long, overly impressive parade. Just a “normal” parade – with veterans waving flags, marching bands with the big “Boom Boom” drums (you know, the kind that feel like they are beating inside your chest), and Lions club members handing out flags to everyone along the parade route. People threw candy, fire trucks wailed while my little sister covered her ears, and Shriners drove little bitty clown cars around in circles. The whole town seemed to be there and while I truly don’t even remember how old I was, the memory is burned into my mind.
(photo — Geneva, IL parade — photo credit Rick Nagel, Geneva Patch)
Today, however, was not about parades for my family. We had decided to spend the day at one of our favorite state parks, Starved Rock, just south of Utica, IL. My daughter bought her first car on Friday – a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and so we thought we’d take that to give her a chance to get more familiar with it, drive it in some different environments than usual, and honestly, because we’re bored with our own cars. So at 7:30am on Memorial Day, we all piled into her Jeep – our two dogs in the back, me and my two youngest in the back seat, hubby in the front passenger seat, and my oldest, driving. A quick stop at Sam’s Club for $20 in gas (because we live in the Chicago burbs, we put a minimum in here – it’s always cheaper away from here) and we headed down Rt 47 towards our destination.
Since I was in the backseat, I let my husband and daughter navigate and just tried to keep up with the chatter coming from my fourteen year old. Soon enough, I realized that rather than turning right on Highway 71, they had continued on Rt 47 and now we were too far east and wouldn’t run across the park … no worries, we’re “on vacation”, even if it’s only for one day. So we crossed the Illinois River and then turned right and drove along whatever random road we had just turned down, weaving our way towards the park.
(my youngest snoozing on the shoulder of my fourteen year old during a rare moment of silence on the drive)
Along the way, we passed a parade staging area, where a high school marching band and a bunch of flag-carrying veterans mingled in the park as they prepared to step off. We passed a couple of little beagles, just trotting down the road. They moved over for us to pass and then happily chased us down the road, tails wagging. We passed farms with corn that is already about knee-high, homes with flags flying, and cemeteries where flags and flowers were freshly planted, and over sections of gravel road. The Jeep, by the way, drove like a dream with a smooth ride for all of us. The only thing we were sad about later in the day is that the A/C doesn’t work – but that morning it didn’t matter. We had the windows down and were enjoying the ride.
Eventually, we made it to the turn to Starved Rock. We came in from the east, along the Illinois River and looked for a turn off to do an initial hike. At the second trail head, we pulled in and parked. The dogs were wiggling all over the place, they were so excited. We all clambered out of the Jeep, clipped a 20 foot lead to the lab and the extendable leash to our old girl (a greyhound, whippet, Rhodesian ridgeback mix) and decided to head towards Illinois canyon. We gave the dogs some water, and then took off down the trail. About five minutes later, we came across … a parking lot. It was the first trailhead lot that we’d missed the turn for. (not marked well …) But we saw the sign for Illinois Canyon across the lot, so headed on down the trail.
(planning the route)
(at the trailhead)
About our dogs – they have very different personalities, but one thing they have in common is that they LOVE to go walking in the woods. Of course, they both want to be in front, which is why it’s helpful to have two different lengths of leads, otherwise they tend to get all tangled up and then we don’t get anywhere fast. The lab – by nature – loves water and seems to be able to smell it from a great distance. Chili, my other dog, used to hate water – but since we’ve had Tyson, she is now much more open to it and will go in up to chest deep on occasion. It was obvious to me that Ty knew there was water up ahead. He charged forward and as soon as we got to the spot where the trail began running next to the stream, leapt into the stream and started walking through the water beside the trail. Chili actually followed him in and gingerly picked her way along the creek bed. Eventually, she got bored and came back up on the trail, while Tyson continued leaping up and down from trail to creek, splashing and wagging his tail, giving us his great big doggy smile and an occasional slurp to show us he was happy.
(Ty in the creek)
The woods were shady, cool, and beautiful. We could hear the wind through the trees, the birds singing, and my fourteen year old chattering away. I had to remind her (and my eleven year old) several times that if they wanted to see any wildlife, they’d need to quiet down. They didn’t, but we did have a blast climbing over “trip roots”, jumping over fallen trees, and scrambling up and down the banks of the stream as we crossed over it on logs, rocks, and trying to keep our feet dry. The dogs had no such worries and happily splashed across. The kids caught a couple of frogs (catch and release, of course) and Tyson even got in on the action and caught a frog, then quickly spat it out – evidently it wasn’t what he expected. He saw something move, grabbed it and then dropped it and looked very confused (before anyone feels the need to comment, the frog was unhurt and we made sure it stayed that way).
(Betsie with the frog)
(Becca fording the stream)
(where the frog lived)
We eventually reached the end of the canyon (it’s a dead-end hike) and after the kids climbed up a fallen tree branch that arced over the path for a photo op, we turned and headed back towards the car.
(up a tree)
(the falls at the back of the canyon)
By the time we got back, it was about 11:30 and we were hungry, so rather than heading up the path in the other direction towards the Council Overhang, we decided to drive up to the lodge area and have lunch. We’d packed a picnic with ham and cheese roll ups, chicken salad sandwiches, chips, bottled water and lemonade. The dogs slurped up another bowlful of water, we loaded back into the jeep, and found a picnic spot near the lodge. After lunch, we hung around there for a while as Chili, our old girl, was limping a little bit (she has arthritis) and we figured she needed a bit of a rest. The kids broke out the whiffle ball and bat and played an impromptu game of whiffle ball with imaginary runners while I wandered the area and took pics of the carvings, cabins, and lodge.
(whiffle ball)
(carvings – there are 30 different ones scattered about)
Starved Rock Lodge was constructed back in the 1930’s as part of the effort to put people back to work during the Great Depression. Young men from the area would be paid about $30 per month. They were allowed to keep $5-$7 for themselves and sent the rest back home for their families to live on. The lodge is built in very much the same style, although on a much smaller scale, as the grand lodges in the national parks out west. The lodge has rooms, a couple of restaurants, a nice swimming pool with hot tubs, a fire ring where story tellers come at night to weave stories of the area for the fascinated guests, and a trolley that can take you back and forth to the river, runs tours of the area, and is a fun way to get an overview of the area. There are also cabins for rent, some more rustic, some more luxurious. All of them have air conditioning. The more rustic ones have no TV or phones … which I prefer. Before kids, my husband and I spent a few romantic weekends here (and our oldest daughter is living proof of how much we enjoyed our time here).
(one of the cabins)
(the lodge)
(inside – check out the huge log beams. This place is awe-inspiring)
After our lunch and whiffle ball break, we decided to take one more hike before heading back home. It was my sister’s birthday, so we were planning on heading back to be at my Dad’s house by about five. It was about 90 degrees out, too, so knowing we had no A/C, we planned on an ice cream stop, too. Four on board with this plan. My youngest was not happy. She wanted to stay and keep hiking and hiking and hiking. I promised her another trip soon and that placated her … after reviewing the map near our whiffle ball spot, we decided to head to Saint Louis Canyon, but to drive to a trailhead rather than making the 5 mile round trip hike. That would allow us to still see the canyon, but only have to hike about a mile to do it. I knew the falls would not be as robust as usual, since there hadn’t been much rain lately, but was not prepared for the sheer number of people we found in that canyon. Nor were we prepared for the number of mosquitos – holy cow!!! It’s like someone told them it was a holiday weekend and that they should prepare for a feast!
(the stairs down to the canyon)
A few years back, there were major floods in the park, and many of the trails and stepping-stones across the river were washed away. Now, there are stairs, bridges, and platforms to help the masses find their way back to Starved Rock’s most popular hiking destination. This is good for safety, but I really think part of the adventure in hiking and exploring is the risk of getting wet or the thrill of navigating a narrow trail. Hard to do, though, when there are over one hundred people in the same small canyon. I was honestly shocked … my advice, don’t try to hike St. Louis canyon on a weekend, especially a holiday weekend. Instead, if you can, try to come on a weekday – especially after a recent rainfall. The falls at the end of the canyon can be spectacular, and much more so if you’re not jockeying for position to view them around people who seem to have no true appreciation for what they’re seeing.
(the falls on Monday – barely a trickle)
After making it back to the car, we headed back north, through Utica, and got gas for $.47 cheaper per gallon than we could have back home. After topping off the tank, we took the “shortcut” of I-80 back to Route 71 and then headed back north towards home. Before we’d been in the car fifteen minutes, my youngest was out cold (so I guess hiking until dark probably wouldn’t have been the best idea). We drove about an hour and then stopped at Culver’s in Yorkville for the promised ice cream (actually, frozen custard) and then made it home in time to shower and make some homemade blueberry cobbler before heading over for our Memorial Day BBQ/birthday celebration.
It was a great day – and we learned a few things that will help us out next summer.
Lesson One – sometimes “getting lost” is a heck of a lot more fun than driving straight to your destination – in fairness, we knew this already, but this trip was a nice reminder.
(Tyson checking out one of the statues near the lodge)
Lesson Two – we packed food, we packed water, we had tons of sunscreen, but we (facepalm) forgot the bug spray! We need to make sure we have a ‘supply bucket’ with everything we might need in it, in case we get into a situation where we have an opportunity to take a side trip/hike/etc. This bucket should definitely have bug spray, sunscreen, and first aid items – and should probably have matches, dry socks, and pony tail holders/barrettes just in case they’re needed in a pinch.
(poison ivy – another thing it would be good to have ointment for – fortunately, we all know what it looks like and none of us got into it)
Lesson Three – we have to remember to run at the pace of the slowest in the group. This day, it was our old lady dog. But it could have been any of us depending on the circumstances. Also, it’s important to take time to rest and talk and just be together. That whiffle ball picnic break was just what the doctor ordered – it was a great break, and while we had planned on the picnic and had the toys along, we really didn’t anticipate that we’d spend that much time just hanging out.
(Britt, hanging with the dogs during our picnic break)
Memorial Day 2012 is history. Where will the road take us next? Tune in tomorrow to find out what we’re thinking of as possibilities for this summer.
bagsrpacked 