On Saturday Jon and I headed up to Starved Rock State Park along the Illinois River about an hour north of Bloomington. I was amazed by the rock formations and scenic canyons, which were much more attractive to look at than the muddy, littered banks of the river.
All photos by me, except for the last one, which Jon took.
Looking like a hiker (?) at Fox Ridge State Park just south of Charleston. The path we took wasn’t too strenuous, but the scenery was lush and it was a beautiful day for a walk. It’s quite hilly 50 miles south of Champaign. Who knew?
The options were confounding. I wasn’t expecting baseball to be on the board.
Nor was I anticipating coming across a large metal box at the floor of a ravine near a creek bed. Next to this box was a pile of 2×4s. Again, a little odd.
We were on the Eagle’s Nest trail, the “rugged” option. I’m not so sure about the descriptives. No eagles, and not too rugged. But M and I did go off the path a bit and forged our way down a steep ravine, thus upping the ruggedness by a couple notches. Theses steps, on the other hand, negated our attempts at upping the ante.
One and a half hours in, we were hungry, yet happy.
We wrapped up our hike soon thereafter and ate lunch. PB&J, Pringles, and apples. Yum!
This car was parked next to our’s.
Then we stopped by Lake Charleston before driving back home. Huge lake. No one was on it. I like how the welcome sign, strategically positioned right next to the porta-potty, encourages those entering to relax, among other things.
Speaking of relaxing, I’m off to the parents for a few days. I probably won’t post much while I’m there, thanks to their dial-up connection.
