The Splendor of Fall

There is no doubt about it. We Midwesterners love our fall colors. Road trips, bike trips, just tooling around the neighborhood brings about a sense of pride in the beauty around us as if we had anything to do with its creation. Similar to the way my mother used to brag about her Florida weather as if she were responsible for it in some way.

Last Saturday with nothing else on our agenda we decided to take a road trip to Starved Rock State Park and soak up a bit of the ambiance of fall and have a nice lunch at the lodge. We forgot to take into account the fact that since we are retired we should reserve such outings for the week-days. Everyone in Illinois seems to have had the same thoughts. 

We couldn't get into the restaurant for lunch so we dined al fresco! This may have been the first time outside of a campground that I ate my lunch wearing gloves. It was a sunny, even though brisk day though so the experience was not without its merit considering the view.

We never realized that there are a total of 18 canyons in this park. In a 3 mile loop I believe we saw less that half of them. During the rainy times there are supposedly water falls filling these chasms, but there is a different kind of thrill being able to walk right into them.

We worked off our lunch with a long hike through the woods and along the river enjoying the colors but also enjoying the many families and friends doing the same. The atmosphere was congenial and friendly. Even the dogs encountered along the trail were well behaved although I have always failed to understand why so many people having dogs with very short legs think this kind of activity is a treat for them. There are plenty of steep climb and stairs along these trails. Further up into the woods the crowds thinned quite a bit as the climb is not for the faint hearted.

Starved Rock for which this park is named

This day brought back great memories about our first ever camping trip with our pop-up and our three little boys. Our then neighbor and good friends, the Siebens were seasoned campers and they decided they should teach us everything we needed to know about camping. This was about 34 years ago. This place has changed (actually been changed) a lot since then. It was the Siebens custom to go mushroom hunting with some of their family the first week-end in April each year in the woods around Starved Rock. The campground at that time was a barren field with no running water and pit toilets, the old fashioned stinky kind. Northern Illinois tends to be colder in April than in October and it hit freezing that night. I slept with a cloth diaper around my head for warmth. The next morning we hiked up the rock on a dirt path, not the metal steps and boardwalks which became necessary to stem the erosion. There was no guard rail at the top of the cliff and, of course boys, both big and small had to brave the very edge while mom shuddred in fear for their lives. Then we hit the woods, off trail, looking for edible mushrooms and Don got lost. We can still hear his voice calling through the trees, "Oh Elaine".

Obviously neither of us was daunted by this experience. We went out the day after we returned home and bought heavier sleeping bags and a small space heater both of which served us well in the years to come. It was also the first of many camping trips shared with these wonderful people in our lives.