Week One in Ottawa, Illinois

Week One in Ottawa, IL | Dayton Bluff | Ottawa Riverwalk | Allen Park | I&M Canal Trail | February 2023

Curtis’ first assignment with his new job brought us to Ottawa, Illinois for the month of February. It was a quick and easy drive over on I-80 after leaving my parent’s house in Iowa on Monday afternoon. We arrived around 5 and got checked in to our “home” for the month, the Fairfield Inn & Suites. We brought in all our things and filled up the drawers so we could put away our suitcases to make ourselves feel “at home”. We unfortunately couldn’t get a hotel with a kitchenette during this month’s stay, but this hotel had a lot of other perks. Namely, the entire staff loved Charlotte and would shower her with treats and belly rubs daily, and the hot continental breakfast was the best we’d ever had at a hotel that we can recall!

We made a quick Walmart run that evening to pick up some necessities, then grabbed Culvers for dinner because it was right next door to our hotel. Yeah, we were in trouble.

The first week was overall a little rough on us. Curtis had to wait for his security clearance to go to the plant, and while he waited for that he had to drive an hour each way to another plant daily to wait for his badge. That ended up taking a week and a half. He also managed to get sick for the first time by the end of the week. Charlotte wasn’t doing so well either, so I had to find a vet nearby that was accepting new patients. It was a stressful time, but we kept reminding ourselves how great the last month had been, and that we were still here together, living in a hotel with delicious hot continental breakfast that was paid for by the company, so things really weren’t that bad.

And as always, we were able to find the bright side to this situation. I found a vet that didn’t require driving a half hour or more, and Charlotte got the care she needed to start acting more like herself. Also, because he wasn’t at the plant yet, Curtis had a slightly lighter schedule for that first week and a half, so we were able to go for quick walks in the evening before the sun set. Somehow just being able to get out and walk for 15-30 minutes always makes everything better!

During our first week, we walked around several different parks and trails near Ottawa. For our first outing, we went for a hike in Dayton Bluff Preserve. This area has a small network of trails on the East side of the Fox River. We arrived pretty close to sundown, and made our goal to get down to see the river. The area was pleasant if not very exciting, but it was definitely still winter and as the sun set, it got cold fast. We managed to meet our goal, but the trail was MUDDY – and so we made the long overdue purchase of a cheap black towel for Charlotte’s sake (and mine, since she always sits on my lap in the car after these muddy walks!).

Our second evening walk was further down the Fox River and closer to town, following the River Walk. We started at the Fox River Park just East of the downtown area. The trail was paved and considerably less muddy than the day before, but we were a bit disappointed that it didn’t lead all the way downtown — it just sort of ended near a school. We enjoyed watching the ice-flo on the river and even saw a beaver floating by, but then it started raining and getting cold so we called it a night.

The following night, we went for another short walk on the South side of the river at Allen Park. We had actually visited this park almost 7 years ago during our road trip moving from South Carolina to New York because one of Peter Toth’s Whispering Giant statues is here. We stayed a little longer this time, watching the geese, a barge pass by, and the sunset.

For our last evening adventure of the week, we returned to the Fox River Park, but this time we walked a section of the I&M Canal Trail from the bridge crossing over the Fox River to its intersection with 2871st Road. Most of the trail followed a road, but at least it wasn’t too muddy, and the weather that evening was perfect.

And that wraps up our first week in Ottawa — we were glad to find a nice variety of parks and trails, but were even more excited about hiking in nearby state parks over our weekends. More on that, next!