Hiking in Matthiessen State Park | February 2023 On the Monday following our hikes in Starved Rock State Park, we decided to branch out a little and visit another state park near us. Just a little ways Southwest of Starved Rock lies Matthiessen State Park, along the Vermillion River. A lot of the scenery here…
Hiking in Starved Rock State Park | Illinois Canyon | St. Louis Canyon | February 2023 Even though Curtis was on shift work, working 12 hour night shifts, and only getting one day off a week, we still managed to fit in two more hikes in Starved Rock State Park over our second weekend in…
Hiking in Silver Spring State Park | Buffalo Rock State Park | Our Second Week in Ottawa | February 2023 We kicked off week 2 in Ottawa with a day trip in pursuit of new counties. There were 3 counties North/Northeast of us that we figured we could easily knock out, so we searched for…
Starved Rock State Park | Hiking a Loop Trail to Lover’s Leap, Eagle Rock, and Wildcat Canyon | Ottawa, IL | February 2023 One of the best parts about being assigned to Ottawa is that there are a considerable amount of hiking trails within only a half hour of driving. And by Midwest standards, the…
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…
Visiting Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site | Last Day of Vacation | A Week in Iowa | January 2023 Curtis: Since visiting mounds along the Natchez Trace last year, we’ve been slowly learning more about the pre-historic cultures of the Eastern United States and visiting more and more mounds, piecing together the academic history with…