Category: State Parks

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Illinois Most Popular Posts State Parks

It is 9:20 on a Saturday

It’s 9:20 on a Saturday evening, and I’m sitting on a bench, snuggling Rachel on my right, and Jess on my left. Jess has little Cara in her lap, with Andrew on her other side. Above us is a starry night sky, seen through the branches of the trees that surround us. The bench is in Kickapoo State Park, just west of Danville, Illinois. The park holds movie night on the weekends, and tonight’s movie is Toy Story 3.

The day started with a few rays of sunlight casting a dappled light on the side of our tent, a welcome sign that the scattered rain the previous night had passed. Oatmeal for breakfast, and some quiet time for the kids. Jess changed into her cycling clothes, and headed out for a ride. I opened the laptop, reviewed my most recent email, and started coding an LDAP bulk user linking utility.

Fresh local peaches purchased yesterday at a roadside stand on the other side of Illinois became a morning snack. Jess returned from her ride, a 24 mile loop that I’ll enjoy later in the day. Kids head off on bikes to play at the swingsets with the small mob of kids here for the weekend. A little more work and a phone call, some lunch, and Jess heads into town for some groceries and a load of laundry. I leave on that bike ride, then finish the LDAP tool, committing and pushing my code for review and deployment. That customer will be happy.

Fire roasted hot dogs for dinner, then showers for everyone. Jess braids Cara’s hair, and we gather jackets and blankets for the movie.

Later in the evening, Jess and I sit together looking at the night sky, and ponder.

Why is today the exception, instead of the rule?

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Colorado State Parks

The Art of Naming Objects While on a Road Trip

“You know – that thing. The flash bag, “ I said to Sam as we hike up the trail to Rife Falls.

“When you say ‘flash bag’ I think of strobes & speedlights,” Sam says.

“Right…I guess I do have one of those. I meant the REI backpack. What are we going to call it? It needs a name.”

Turns out when you have a car full of stuff and very little space, having names for things really helps. Especially when you are trying to find something in a hurry or figure out what in the world the other person is talking about. We could always play 20 questions but that would take longer than I’d like since I’m not very good at it.

“Let’s just call it the diaper bag. That’s what I’m using it for anyway,” I say.

Perfect.

 

Hiking Rifle Falls & Camping at Rifle Gap

 

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Featured Destination State Parks Utah

Goblin Valley, Utah

I desperately needed a break from the cold weather and finagled the whole family into road tripping with us to Goblin Valley State Park over what was definitely NOT Spring Break. Yes, I was that desperate. I haven’t been there since I was little, and Sam and the kids have never been, and it sounded WARM. That was pretty much my only requirement. It was the perfect 3 days.

We were really curious how our 2 year old would do in the valley. She’s not a huge walker – often getting tired fairly quickly, and then she wants “uppies” which results in us carrying her 40lb little body around on our hip. That gets old pretty fast. We got to the valley pretty early and she managed to play/climb her way across to the semi-canyons on the other side and back before lunch. It was only AFTER we had dinner and went back (so I could get photos in some GOOD lighting) that she had a complete melt down. See below. Lesson learned. 2 year olds do great as long as you don’t push it.

Rachel and Andrew did fantastic. If you ever want to keep two children occupied for HOURS, get 2 way radios. The rule was that mom & dad had to keep one, and the kids could share the other. We figured that way it would be easier to keep track of them. bwhahaha. Our morning was punctured repeatedly by “mom! Come find me!” over the radio.

We also made it over to Little Wildhorse Canyon. The kids didn’t make it up super far, but thought the slot canyons were pretty sweet. Our saving grace was that we made Cara ride in the backpack until we reached the slots. By then she was just plain done riding, but she got to walk during the most interesting part and didn’t wear out to quickly.