Spring has sprung in southeast Michigan. H is restless. He spun the direction dial and West won. We pulled out and followed Rt 20 around the
tall stately monument in the center of Angola Indiana. Just past Lagrange, the Shipshewanna Flea
Market was open and parking was still free till after Memorial Day so we got
our walking exercise in and even did a little shopping. Our first night’s destination was Potato
Creek State Park, 15 miles south of South Bend. It hasn’t changed any since the last time we stopped on another
adventure, 10 years ago!
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| Illinois River |
We stayed just one night in Potato Creek because they were
full for the upcoming weekend. H
thought wisely and called Starved Rock State Park in Ottawa Illinois to make
sure they had a place for us to park for the duration of our trip. Nope - they were booked solid, and it wasn’t
even the holiday! Illini State Park,
west of Joliet and about 20 miles east of Starved Rock, still had a few “walk
in” sites available – so we headed there, via the Lincoln Highway (Rt 30) and
then Interstate 80.
Illini State Park is named after an Indian tribe who once
called the area home. It sits on the
Illinois River across a high bridge from Marseilles (Mar – sales). It’s French and they too lived in the area
for a while! Our first glimpse of the
long winding river, broken up by a plethora of locks and dams, was of a laden
barge being pushed up the river past a pleasant little park with a statue of
its namesake proudly keeping watch.
Illini has 2 camping loops – one is right next to the river, across from
one set of locks and has clean, but older facilities. The other loop has no facilities other than a not yet smelly pit
toilet building and electricity. The
beautiful wooded surroundings totally made up for it and it was not difficult
to jump in the truck and drive to the other loop for a good, hot (almost
scalding!) shower.
In Florida, two years ago we met John and Anne who were from
NE Illinois. John came to visit us at
the campground! He and H played with
the drones and rode our NEW electric fold-up bikes! (Remember – H sold our old
fold-up bikes down in Florida!) I was
saddened because sweet Anne was not feeling well and could not make the trip to
enjoy the conversation and the great lunch out at the Marseilles Family
Diner. Get Well, dear Friend!
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| On top of Starved Rock |
Starved Rock State Park and the surrounding area is not the
flat boring expanse of farmland that make up most of the state. The Illinois River Valley was carved by
melting glaciers surging thru sandstone rock.
During early spring, after the winter thaw and frequent rains, Starved
Rock brags about her 18 canyons and waterfalls with vertical walls of
moss-covered stone that create settings of geologic beauty. The parks namesake is a real rock! Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa tribe was slain
by the Illiniwek tribe and the battles began.
A band of the Illiniwek sought refuge on top of the 125-foot sandstone
butte. The Ottawa tribe surrounded the
bluff until the hapless tribe at the top died of starvation. On our first visit to the park we did climb
the steps AND the hill – and THEN up the 65 wooden steps to the top of the
famed rock to gaze out over the river and dam below and the “Lovers Leap” on
the neighboring sandstone cliff. Walking
along the top edge, looking out over the available 3 sides of awesome viewing
was well worth the huffing and puffing to get to that point!
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| water fall at St Louis Canyon |
Our day for hiking to a waterfall was on a Saturday. All the state parks were full of groups of
families out for a nice day. The
overflow parking lots were definitely all overflowing!! We took our second choice of falls to go
find because its location was at the outer edge of the park with its own
parking area. However, the parking area
was blocked off so we ended up parking near the highway and walking down the
pockmarked deteriorating blacktop just to get to the sign directing us to the
St Louis Canyon. The .3- mile hike from
there was also not handicap accessible – a narrow sand path on the edge of deep
ruts of babbling water. Then it was up
steps and then down more steps. The sand path continued downward, with roots
creeping across them as they attempted to hold the sand from sliding into the
stream of water below. As we rounded a
curve and over another small bridge, the view opened up to the huge half circle
bowl and the steady stream of water that splashed to the pool at the bottom
from what seemed like the highway heights above. By the time we returned to the parked truck, we were both hurting
and out of breath!
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| path to the canyon |
Of course, the nearby towns were explored – Marseilles,
Ottawa, Utica and Streator. Streator’s
claim to fame is their “Walldogs” artists and their Festival of Murals each
June/July. While driving their main
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| downtown Streator Ill. |
street area we saw what we thought was a restored old block of town. As we approached we realized we were looking
at a 3 dimensional mural that took up the entire side of a building! Ottawa has its history with Abraham
Lincoln’s first debate in 1858 and the nearby Buffalo Rock State Park. This park has a collection of outdoor
earthen sculptures, inspired by Native American burial grounds. The images were wasted as the grass had not
yet been mowed and the best viewing needed to be from above. Buffalo Rock is also home to 2 American
Bison who were oblivious to me wanting to get their photo thru the 2 fences of
their enclosure.
I’ve got more of our adventure to show and tell
you about, but I’ve run out of time and space! I’ll continue soon and tell you about Chicago!
