Starved Rock-Day 2-Hiking

Ahhhhh....it's morning! It was nice and warm in the tent thanks to Mr. Heater-Big Buddy. The heater ran on two little portable tanks and it lasted all night! It's a little warmer today, so I can't wait to open the tent door. Great, it smells like raccoon urine. OK, I really don't know what that smells like so I am guessing! I think Rick (my husband) was right, that little critter relieved himself by our tent. Nothing like that morning freshness!

Breakfast consisted of coffee, juice, bagels and cream cheese. It was time to hit the trails after breakfast.  We alll got into our cars and drove to Visitor's Center to make last pit stop before being caught in the middle of the trails. What do you know? The Visitor Center's bathrooms are closed due to a water problem! Time to pack back into the car and head to the lodge to relieve our bladders. Again, back into the car to head back to the Visitor's Center to start hiking. We walked along the Illinois River to finally grab a path to take us to the St. Louis Canyon. On our path there was just a huge limb caught in the trees, dangeling over Mr. Rose's head. Thank goodness that Mr. Kirk pushed him out of the way to safety. You never know when that limb might fall on someone!

Dangling Limb over Mr. Rose's head!

After going up many steps and hills and going back down again, we all reached the St. Louis Canyon.

More steps!

 It was a very cool waterfall with the ledges carved into the sandstone. Not to mention an awesome playground for 6 kids. It was great that no one broke a leg after climbing up all of the ledges and jumping down. It was surprising to see so much sand like one would find at the Dunes.

St. Louis Canyon

Rocky terrain-St. Louis Canyon

We promise we won't jump! (St. Louis Canyon)

Let's camp in this hole tonight! (St. Louis Canyon)

Once leaving the St. Louis Canyon, we continued on the trail to pass the Kickapoo, Sac, and Aurora Canyons.

Sac Canyon

Aurora Canyon

Time to head back to camp to cook hot dogs! We have a hungry crew since it's already past 1 pm. After eating, the kids played and the adults tried to relax and unwind. My body is already hurting from the various levels of elevation on the trails.

Nighttime dinner consisted of sloppy joe's and more hot dogs and smores. Lightning is striking in the distance, so the night fun will be cut short. So much for relaxing since it's time some of our belongings into the van before the storm hits us. I blew up our flat mattresses one more time to see if I can make it more comfortable. Rick decided to sleep on the floor tonight. Just as we finished packing the van, it started pouring. Do you believe that Ricky Raccoon is making his calls to his friends in the rain? I think Ricky Raccoon is laughing at us! Mrs. Rose yells out if we are interested in playing Euchre. Is she serious? Is she talking to us or the Kirks? Where would we all fit to play cards? Oh, I think we will just go to sleep. No Mr. Heater tonight since it's warmer with a breeze coming through the windows. Our tent held up through the rain besides a little water seeping through the seams. The Kirk's and Rose's didn't float away so it was a good night!

Starved Rock-Day 1-Setting Up Camp

OK....my feet are already freezing! Need to pack warmer socks! What happened to the 70 degree weather when we planned this trip? Before even arriving at Starved Rock, I had to stop into Cabela's to pick up a heater. Yes, call me "chicken", but I just couldn't do another cold, cold camping night. I ended up with Mr. Heater-Big Buddy. He will be my buddy for a long time.

We started setting up our tent around 3 pm and we settled into reserved site #121, a nice spot between the trees. Thank goodness for the trees since it blocked that vicious wind whipping around our heads. We also took sites: #123 and #126. Out of all the spots, #123 was the most spacious, so obviously we all gathered around the fire at site #123. If you ever go camping and would like a nice grassy site, check out sites: #131 and #133. Plus these sites are right across from the flushing toilets and showers.The playground is also near these sites.

It didn't take long to set up camp and build the fire! No hiking today! We settled in and thank goodness for the Rose's bringing their awesome taco's. After filling our belly with tacos, adult juice, and smore's, it was time to turn in for the night. However, before even closing one eye, a shuffling of little critter claws was heard outside our tent. A big, fat raccoon with glowing, beady eyes was starring at our trash. Every now and then he was glancing at us too! Yep, we forgot to throw out our trash before bedtime! What a big invitation for critters. Thank goodness for Mr. Rose, who came to get our trash. When he did, "Ricky Raccoon" (that's what we'll call him) came charging towards our tent window. I let out a little scream as he came towards the tent. All night Ricky Raccoon circled all of our tents. We even believed he relieved himself near our tent......that's just great! Ricky Raccoon even let out his raccoon call to alert all of his friends to "join the party"! It was hard to sleep hearing raccoon calls and the pitter patter of little claws.

Just when I thought I could close my eyes, we realized that our air mattress had a hole in it. Air was slowing leaking out of our mattress. I was thinking that I could change mattressess with our two boys, but their mattress was already flat. Warning: never let all of the kids into your tent to play. When you tell them to not jump on the mattressess, they don't really listen to you. So instead of a nice firm mattress, we have a water bed effect. OK, so now my husband has to jostle all night lon,g trying to get comfortable. That's alright, I will try to sleep tomorrow!