A Walk in the Park

We have been back in Illinois for a month, and for three weeks the weather has been awful; cold, rainy, overcast. Finally things are looking up and that big yellow ball in the sky decided to show up again. I was oh so happy.

Jim and I took advantage of the sunny day and went to the nearby Starved Rock State Park. I had read in the newspaper a few days prior to our visit that the waterfalls were abundant due to all the recent rains so we decided to take a look.

This is the path to the first waterfall, located in St. Louis Canyon. We had to traverse down stairs, walk across the bridge (crossing a creek), then walk UP stairs.

Then we were on this sandy path.

I like these natural stair steps!

Look at these tree roots hanging tenaciously to the edge!

 We continued on the path and came across these two bridges.

We finally made it to our destination. The waterfall wasn't that big, but pretty just the same.

 Part of the canyon to the right of the waterfall.

Looking back over the creek.

Did I mention that I had to walk on one of those fallen trees to cross the creek? No? Uh, yeah. And believe me, I'm not too coordinated and almost lost it.

But I made it and we headed off to the second waterfall, located in French Canyon.

This is typical - Jim hiking in front of me......then waiting for me to catch up. I'm usually lagging behind because a) the old gray mare - she ain't what she used to be and b) I'm busy snapping photos.

 A sun ray happened to be shining exactly on the waterfall

A look back at the path we had just traversed.

I saw some wildflowers on our walk.

Violets #1

Violets #2

any guesses?

bellworts

bluebells

buttercup

 I saw these large umbrella-like plants under some trees. Anybody know what they are?

Pelicans happened to be migrating along the Illinois river at this time.

I wanted to grab a few photos of these great birds, so Jim wandered back to the truck and I attached the longer lens on my camera and set off. The problem was, the river was very high and had recently overflowed its banks. The surrounding land was very, VERY muddy. I slipped and slid my way to the river in thick mud and almost face-planted a few times, but luckily made it in one piece and clean, well, except for my shoes that had about a pound each of mud stuck to them! I was able to grab this shot.

The large "hump" you see on the beak shows up on males and only during mating season. The hump falls off after the birds mate and lay eggs.





Photo by Jacki Just-Pienta




The above photo shows their black-edged feathers, which are not seen when they are floating in the water.


It was a great day in the park!

Utica - Part Three - Starved Rock Lodge

top photo courtesy of their website

Starved Rock Lodge has 72 hotel rooms and 22 cabins. There is a Great Hall that is huge, centered around a ginormous stone fireplace. Comfortable furniture is scattered throughout.







There is a dining room on one end, and an open cafe on the veranda with scenic overlooks.

We have been to Starved Rock several times. This time we decided to take the walking tour of the "Art in the Park", the largest collection of chain saw art in Illinois - 30 in fact! We picked up a brochure in the lobby of the lodge. Jim was happy because he now had a mission. It was funny because some where hidden in plain sight. Especially when one was noted to be in the restaurant. I went in there and asked the young lady where the chain saw carving was located. She was polite enough not to say, "DUH!" first. She just said, "Right here." It was a bear standing BETWEEN us. Oookay. Here's the first photo I took. I didn't crop this one so you can see exactly how close she was standing to it. Maybe I need to get my eyes checked!




Next was the fish located on the veranda. We couldn't find that one, either. Jim thought that it must have been moved. We went back and asked the same young lady. She assured us it was out there. She described the EXACT LOCATION. It was hidden in plain sight. Really. Here it is. And if there weren't people around, I might have gotten up on that bad boy, but alas, I didn't want to scare the little children.



Walking by the gift shop off of the Great Hall, I spied this cap just begging to be modeled. I put it on. What do you think? I thought it would be great if we ever camp "up nor der" in the cold.




This is a really neat carving. Here's the full picture.



And here's a close up so you can see the details.



All of these carvings were made from the dead trees on the property. This one is really cool. The tree trunk was left standing. On the top of the tree trunk is carved an eagle, and eagle's nest, and a fledgling. My photo really doesn't do it justice.





This wood carving is HUGE. It stands about 10 feet tall.





We went into the lobby of the hotel to find some more carvings and to rest my tired feet. Here's a photo of the lobby:



Jim pointed out to me this cute two seater cupboard. I love the way it was painted.





We decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream so we went into the little cafe off of the lobby. They sold many eclectic things there like this:



And these coffee glasses for those coffee drinkers in your life:



And they even sold THIS:



The sign refers to stationary made from animal dung also available at Target.

Another wood carving:



This is a trolley named "Ranger" that can take you around the park and to the neighboring town of La Salle to the I & M canal for a boat ride.



There was a demonstration going on with two chain saw artists working outside by the parking lot. Here's one guy working on a beaver.




The second guy was putting the finishing touches on the eagle with some spray paint.



And finally, here's one of their finished products. Isn't it gorgeous?



Thanks for taking the tour with me to Starved Rock. If you're ever in the area, I'd recommend you stop by for a visit!