Third time is definitely the charm! Last weekend Dave and I had our third attempt at camping, and this time it was a success! The first time we tried to camping, this happened. The second time we were scheduled to go it was forecasted to rain all day, each day of the weekend, so we didn’t even bother going.
This time, the weather was beautiful!
We went to the Starved Rock campsite which is in Utica, IL only about 1 1/2 hours away—a great weekend getaway for all us Chicago city dwellers.
The campsite itself was really nice. At each site there was an electrical hook-up and barbeque. The campground also offered showers, running water, and toilets. Maybe this is “glamping” to some, but it’s about as far as I go with camping.
I’m not a “use a leaf” kind of gal, if you know what I mean.
At the campsite my pyromaniac husband had lots of fun making the campfire, and we had fun photographing it.
There’s something really mysterious and beautiful about fire, don’t you think?
Want to know where we got the firewood? At the super cute little side-of-the-road-stand called “Jack’s.” Basically this sweet old man just sells different camping odds and ends right out of his garage and wood out of his truck. We love supporting little businesses like this!
Oh, and while Jack’s wife was making our coffee each morning, I snapped some shots of the farm land around his house.
Ok, so I got a little obsessed about photographing the wheat. But I got a new lens for my birthday and was having too.much.fun.
But back to the campsite…
We ate the usual camp fare: hotdogs, hamburgers, s’mores, etc. We also brought my tripod so we got to take some pretty cool night photos.
But wait, you’re thinking, did you just stay in the campgrounds the whole time? Of course not! We went hiking at both Starved Rock State Park and Matthiessen Park (which, by the way, is FAR superior to Starved Rock in our humble opinions).
So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite nature shots from the trip.
I took over 300 but didn’t think anyone would want to stick around for all that.
This is the reflection of water on the canyon walls
So, we finally feel that the “camping curse” has been lifted, and we’re excited to do it again!
Beautiful photos - glad you had a good time. We've been meaning to check out Starved Rock for ages - maybe we'll give it a go later this summer...
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful pictures! We LOVE Starved Rock but have never been camping there - and I totally agree with you Matthiessen Park is much more stunning than starved rock. I love all the trails around that area...I'm going to have to look in to camping there and keep my eye open for "Jack's" :)
ReplyDeleteOh what beautiful pictures! Glad you had a successful trip! Thanks for the memories....when I lived in Plainfield, we always took class trips to Starved Rock! It is gorgeous and Mathiessen a great place to hike!
ReplyDeleteHow fun!!! You guys are too cute. Gorgeous photos Sarah!
ReplyDeleteDid you look around the storage sheds at Jacks in case there was something you wanted to pick?
ReplyDelete~Bliss~
Hurray for you guys!!!! What gorgeous pictures too! Unfortunately, all I remember about Starved Rock is that there was a terrible murder there years ago....you're too young but whenever I hear "Starved Rock" that's what I think of. But it only happened once and it was 40 or 50 years ago...I'm old! LOL! What a beautiful place. I was born in Chicago and lived there until I was 13 then was back doing some consulting and commuting from Rockford, IL....that was the summer from hell! @hours in and 2 hours out. Where do you live in Chicago? I lived on the West side...Austin and Irving. My Aunt and cousins were teachers in Chicago. My daughter is a teacher in Cedar Rapids, IA. Where do you teach? Are you both teachers?
ReplyDeleteI'll quit with the questions now. LOL! So glad you had a good time.