Category: Excursions

The Saturday before last we went to the Taste of Glen Ellyn which was ok, but nothing big. Tastes always disappoint me because they tend to have the same old boring food from the same old boring vendors every year. After walking around for less than an hour we were ready to leave, so we decided to check out a place I’ve been wanting to try for awhile called Penn Station. They are known for having one of the best Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches in the western burbs, and while I did enjoy mine, nothing compares to the one I had when in Mesa, Arizona in 2009. Sad, isn’t it, that it’s so far away?!?

After lunch we decided to go to Herrick Lake since we hadn’t been there since sometime last year, but first we scoped out a new-to-us forest preserve called Blackwell. It’s huge! Even more surprising was that it has its own campground area which is open on Friday and Saturday nights from May-September. It’s probably a great way to get that camping feeling without having to go all out.

On the way to do some errands later that day we passed a festival in Carol Stream called Just Play. After learning more about it online we decided to check it out on Sunday morning when it opened. They had a zipline which would have been fun to ride but the line was over an hour long. We shared a yummy orange strawberry mango smoothie and checked out the BMX bikers instead. They make their tricks look so easy but I’m sure it takes a lot of time and practice. I debated trying to take some photos and a video of their tricks but decided to sit back and enjoy the show instead so you’ll just have to trust me when I say it was very cool.

After getting a little sunburn I was no longer in the mood for any further outdoor activities so we hung out watching tv the rest of the day.

This past weekend we had E over and even though it was unseasonably cool, we went to a nearby park for awhile to get some fresh air. Turns out this park has a zipline so I finally got to ride one. It’s much closer to the ground than the one at the festival but it was still a little thrill to ride. The park has a large pond too so I got to use my trusty little binoculars to watch a beautiful egret near the shoreline on the opposite side of the pond. I was also hissed at by a Canada goose protecting some babies hidden under its partner’s wing so that was interesting.

We had Bella with us at the park as we are dog-sitting this weekend and I met a couple and their hound dogs and another couple with their toddler who wanted to pet the doggy. It’s funny how much friendlier people are to you when you have a dog in tow.

Joe had the day off this past Monday so we took advantage of the nice day. Give me upper 60’s any day over the 80 degree weather we are experiencing now. Sure, the hotter temperatures are great for swimming but they suck for trekking around parks and nature preserves. We finally got around to visiting Lilacia Park in Lombard while the lilacs were in full bloom. We’ve only been trying to time it right for a few years now! Not only do they have all sorts of varieties, but the park has a lot of tulips and daffodils as well. The lilacs smelled so good I wanted to take some with me.

After the park we stopped for lunch at one of our favorite Thai restaurants around the corner from our doctor’s office as Joe had an appointment to see her about his recent asthma issues. She was confident they were caused by a build-up of cat fur in the house so it’s now official that I won’t be fostering any more of the cute little buggers. It sucks because I really enjoy photographing them and now I have to work extra hard to get my butt out of bed in the mornings since there’s no real compelling reason to do so.

After the doctor we visited Moron Arboretum in Lisle where I got to take advantage of the new compact binoculars I recently purchased (I paid only $13 on Amazon and they work nearly as well as the huge pair I inherited from my grandfather). Keeping track of the bluebird and a coyote we spotted from a distance was fun. We also saw hundreds of little tadpoles in a pond in one of the gardens.

Due to our vacation and the cold rainy weather lately we haven’t done as many of our usual Fall activities this year. We missed attending the Scarecrow Festival in St. Charles or going to the pumpkin patch. We also decided to skip the Haunted Hayride this year so we don’t get sick of it.

We did, however, visit Morton Arboretum this past weekend since we’re members. I even caught a pic of a hawk in flight, albeit a crappy one as it took off when I was trying to get it sitting on a post.

The true reason for our trip, in addition to just wanting to see the trees before all the leaves fell off, and the scarecrows they always put up around the lake, is that I wanted to check out their Glass Pumpkin Patch which was really cool. We didn’t purchase any pumpkins, however, but we were in the minority – we saw lots of people purchasing multiple pieces. The smallest pumpkins were $35 and went well over $100 the larger they got so it just floors me what these people were thinking. I guess it must be nice to drop hundreds of dollars so easily. As much as I liked them, I couldn’t imagine what I’d do with one if I was up to spending the money. I’d be afraid to put it in storage and risk breaking it which means I’d have to put it somewhere I wouldn’t mind seeing it all the time and our house isn’t that large so it would just annoy me after awhile. In fact I didn’t even decorate for Halloween as much as I usually do because I hate clutter. Ah well, enjoy the pics below and read on…

Sunday we visited a new park we recently came across in nearby Wheaton. It has a big pond and a large path that is perfect for biking (especially since it wasn’t very crowded like the park closest to us). Afterwards we had lunch and then visited Willowbrook Wildlife Center.

After the Wildlife Center we visited Cosley Zoo to check out their new bobcat exhibit and renew our membership. It’s not cheap at $59/year (we’d have to visit at least 10 times just to break even) but it has more than paid for itself with the reciprocal deals we get across the country when we vacation in addition to the free admission to Milwaukee Zoo which we tend to visit frequently.

The weekend weather was very nice compared to last weekend and thus it went by far too quickly, as always. *sigh* I really wish I could either work in a library or a nature preserve. Maybe then I wouldn’t have to live for the weekends so much.
Flickr photo sets:

» Morton Arboretum
» Willowbrook Wildlife Center
» Cosley Zoo