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.