We took a terrific vacation up north along the Great River Road which follows the Mississippi River, of course. The trip wasn't lengthy in miles but reminded me how completely beautiful the midwest is, how important that great river is, how quiet the world can be and how much fun it is to just hit the road with B.We started the trip with a mildly miserable drive out of Chicago -- complete with one return home about from about two miles away, a stop at Target, a suburban stop at a camping store (where I got a sweet hat!) and stupid Friday afternoon traffic. But that didn't stifle our fun one bit.
We rented a car in Rockford. We do have a car, and it's not a piece of junk but we didn't want to test it out on a long trip. And our car's radio is mildly possessed so it turns on and off and switches stations randomly. So, a rental car was a smart idea for safety and sanity.
Our rental -- The Altima! -- was fantastic. We could hook our iPad in to the stereo, charge our cell phones, fit all our stuff with ease and got fantastic gas mileage. We took our rental car from the Rockford Airport and headed west along the Rock River. After Rockford we didn't see an interstate for days.
We camped in Bellevue, Iowa. And we were lucky enough to have some friends join us for a few nights in the woods. That made three nights of camping incredibly fun -- cooking heaps of campout food, a s'mores feast, sunshine-y hikes, views upon views upon views and a meteor shower.
B and I hit the Bellevue Farmer's Market, which was the smallest market I've ever been to, where we bought some peppers, tomatoes, really excellent berry jam and these odd miniature cinnamon rolls which all appeared to be grown in people's backyard's. We used the pepper and tomatoes for a campout stew. We took a hike to Bellevue State Park's butterfly garden and a hike along the Quarry Trail (not sure where the quarry was). Both delightful hikes despite humidity and heat. We lounged after hiking, then kids ran all over the place as we cooked a delightful camping dinner. Nothing beats campfires with friends, of course. Sam recited the entire "Nightmare On My Street" rap as a scary fireside story and we watched a meteor shower before the skies got cloudy.
All in all an absolutely beautiful start to our vacation!
1 comment:
I still maintain that one of the most important things about where I went to college was the fact that I woke up every morning to a sunrise over the Mississippi River. I miss it from time to time.
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