Matthiessen State Park

We stayed up a little late the night before, as it was Janeth's birthday and a few of her friends came over for barbecued carne asada tacos. Ira got a little lesson in scissoring the meat and Samuel, Edwin's son helped me re-learn how to play 'Spades'. I even let him sort my cards for me. After the first game, he felt confident in leaving me to my own devices. I managed not to embarrass myself. Kudos to Ira and the birthday girl for winning the whole tournament.


Needless to say, we got off to a late start this morning. The plan today was Mathiessen State Park about an hour and a half drive from Chicago. When we arrived my first comment was where are the mountains, I thought we were going hiking? 


What we didn't realize was that the hike went down into the dells versus up into the hills. I had worn  my low-top hikers but Janeth made the wisest choice with her waterproof hiking sandals. There were a lot of muddy spots and traversing back and forth across the water.


I finally gave up trying to stay dry in favor of safely crossing over without falling. 


At the end of the trail, Luna finally found the water that she could get into. The pool at the bottom of the waterfall was perfect for swimming and Luna wasted no time.


Ira and I opted to walk up and out of the dell to the bridge above the waterfall. It was a good hike but by the end, the muggy weather did us all in. We stopped for a bite to eat in the nearby town of Utica and then barely made it through the candy store before heading back home. We were done. Time to rest up for the big day tomorrow.

A dopo


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