Starved Rock

The city has been beautiful. Crisp, autumn weather is setting in. We've been continuing to see lots of birds, though fewer species. Lots of Canada geese. The little green monk parakeets are still around, too; looks like they'll be wintering here. We've been taking walks to our local park (Jackson Park, home to a Japanese garden on an artificial island), just behind the Museum of Science and Industry (the side of which is shown at left). It's amazing to have this kind of resource just a few blocks from our apartment. Lake Michigan is five blocks away, too, with a totally different feeling. I love our location.

Nonetheless, we've both been itching to get out of the city, so we took off on Saturday for Starved Rock, a state park about an hour and a half outside of Chicago. It was a gorgeous day, and there were lots and lots of dogs at the park (with their people, on leashes of course). The leaves have just started turning color, so the fall foliage wasn't spectacular, but it was quite lovely anyway. The park is on the Illinois River, so besides the trees, there was water, too. It was full of geese and pelicans.

My favorite parts were the waterfall basins. The falls themselves are dry now, but they've carved out these bowls that are beautiful to climb into. It's amazing how huge they are. The picture makes it look like a cave or a tunnel, but it's not really like either. It's ... looking at it from the front, it seems like it's a vertical wall, and it's not until you reach the back of the bowl that you realize how far the top edge hangs overhead. In winter, the falls freeze. I'm looking forward to visiting some of these places when they're all snowy.

Apparently, no one buys snow tires here. You just don't need them. That's a comforting sort of thing to know.

All for now, folks.