When its hot, take refuge in the sandstone canyons.
What a day. Temperatures topped 80 degrees (27 for the rest of the world) and I took a two-hour drive down to Matthiessen and Starved Rock State Parks down near La Salle, IL. Both parks feature sandstone canyons reminiscent to those of the Bankhead National Forest in Alabama. While the number of canyons is considerably less, these tend to be deeper and narrower and quite impressive. No photographs, however. I wasn't able to find an open shop to buy some film, plus the lighting wasn't good. I'll have to go back and camp so I can catch the early-morning and late evening light in the canyons.
I had lunch in La Salle at a very nice joint called the Uptown Grille. La Salle is an interesting town... it has the appearance of a run-down 1950's mid-western town on first pass, but take a walk up the main street and you'll find most of the shops occupied and doing pretty well. Rather than being full of antique shops, furniture stores, and 2nd hand merchandise, there are some pretty up-scale clothing retailers, jewlery stores, a comic book shop, and stuff of that nature. Not many restaurants, but the one I ate at was nice.
Three months ago, on my road trip to the Mississippi River, many gas stations were advertising as low as $1.99 a gallon. Today, I filled up for $2.79, but saw prices as high as $2.99. I dread the day when the average price around here tops $3. However... the place I stopped at was a BP just off of I-39 and Illinois Route 72. The intersection is in the middle of nowhere, but this gas station was carrying E-85 (85% Ethanol) for $2.49 a gallon. That's pretty nice. I wasn't aware that there were any E-85 models for sale in America yet.
I'll have a bird and wildflower list in my next post.
I had lunch in La Salle at a very nice joint called the Uptown Grille. La Salle is an interesting town... it has the appearance of a run-down 1950's mid-western town on first pass, but take a walk up the main street and you'll find most of the shops occupied and doing pretty well. Rather than being full of antique shops, furniture stores, and 2nd hand merchandise, there are some pretty up-scale clothing retailers, jewlery stores, a comic book shop, and stuff of that nature. Not many restaurants, but the one I ate at was nice.
Three months ago, on my road trip to the Mississippi River, many gas stations were advertising as low as $1.99 a gallon. Today, I filled up for $2.79, but saw prices as high as $2.99. I dread the day when the average price around here tops $3. However... the place I stopped at was a BP just off of I-39 and Illinois Route 72. The intersection is in the middle of nowhere, but this gas station was carrying E-85 (85% Ethanol) for $2.49 a gallon. That's pretty nice. I wasn't aware that there were any E-85 models for sale in America yet.
I'll have a bird and wildflower list in my next post.