About seven years ago I promised myself I would do my best to 'either wake up or go to sleep somewhere I had not before, on my birthday'. So following protocol I woke up in Ottawa, IL on a very rainy Sunday morning. Fortunately we had made the short trip to the Starved Rock State Park area on Saturday where we had a great time hiking on a very spring-like day with temps in the low 50's and lots of sun. No tolls between here and Chicago, the park is free and you can bring dogs (we did not)... 
Semi-frozen water falls, which up until last week you could climb.
The trails were mostly planked with lots of steps to different lookout points, a little muddy in places but otherwise very easy to navigate. Definitely got our heart rates up! Towards the end of the trail we came upon a great lodge where we enjoyed a little refreshment outside before finishing our exploration.
This is overlooking the Illinois River at the Dam:
That evening we went to nearby South Peru, IL to try Mark Allen's Restaurant, owned by my friend Ann Weisbrod and her husband who is the chef. Great food and drinks and Ann's fun art work for the decor!
So on the rainy morning of my 43rd Birthday we opted to drive back home to Chicago and relax with the dogs, it was the perfect lazy day...
- 42 Cleveland, WI
- 41 Lake Wenatchee, WA
- 40 Venice, Italy...I can't believe I didn't blog about it!
- 39 Saugatuck, MI
- 38 Bedford, PA...enroute home from a show in Virginia
- 37 The Dominican Republic