Camping @ Kettle Moraine South Unit

This camping trip started slow, since we started getting ready Friday morning, but thankfully Kettle Moraine is not far at about an hour and half away. Our camping reservation was at the Whitewater Lake East Loop (which if you have similar reservation, you must check in at the "Contact Station" before going to you campsite--it doesn't say that anywhere, but that's what you have to do.) Below is what the sites looked like, or ours anyways, some were a little bigger, but most were about this size.

After setting up camp a little we went to Whitewater Lake to swim. The swimming area is small but nice providing sun and shade. We swam a little, and then laid out and read a little. When we headed back to camp we continued to set everything up...without a cloud insight we (and with my insistence) decided not to put the rainfly on to sleep with the breeze blowing through the tent. We started the campfire, and began cooking.

Hot ham and cheese
Sweet tomato rice

Some time after making dinner it started to sprinkle, so we scrambled to put the rainfly up...the rain actually stopped by the time we had everything up...I guess we should've just put it up from the beginning. Then we played Bananagrams. We also made several attempts at dessert, finally perfecting it. We used the pie iron to make tarts: raspberry cream cheese and peanut butter, chocolate, marshmallow. The tarts are made with crescent roll dough on each side, and need to watched while cooking to not over cook or under cook. No camp fire is the same so there is no real consistency, so just keep checking if you are making these yourself.

Sometime in the early morning hours it began to rain much harder, so I am so glad we had in fact gotten that rainfly up and on the tent.. No water in the tent so we just continued to sleep and sleep, finally waking up quite late in the morning, which felt great. We ate a little breakfast and walked down the street from our campsite to a scenic overlook.

After our short hike we decided to climb in the car and get a lay of the land, and took a drive along the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive heading north. The Kettle Moraine area is absolutely beautiful!

When we got back, we got ready to go canoeing on Rice Lake (next to Whitewater Lake, and right down the road from our campsite). Rice Lake is great place to canoe, and may be a great place to swim too, but we didn't find the best area. We got out in a mucky area were I stepped on a fish (so gross!) and when we swam out there was tons of weeds. The water felt nice, but swimming was short lived. Here's a few pics of the lake...

That night for dinner we cooked in the pie iron again making "calzones" with bread, tomato paste, roast peppers, turkey pepperoni, and cheese. It was DE-licious!

After dinner, we played more Bananagrams, and Hubby read aloud to me by the fire.

This morning, we woke up and broke camp to head home. It was a great trip in a close but beautiful area. Great memories!

Des Plaines River Trip--Section 2

Yesterday, Hubby and I  canoed the second section of the Des Plaines River, from Wadsworth Road to Grand Avenue. Last year we canoed section one, and loved it, so we couldn't wait to get out this year. We put in at the canoe launch at Wadsworth Road and started paddling. During this part of the paddle the river was wide with tall grass along the shores, we were paddling mid-day so the sun was strong and there was little shade on the river. We saw signs for portages but the water level was high enough we never encountered any log jams; however, about half way through the trip there is a rock damn that must be portaged. We portaged to the right side, I'd recommend portaging to the left; obviously either side works, but left is easier with less rocks to navigate and trip on. After the portage the river becomes more wooded and shady. There are several downed trees, but the trees never blocked the entire river and could be canoed around. During this portion you do canoe past some peoples backyards, but houses were set much further away. On this section, two bridges are canoed under one which is 41 (Skokie Highway) and the other is Grand Avenue. After canoeing under the bridge at Grand, our trip was almost over, since we took out at Gowe Park (behind the Old Warren High School). This trip was 6.2 river miles but only took us about 2 1/2 hours, because the river had a nice current due to the heavy rains of last month.

Here's the things I really liked about this portion of the river: 
-Easy access. Both launches were nicely kept with ample parking. The easy accessibility is really key with canoeing in a suburban area, it makes the trip convenient and straightforward allowing more people to get out and paddle.
-Lots of birds. We saw cranes and/or heron, red winged blackbirds, grackles, mallard ducks, and more that I don't know the name of.
-Plenty Deep. While I do think the river was deeper than it normally might have been, I would expect this section is nearly always deep enough to canoe without ever dragging bottom.

Here's a few things I didn't care for as much: 
-Traffic and Powerlines. Most of the river runs right along Highway 41 which means you listen to traffic for much of the trip. And on this section of the river there are high tension lines crackling overhead while canoeing through Gurnee.

Again, I think this is the trade off. While not providing a complete wilderness excursion, the trip was convenient, allowing us to paddle for a few hours on Saturday morning, and have the rest of the day to enjoy other summer activities.

Dreaming of Canoeing

Last night I had a dream that me and the Hubs were canoeing. It was warm and beautiful out. We were river canoeing with a few rapids...I even think our pup was there for some of it!

Ahh, such a nice dream. I am so ready for spring and summer!

New Year Resolutions: Health, Wealth & Happiness

So it's 1-1-11, what else would I be writing about but my New Year's resolutions! I don't think my resolutions are much different than millions of Americans and billions of people of throughout the world. BUT I have thought a good deal about it, and specific ways to achieve it. Hopefully, being specific, telling anyone who will read it my plan, and then reporting back through blogging after the fact will allow me to accomplish all I am setting out to do. So let's get started...


HEALTH


Eat Better

• Drink more water. Huge problem for me for some reason, not sure why. But in an effort to help, my water drinking habits,  I am resolving to not drinking any non-diet soda, no more than one can of diet soda per day, AND no soda when I eat out. Water, water, water!
• Go grocery shopping regularly. I really seem to do best with my eating habits when there's food in the house, thus, I need to keep good healthy food in the house. 
• Up the fiber, cut back the sugar. I love desert--who doesn't?--but I need to get my sugar quantities under control. I'd also like to get some more high fiber foods in my diet. 

Exercise

• Cardio! 30 minutes, 3 times a week, minimum. Now I know that as a standard, that truly is the minimum for cardio...but I'll come clean, that would be 90 more minutes a week than what I'm getting now. So its a start!
• Take the stairs. Yes, it's true. I take the elevator in my 3-story work building daily (sometimes, several times daily). I will resolve that will take the stairs this year...unless, I'm carrying something heavy!
• Play with the dog daily. That mutt really wears me out!

Be Outside

• Canoe, canoe, canoe! I would really like to get out and paddle more this canoe season than last--the record shouldn't be hard to break, I think we only got out twice. I would like to get out at least once a month April through September. 
• We were generously given a lot of camping gear for the holidays. We need to get out and camp this year. I'm really not down for winter camping, and would love to go more often than this, but I resolve that we will go once a month June through August. 

WEALTH

Financials in Order

• Save, save, save. I feel like we really need to get serious about saving. Spend less to save more. 
• Check in my credit score, at least twice over the year. Make any corrections and raise score, if possible. 

Alternative Sources of Money

• I have lots of vintage plates, dishes, and doodads...I think it would be cool to sell them. I am unsure if I'd like to try to sell on-line or in an antique store. Nothing that is gonna make me rich by any means, but a great way for me to unclutter and make a little money...that will of course go into savings. 

Strive for Simplicity

• So a great way to spend less, and save more...be more simple. In a consumer driven world, this can be hard to do, but I have my hubby, my animals, and my family and friends...what outside of that truly matters?

HAPPINESS

Be More Social

• I'm starting a book & movie club. I've thought about it for a while, and decided I will do it. A very nice way to be social if I do say so myself. 
• See my family more...I live so close to most of them, its a shame we don't get together more. I would like to make it a point to see everyone more. 
• See my friends more...Same thing, I have lots of awesome friends I barely see. Shame, shame. I resolve to make an effort to see my friends more often!

Volunteer

• I would like to get more involved with the camp I grew up at. I love that place, and believe it to be one of the best places in the world. I would like to commit to helping it stay that way. 
• I would like to find a local place to volunteer a couple times a month. Stay tuned for that. 

Randoms

• I resolve to wear a dress/skirt to work twice a month. 
• Watch less TV I'm not interested in...sometimes, I will watch TV I am not interested in, just because it is what's on. I am not anti-TV, not at all, but if there is nothing on I'd rather find something better or turn it off. 
• Put away clean clothes. I put this one for my hubby, who hates that I don't put away my clean clothes...really, baby, 2011 will be the year!

Okay, so I know that is a lot of New Year's resolutions, but they are all things I'd like to do...let's see what I can accomplish. Good luck to me, right. 

Did you set any resolutions this year?

Des Plaines River Trip--Section 1

Yesterday, Hubby and I took a little day trip down the Des Plaines River. We put in our canoe at Russel Road, canoed through Van Patten Woods, under the bridge at 173 and south, taking out directly after Wadsworth Rd. in Wadsworth, Illinois. According to the map the entire trip was 6.25 river miles, and it took us 3 hours and 45 minutes. The first half of the trip had quite a few shallow spots, some parts were so shallow we had to get out and push, but there was only one portage for a beaver dam. The second half of the trip was plenty deep, and well shaded by trees. While the first part of the trip was absolutely beautiful, I have to say I liked the second half of the trip better as it was more relaxing..

Here's the things I really liked about this portion of the river: 
-Very clean. I saw very little garbage in or around the river, which is great. Good job everybody for doing their part!
-Lots of wildlife. We saw a few different types of cranes, and several other species of birds, a beaver, a muskrat, and a few fish that just wanted to jump into our boat.
-Canoe Launches. The canoe launches were easy to find and well maintained.

Here's a few things I didn't care for as much: 
-Mud. The Des Plaines has a sandy, muddy bottom, if I can be picky, I prefer a pebble or rock bottom...that way you don't sink and get stuck when you have to get out of the boat and push.
-Traffic. This part of the river is absolutely beautiful. We went nearly the whole trip without seeing a person, car or house. BUT, we heard the traffic on Rt 41 nearly the whole way. Now, I cannot be too negative about this because this is the trade off when you are on a easily accessible river in the middle of a heavily populated county.

maiden voyage

Our canoe made her maiden voyage this afternoon at Sterling Lake at Van Patten Woods. Not a very long canoe trip but very enjoyable. The birds were chirping, families were picnicking and fishing, and the water lilies were blooming. A very lovely way to spend a few hours on this June Sunday.