Day 29, Being Amazed by Mighty Eagles, Tiny Fireflies, and Oversized Ice Cream Cones

I chose Kickapoo State Recreation Area because we are on the way from Custer State Park to Ohiopyle and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. I have wanted to see it since I became interested in his architecture many years ago. Fun fact, I trained to be an architectural tour guide in Buffalo when I was in college. While I still appreciate a beautifully constructed building, I don't really remember many details.☹️

Unlike RV parks that have full services and lots for kids to do, we prefer the greener, larger sites of national, state, and local parks. Sometimes that means no electricity and/or water. There is always a spigot to fill your potable water tank. Being a Californian, I understand the importance of conserving water. So far, we've done ok.

We really enjoy waking up with a view of trees, water, and, sometimes, critters. It can also mean recreational opportunities that don't require us to drive.

Some of Kickapoo's recreational activities take advantage of the river that runs through the park. It is considered one of the National Scenic Rivers. We spent the morning and early afternoon mostly drifting down the river in a canoe. For part of it, we were surrounded by tall cliffs. For part of it, we were surrounded by trees. It was wonderfully peaceful and quiet since there were no other people in sight. We kept our eyes open for wildlife. We've seen lots of white-tailed deer in the campground. We were really excited to be visited by a bald eagle that passed overhead a number of times. Sorry, Denis's phone was securely stashed so no photos of the eagle to share.

That's not too say we didn't move the car today. The couple who own The Dairy Barn have been doing it for 40 years. She takes the orders, he fills them and hands the cone to you. The flavors are pretty standard ones but solid representations for the ones we tried. We were delighted with our after dinner dessert and to see they are still going strong. And while our cones were large, I thought this one deserves to be noted on Roadside America

It got too buggy tonight to sit outside but it was hard not to want to do we could watch the fireflies. We don't get them on California but they are always a delight and bring back warm childhood memories.
Location: Kickapoo State Recreation Area, 10906 Kickapoo Park Rd, Oakwood, IL 61858, USA

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