Illinois

Our adventure officially begins

Places visited (May 21, 2022-May 23, 2022):

-       Springfield, IL

-       LaMoille, IL

-       Starved Rock State Park

-       Chicago (kind of)

In-state miles hiked: 8.86

Total miles hiked: 8.86

We left the morning of May 21st and decided to take the onset of rain and thunderstorms as a sign of good luck. Winnie rattled down the interstate all the way to Springfield, where we visited the Lincoln Memorial, which Nick had never been to (fake Illinoisian)!  We rode our bikes downtown to a fair and rubbed Lincoln’s nose for good luck. The luck wore off shortly though because when we got back to Winnie, we realized we left the lights on, and her battery was dead. . .on our first stop! Thankfully, we were able to jump ourselves with our onboard batteries and continue to LaMoille, Illinois, where we were staying with Nick’s college roommate.

When planning our general route for this trip, we decided to begin by heading north through Illinois where we knew we wouldn’t be far from help from local family and friends we have along the way. One of our hopes for this trip is we can continue to share our adventure with family and friends, old and new, as we keep exploring.

The next morning, we did a nine-mile hike in Starved Rock State Park, which was pretty and looked a lot like home. But it was BUSY. We joked the Chicago kids like to come here to take their “naturey” Instagram pictures and then leave. However, it was exciting nonetheless as our first real excursion on our trip.

In Chicago, we stayed in our friend Wayne’s driveway in Hanover Park. Nick and I have both been to Chicago many times, and we were itching to go somewhere new, so our trip to the Windy City ended there as we headed further north to Wisconsin.

Our time in Illinois was short-lived, but crucial because, during this time, we got into a Winnie routine. By the time we left, we were pretty good at efficiently preparing Winnie for camp and driving. We reorganized some things we realized wouldn’t work long-term and got used to sleeping and waking up in the van. The one thing we had not figured out yet, was food. We were still eating pantry foods for every meal, and this would get old very quickly, especially for me.

I was sad and excited to leave my home state. I felt our adventure would really begin as we crossed over the state line, but I also knew I wouldn’t be returning for a long time.