It had been years too long since our last car camping trip.
But, finally, children had been deemed old enough, jobs and school vacations aligned, gear was procured, animal care was found and we loaded up the girls in our giant truck, that seems a lot less giant filled with car camping gear for five, and headed out on a spring break adventure to…
… Illinois!
And it turns out Illinois isn’t the kind of place most people spring break to. But when you are from Wisconsin southern Illinois looks like spring..
…and feels like spring. 
(Admittedly mostly in a – drizzly, wear all your layers plus a rain jacket, good thing we brought the long underwear – sort of way. But that is basically spring so I stand by my statement.) And when the rest of the world has traveled to warm sunny places you have campgrounds and hiking trails virtually to yourselves.
There were rocks to climb on…
…fires to light…
… tasty food to eat…
… and general shenanigans.
At the end it was deemed a most excellent adventure by all. 
Then I got home and discovered that John’s theory that Poison Ivy loves me so much it jumps on me from the side of the trail must be correct because that’s the only explanation for the amount of spots I’m breaking out in after spending the trip wearing long underwear and a rain jacket!
But you know, every time a new blister pops up, I remember the trip with fondness. It was an excellent adventure before the itching began!
Behind the Willows 
And that proves it. You are your Mothers daughter!
Couldn’t we have proved it by angrily squeaking at people together rather than poison ivy reactions?
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
Looked like great fun, pity the weather wasn’t a tad kinder though!
Well coming off a nice cold winter it turned out fine. Had that been mid summer we might have all complained about it though! 😀
You all enjoyed yourselves, that’s the most important thing!
Looks like a fun trip by all the smiles I saw! So much fun. You can get poison ivy so easily if you are sensitive to it. My daughter got it early spring even with snow on the ground. Back to school and daily jobs!
Poison Ivy with snow on the ground?! ?That’s a level I have yet to achieve and hope I never do!!!
What a great trip. Encourages me to find the tent.
I hope you do! As an added bonus the kids all did more “chores” happily than they ever willingly do them at home. I guess washing dishes in a bucket is just way more fun than in a sink! 😀
Looks like fun was had by all 😀 … except for the poison ivy bit.
Precisely- and it’s starting to clear up already- phew! 🙂
Hi, my name is Dimitris Karvelis Ι grew up in a Greek small heavenly island between the green and immense light blue called Skopelos. When I was a child I wanted to be near the nature. Growing and additionally to social growth rate I neglected nature and adventure seeking. I created this Blog to share my new adventures travels and outdoor activities both in Greece and abroad
https://www.kdexplorer.com/