The Bridges of Cumberland County

Went down to Charleston, IL. for the state track meet, and stayed in a little town called Greenup.

I did a little exploring Friday when I had a good portion of the afternoon free.

A covered bridge outside of Greenup. A beautiful spot for turtle relocation it turns out.

Fox Ridge definitely has the "ridge" part right,
with plenty of elevation changes on the trail... 

... but the closest thing to a fox was this mama raccoon,who was
 not too happy with me for me bumbling around near her babies.

It was plenty hot, with temperatures in the mid 90s and high humidity, so I didn't have the reserve to complete the trifecta of area tourism and visit the Lincoln Log Cabin historical site. (Those hills killed me!). Guess there's always next year.

Day trip to Ottawa Canyon

In what may be a rehearsal for my wife Jacquie's "Trash the dress" shoot, we took a day trip out to Ottawa Canyon near Starved Rock to check out the waterfall.

Here's a few shots from the trip.

First off, the elusive Ottawa Canyon Waterfall. But getting there is only half the fun.

Right when you arrive and head out to the trail there are some pretty beautiful sights. Some kids were taking the path less traveled to explore.

Meanwhile, on the path more traveled, we spotted this tap-dancing machine.

Plenty more beautiful sights on the trails. We had to scoot out, so not a whole lot of time to explore further-- but we will definitely be back!