Make Hay While the Sun Shines

This crazy virus, and the massive uncertainty that it brings, seems to be the defining characteristic of 2020. It touches all the elements of life - weekly grocery shopping to day-to-day work schedules. The unpredictability of things - how long will it go on? how widespread will it get? how catching is it? how careful does one need to be?? - make it difficult to make plans too far in advance. 

However!

What are humans if not creative? It's been some months since I've hung out with my family. Funny how far a neighboring state, a town just a few hundred miles away, can feel. And, as summer's end draws nearer, bringing on the cold and flu season (which one can only assume will be more intense this year, what with COVID and all), it was feeling like we ought to make hay while the sun shines; figure out a way to get together while the states were still open and restrictions relaxed. Quick before the colder weather sends everyone back inside. 

At our house, here in Chicagoland, we're being very cautious and careful about our little quarantine bubble; careful where we go, careful who we see. This makes it hard to visit family, even just a few hundred miles away. But, then it occurred to me that we should meet in the middle!

My dad has a great eye for finding fun places to ride bikes. So, I asked if he might have any ideas for a good place with a bit of a ride, plus a nice spot for the kids to play before we rode back again. And he found a great one - it had everything we were hoping to find!

It had rained the day before, but by the time we got there, the sun was shining and the flowers were blooming and everything was beautiful. The fun thing about biking with my folks is that they enjoy taking their time, and aren't afraid to stop and smell the flowers (or take pictures off bridges). The path took us past some really lovely sights, so we found lots of things to photograph. 

My two kids came along as well, thus the importance of having a playground at the end. And this playground did not disappoint! It was one of those rare, old fashioned ones with wooden equipment; the sort with multi-level areas and secret paths all throughout and in between. Plus some cool artwork in the teepee. So fun!

We brought a little picnic and let the kids go! Though the temperatures weren't too terribly high, the humidity was intense. So, the grownups spent a fair amount of time chatting in the shade, while the kids spent more of their time running around.

However, eventually, all good things must come to an end; a day trip only works if you get back home before too long. So, we mounted up the bikes and headed back the way we came... but not without another stop or two for the great scenery. 

Eventually we said our goodbyes (though, of course, not without the traditional 35min Midwestern goodbye conversation), and we took to the highways - them going north, and us heading south. 

It was a good thing we decided seize the day when we did. Chicago, and the surrounding suburbs, have a travel ban in place; an on-your-honor quarantine-for-14-days-when-you-get-back-if-you-travel-to-certain-states sort of deal (which I'm trying to avoid, what with school and stuff starting up again soon). The list was slowly growing, and - on the day we met up - Wisconsin had only been given a warning that they were next if their COVID numbers didn't improve. Not a week later, they got added to the ever-growing list of restricted states. 

I feel very blessed!