My Golden Birthday Gift: The Planning Process

          Hello my dear readers.  Once again I will be lazy and let my younger self do all the talking.  You will notice that while I was somewhat Internet savvy then, Google maps was not my go-to as it is now.

The Planning Process 

            As a test run to get a feel for how well accomplishing my dream may go I began talking about my idea to my family and friends.  I told my friends first, knowing that I would not meet any resistance here.  Proving me right my best friend not only said that she would go with me to these parks, but she invited me along for a trip she was already planning.  She mentioned a huge state park down south that her father visited.  Excitedly I warned her that I’ll take her up on that offer.

            At home I was slightly hesitant.  To meet my goal I need my family’s support because I know that they are the ones who are always available when needed.  As such, they will help me reach these places and make the trips more fun.  I am not visiting 21 state parks on my own.

            I mentioned it first to my mom who matched my hesitation when considering my goal.  Not encouraged, I moved to my sister.  I can always rely on my little sister, so I hope she isn’t about to make me a liar.  Finding her working on homework at the computer I stop a few feet away, testing the water.  If she glares at me then this is not the best time to approach her.  With a smile she turns to me and excitedly asks me first, “Can I come, too?”  Now I have one on board, I can probably expect my little brother to join us on at least a few trips, he isn’t back from college yet.  Then my dad will be the last one to ask, but knowing him, he’ll want in on the plan, too.

            With a guaranteed team, even if it is only myself and one other, I am on my way.  I know what I want and I have people who will help me get it.

            Knowing what I want, however, is far from actually achieving what I want.  I was not aware, at the time of my mental planning, of the amount of time and effort that meeting this goal would take.  I got my first taste when I started scoping out state parks.

            The Illinois state parks website has a nice list of all the state parks.  I can search by name or region. 

            I started with Anderson Lake. 

            Located in or near Astoria, Illinois, I still had no idea where it was.  Thank goodness for a creation called Google Earth.  After typing “Astoria, IL” into the search box I now knew where Anderson Lake is and got to see just how large the lake really is.  Seeing the size of the lake, and reading that it is six feet at its deepest, I was inspired to add one more goal to my list.  I now want to take our new Klepper, a small two-man collapsible boat, to at least one of these state parks and go for a little ride.  When I pitched this idea to my father today, he did not shoot it down.  I take this as a good sign, but I’m not foolish enough to see it as a guarantee.

            I suddenly remembered a suggestion a good friend of mine gave me last fall that brought my Illinois search to a halt.  I was spinning my Google globe toward Indiana.  My friend had told me of a great state park that is as beautiful, if not more so, as Starved Rock.  I recalled, thankfully, that the name is Turkey Run.  We had planned to visit it over our fall break but those plans fell through leaving me all the more curious about what I missed.

            Using that trusty tool at our fingertips I found the Turkey Run website and noticed that the posted images did indeed remind me of Starved Rock’s landscape.  Finding the park on Google Earth I was pleased to see the many blue dots indicating pictures of the region.  Fate must have moved my hand to find the most awe-inspiring winter images.  I am a sucker for fresh snow.  Seeing the frozen waterfalls, snowy rocks, and numerous icicles I knew that ideally I would visit this park over Christmas break.  For some reason I cannot see my mom going for this idea so I may have to drag my friends along for this trip.

            I am not a fan of wasted time and Turkey Run is certainly a location that would require a sleepover.  A few weeks prior to my planning, shortly after I’d decided that visiting state parks is what I really want, my dad had told me that it would be okay if we had to stay overnight in a hotel a few nights to see some state parks that are too far away.  Getting approval of Turkey Run from my dad now should be easy; I’ll just need to work on convincing Mom.  To not waste time in Indiana I zoomed away from the park to see what else is nearby and I was very pleased to find two more large areas outlined in green indicating a state park.  Both are within miles of Turkey Run, so before we go home we could possibly see two or three state parks.

            Pleased with my discovery I jotted down a few notes and returned to my virtual exploration of the alphabetized state parks.  I made it halfway through before I had to take a break. 

            I had started a list of all the parks that were possibilities.  I left several parks off that were only meant for hunting and fishing, and I excluded parks that were too small or too far away to be worth the gas.  My main focus is on length and number of trails.  After that I look for pictures of the park and find its location on the map.  The map also helps me to see how large the park is and to get an idea of what sort of terrain we’d be exploring.  My favorite state parks are the ones similar to Starved Rock with large rock formations, mini canyons, waterways, history, and paths that lead far from civilization.

            Using blue, I highlight the parks that I am certain need to go on my list, and I use yellow to mark places of interest that I hope to visit, if luck permits.  One such yellow highlighted park is Cave-in-Rock.  Two details peak my curiosity when reading about this park. 

            First, the hiking description calls for marked and un-marked trails.  I have never heard of visitors being able to wander on un-marked trails at a park.  Thoughts of adventure and exploration lit a fire in my mind probably not unlike that which the pioneers felt many years ago. 

            Second, as its name implies, there is a cave.  The pictures show a small, above ground, rock cave that overlooks water.  Caves are a thrill for me because while I am so very intrigued by their cool, damp interior, I am also terrified that it may come crashing down on me at any moment.  So, like riding a roller-coaster, I get a bit of an adrenaline rush exploring caves.  

            The location was the only major drawback for this park.

            One park on my search had me very excited with thoughts of caves.  It had an underground cave on its land, or rather below it called the Illinois Caverns.  My excitement did not last when I read that I would need a permit to explore the cave.  Still, I was not completely disappointed.  Before this day I did not even realize Illinois had any underground caves.  I did an internet search for caves in Illinois and I was told that are a few underground caves here but the only one I found any visitor webpages for is the Illinois Caverns in Monroe County.  With a sigh I ended that search and vowed to one day visit Mammoth Cave in Kentucky to make up for missing caves this year.

            Having tired of reading description after description of Illinois state parks I minimized the search windows and studied the short version of the afternoon’s work: my notes.  I noted general locations of the parks such as “On the Mississippi River” or “South of U of I” for quick reference.  Then I used basic descriptions of points of interest or things to remember about each park.  Some parks are labeled as “lots of marsh, picturesque, part-day” or “cliffs, stairs, covered bridges” and even “18 hiking trails, all day, cliffs, cave, fun.” 

            I also noted places of historical significance or specific things that might interest my Mom such as a tour of a grain mill.  I want these trips to be fun for everyone and Mom is the first person who I imagine will grow tired of walking through trees and creeks.

            I ended my first day’s study slightly disappointed because many of the parks that interest me most are at the opposite end of the state and I don’t imagine anyone wanting to spend so many hours in the car traveling first, there and back, and then possibly making another equally long trip to hit a few more ever so slightly closer to home. 

            Fortunately these worries were for naught.

            Later that day I spoke with my mother about the parks I was looking at down south and apparently she picked up on my excitement.  Within two days we had checked the calendar and found that everyone had a week off very soon.  Mom assured me that if we were able to make this trip it would only be for a couple nights and not the entire week.  If she thought that would disappoint me she was wrong.  I was just so grateful that my dream and desires were being taken so seriously!

            A few more days passed and I was trying very hard not to get my hopes up too high.  Mom had said we ‘might’ be able to go over that week but she and Dad still hadn’t been able to talk about it in depth.  As the week progressed with nothing said I grew continually more aggravated.  I began to believe that I had only imagined their interest in my dream and that as time passed with less of it to use for planning, the likelihood of our journey was shriveling away.

            Imagine my shock when the next day Mom approached me and informed me that when Dad arrived home from work that day I was to be prepared to pitch my park ideas to him.  I needed to choose five or six parks that I wanted to see most over a two-night stay, look for lodging, and know locations. 

            Caught off guard I sputtered, trying to separate my thoughts and emotions.  I was initially excited, but then I realized I had only six hours to completely prepare a trip to southern Illinois when I still hadn’t finished looking at all of the state parks.  After asking exactly when I needed to be prepared for Dad to arrive home, I practically ran to my room to start my computer.