A State of Flux: Starved Rock

Ok, so, on Saturday (the 26th of January), my mom, my dad, jeremy, danielle, Liz, and I went to Starved Rock. We had to wake up at 7 in the morning :( so I was really tired by the time we got there. When we finally did get there we met up with my Aunt, my Uncle, my Cousin, and her boyfriend. My family used to always go there when I was little, so this was sort of like a walk (or hike) down memory lane. The weather was cold, but not too cold, just perfect for a hike through the woods. The day would have been much better had it not been for my typical male stubbornness. The entire month before my mom and dad had been telling me "make sure you buy boots, your converse won't keep you warm", well, I didn't heed their warning, and I ventured out with my converse on, figuring the double layering of socks I had going would protect me. Then I had to walk in a river. Something I didn't anticipate. Well, needless to say after standing in this river for long enough, I sprinted back to the lodge ahead of everyone so that I could warm my feet up. This entailed running up 148 stairs, something that made my legs feel like jelly as I haven't put that much physical exertion on my legs in a good few months. After I made it back to the lodge, I took the time to restore feeling to my feet.

My dad and Liz were the first to return to find me sprawled on a couch using my coat as a blanket. For the next half hour or so Liz and I snuggled on the couch taking pictures (see below), then it came time for lunch, which we had at the lodge's restaurant. At lunch I had a delicious grilled cheese with french fries. Before lunch i'd put on this heinous pair of my dads boots which I was so glad that no one could see me in. After lunch me and Liz took a walk to Lover's Leap, though we never made it there because we had to turn back for this bird show we had to go to.

The bird show was pretty cool, we saw some hawks, and owls, and they let them fly across the room and over peoples heads. Then they brought out a possum (ewww!), then the big show stealer came, the Bald Eagle. This thing was a lot bigger than I thought it'd be, and I'd forgotten to take pictures of the other birds, so I loaded up on pictures of Mr. Bald Eagle.

After the bird show we bid adieu to the lodge and returned to our car. For some reason my mom made us go to this lame place to see eagles in the wild, even though we all were exhausted. After THAT, we returned to the car, and me and Liz cuddled up in the back seat and fell asleep for about an hour or so. After we arrived back at my house, Liz and I watched some TV before I had to take her home. Needless to say, it was a very good day and I had an indescribably good time spending the afternoon with Liz in the woods. I felt like I got to know her so much more, even though we've been dating for over a year and a half.

NOW FOR THE PICTURES!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!