Lake Renwick - August 4, 2012

Since we were going down for a birthday party in the area, we planned on stopping by this preserve before the party for lunch and a walk. Well, we didn't get ready on time, so we stopped before for lunch, but had to wait until after the party for our walk. It rained in the afternoon so by the time we came back it was slightly cooler, but mostly humid and lots of Mosquitos. We probably won't try this one again unless we're in the area.

The gazebos are very nice- we ate lunch in one. No tables, just benches, but one is right on a fishing pier, another has a nice view of Turtle Lake, and a third is surrounded by the wild grasses. There may have been more, but those were the ones we saw. It was heron mating season so we did see some herons in the distance. The trails were paved and relatively level. Lots of bikers at the time we came, but the path is wide enough that there weren't any collisions. We looped around one area that was 1.25 miles and then went partway down the 2 mile path that goes to another parking area. Very peaceful, very pretty, but too many bugs.

Blackwell Forest Preserve: July 28, 2012

This may have been my favorite 10,000 steps this summer so far! Blackwell is in Wheaton, IL just off of Butterfield Rd and Winfield. It was a gorgeous mid-80 degree day, and we packed a picnic lunch of wraps and berries to take with us.

After eating our lunch and running around a little bit with our nearly 3-year old, we decided it was time to try and climb the mountain. Mt Hoy is 836 feet above sea level and used to be a landfill. It has a gravel path running up one side that makes the climb a little easier, and an alternative steeper grass path on another side. The gravel path was not very stroller friendly, but we decided to try it anyway rather than carrying our 4 month old, and I carried the nearly 3 year old's stroller while he walked. It was slow going on the .5 mile climb, but we were in no rush. Our 3 year old collected rocks from the path to throw into the nearby bushes, and we zigzagged to get the stroller up the mountain. The view from the top was very nice, and it's also fenced off so we didn't need to worry about our 3 year old falling down the steeper sides.

After walking back down the mountain, we drove over to another area in order to get close to the entrance of a walking path. Horses are allowed on the path, and we had the joy of walking behind a pair for a short while. The riders got a kick out of our 3 year old pointing and yelling "cow!" Luckily they took a side path before he had to see them create any road apples, but we did come across a few piles later on and passed by them to the chorus of "ew! Smells!"

The trail we took goes past a few small ponds, an archery range (currently closed), and then into a nice wooded area. The path was gravel and well maintained, so a nice smooth ride for the strollers. It goes across a creek and continues north to another part of the preserve, I think I read that the trail totals were about 8 miles. We turned around after approximately 1.5 miles and headed back to the car.

All in all a beautiful place for a walk, and we will definitely come back for another try at a different trail and possibly future camping trips!

Songbird Slough: July 14, 2012

While there isn't too much to see at Songbird Slough other than a bunch of prairie grasses, the sounds definitely make the preserve worth the visit. While you can still hear the interstate not too far away, the dominant sounds are cicadas and other insects buzzing, and songbirds chirping and singing. We weren't able to get any pictures of the birds, but they were plentiful.

There are two paths that we saw and tried. One is very smooth asphalt, which is about a mile long from the entrance of the preserve to the picnic area. The other is a path through the prairie grass to the pond area. While the asphalt trail is very stroller friendly, the grass path definitely is not. But it is the only way to get to the small pond.

Overall a very relaxing walk, even though we had to do another mile afterwards at home as the total trail was only 2 miles. We also had a little green stowaway that made it into the car.

Bemis Woods: July 4, 2012

We decided that for our 3-mile walk on a very hot Independence Day, we would find a forest preserve that would hopefully have a nice shady trail. Bemis Woods is off of 294 and Ogden, near Brookfield Zoo.

The south path is rather shady- once you get to a road (Salt Creek Rd I think), you have an option to go back West and North or to continue East towards Brookfield. We decided to go to the West/North and it was not as shady. Even with sunscreen I got a little pink.

A very beautiful path overall, and very well paved. I don't know if it was because it was the 4th, but the trail was very busy- both bicycles and roller blades. They were friendly, but I felt that our two strollers were a bit in the way.

The scenery is much the same as many forest preserves. Lots of trees, very peaceful. The trail does pass by Salt Creek, with a bridge over it that gives you some nice views.

Terrain is pretty flat, which was nice in the very hot weather. Very nice walk overall.

Elmhurst Storm Damage- July 1, 2012

Our walk Sunday evening was punctuated with the buzz of cicadas and the hum of generators. One of those quick yet painful summer storms blew through around noon, and power was still out all around our neighborhood at 7:00pm, and likely will be for a few days. Most yards had at least a few branches down (ours included), some had trees snapped in half, and others had trees completely uprooted.

The nice thing about the storm was that it cooled things down at least a little, and it also made it so that a lot of people were outside, so we got to visit and talk to a few neighbors we rarely see.

Downtown Elmhurst, IL- June 30, 2012

We decided to combine some chores with our weekend 3-mile walk and walked around downtown Elmhurst. We parked in a parking garage near the library, walked to the library to drop off and pick up books (I've been wanting to re-read "The Hobbit" since I saw the new trailer before Brave!), walked to Jewel for some light non-perishables that we could fit in the strollers, then to Chipotle for lunch (slightly more carbs than usual, but better than some other options), and some time for our oldest to play with the fountain. Sure it took 3 hours to do our 3 mile walk, but it was a nice day overall.

York Woods: June 18, 2012

York Woods is off of York and Harger Rd, in Oak Brook IL. It's a small forest preserve, and only has one small trail- maybe 1 to 1.5 miles long, but adding in that it is about a mile from my work I got a good 2.85 miles out of it.

There isn't a sidewalk on part of the walk from work to the preserve on Harger road, so I would suggest driving and parking and the just looping the trail a few times if you're walking around rush hour (which I was).

The whole trail is part of the Salt Creek trail, even though you don't really see the creek here. It is paved and relatively flat, only one with a steeper hill, and if you go north and then east, you can make sure you are going downhill rather than up.

Not much in the way of wildlife- some birds and butterflies. I almost got a picture of a butterfly but my phone was too slow to load the camera.

All in all a beautiful walk not far from work, worth doing during a long lunch break, or after a stressful day.