Starved Rock and Harley-Davidson

This weekend we decided to visit Starved Rock. It is a beautiful state park about an hour from our house. It is pretty popular around here and it was kind of embarassing that we had not been to visit in the the six years we have lived here. The park is in a lush and green wooded area that runs along the Illinois River. It is filled with trees, streams, waterfalls, poison ivy, hiking trails and small canyons cut by glaciers thousands of years ago.

This is the Legend of Starved Rock, which I thought was really interesting:

Starved Rock State Park derives its name from a Native American legend of injustice and retribution. In the 1760s, Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa tribe upriver from here, was slain by an Illiniwek while attending a tribal council in southern Illinois. According to the legend, during one of the battles that subsequently occurred to avenge his killing, a band of Illiniwek, under attack by a band of Potawatomi (allies of the Ottawa), sought refuge atop a 125-foot sandstone butte. The Ottawa and Potawatomi surrounded the bluff and held their ground until the hapless Illiniwek died of starvation- giving rise to the name “Starved Rock.”

Anyway, our time at Starved Rock did not include starving. We had trail mix for our hike and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch afterwards. (SIDE NOTE: We discoverd some yummy new candy at Trader Joes: mini chocolate peanut butter cups and Australia's Darrell Lea Strawberry Licorice. You should try these because they are sooooo good, but you shouldn't try these because if you do, you will become addicted---your choice.) Our family went on a 5 mile hike, up to the top of Starved Rock and then up and down a couple of small canyons and up to the top of some bluffs to lookout and enjoy the view. Our favorite was Wildcat Canyon which ended with us standing on top of a canyon looking at a waterfall cut into the sandstone. We also enjoyed the peacefulness of walking along the trail listening to the birds and the wind rustle the leaves. Fortunately, the park is filled with trees so most of the trails were shaded and cool. The toughest part was probably navigating some of the rustic wooden staircases up and down the bluffs, etc., but everyone survived and was happy.

The other new sight that we experienced was the largest group of Harley-Davidson motorcycles that we had ever seen. As we drove to Starved Rock, we noticed that there were a lot of bikers on the road. In fact, there were a lot of bikers and Harleys at Starved Rock, so many that I even commented to Dave that "I didn't know that Harley-Davidson owners were such nature lovers." Anyways, the crowning moment was as we were leaving the park and driving through the nearby town of Utica. Utica is a small town, with a main street (no stop lights) lined with brick-front stores. Parked up and down the street in front of the stores was row after row of motorcycles, there were so many. Not sure what the big event was or if there even was an event but it was pretty cool to see all those "road hogs" with fancy paint and shiny chrome. In fact, there were so many motorcycles on the road that day that we even learned the hand signal that bikers give each other as they pass one another on the highway.

I am generally not a motorcycle fan. I am of the "motorcycles are too dangerous" opinion, but I will admit for just a moment, I was thinking it would be fun to go fo a little ride! In fact, just last week a friend (Meredith) told me that she preferred bullet bikes because they were more sexy. I didn't really have much of an opinion then but the more I think about it, I am definitely a Harley girl--maybe it has something to do with big guys and facial hair?!