Hitting The Road

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Finally we are almost ready to go on our trip with our son. Both cars have been checked out to make sure they can make the trip safely, we have to pack and are planning to leave on Monday. My husband and I are planning on going about 2000 miles for our total trip. My son will continue on for a total of approximately 8000 miles, a long trip he is so very much looking forward to. Our first two stops will be in southern Illinois. First we will go to Garden of the Gods Wilderness Recreation Area in the Shawnee National Forest. My husband and I have been there before and it's just magnificent, our son has not and we have been wanting to take him there for some time. The rock formations and cliffs are made of sandstone and are estimated to be about 320 million years old. You can hike and climb all over the bluffs, and the views are stunning. My picture on this post is a shot I took sitting on top of the bluffs some years ago. Next we are going to Cave In Rock State Park still in Illinois but it's situated along the Ohio River. The main attraction is a 55 foot wide cave that was carved out of the limestone by water thousands of years ago. We have also visited this park years ago. Many hiking trails are also available. Our next stop will be Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. We are all looking forward to this stop, none of us has ever been there and we hear it's something not to be missed. After our visit to Mammoth Caves we will be heading to the Charleston South Carolina area. We are going to camp at a state park near the ocean, and do some sightseeing and hiking while there for a few days. This is where my trip ends, my husband and I will be heading home after that. My son plans on visiting many other National Parks on his journey to the west coast. He hasn't gotten it all planned but has a general idea of his route. He will also be stopping in Mesa Arizona to see some of the spring training of the Chicago Cubs. My aunt lives in Phoenix and he will stay with her for a couple of days. That has already been arranged for him. The temperatures in Illinois and beyond for the next 10 days is supposed to be in the high 60's and 70's so we are certainly going at the right time. Yesterday here it got to 70 degrees, unheard of for February in the Chicago area. I'm not sure how long my husband and I will be gone, but that's the beauty of retirement, we have no time constraints. And my son doesn't either, he just finished his Masters Degree and is now going to get a job. But first he is going to enjoy himself for a month or so as he hasn't had any time off for over 2 years and deserves to have a good time and de stress before he enters the work force. All in all a wonderful time will be had by all. And for this mom it's going to be a special time spent with my son, and memories to last a life time.