Enjoying a Beautiful Fall Day!

We have to be intentional about our family trips now! With 4 kids working and busy schedules, I emailed a list of dates to set aside as 'family days". One of those days was Sunday, October 23rd - this would be a "Fall Foliage Day". Annually, we try to take a day to drive and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather and colors. 

Unfortunately, one of the kids forgot to ask for the day off and ended up getting schedule for work. Alex also had a lot of homework so decided to stay home. It worked out for them as they grabbed pizza and watched a movie before Will went to work. It *was* strange to do a day trip with only 2 kids. 

This year, we decided to head north along the Great River Road (Hwy 61 in Iowa, crossing over the mighty Mississippi from Clinton into Fulton and then Rt 84 into Savannah, IL). 

We made a quick stop in Fulton - as we crossed over the river, we noticed a paddlewheel boat cruising north on the river (we later figured out that the boat didn't actually have a paddlewheel). We pulled over at Heritage Canyon to watch the boat.

As we approached Lock & Dam 13 (between Fulton & Thompson), I suggested that we pull off to see the river and view. As we drove the mile and half towards the river, we saw the same river boat (Twilight)! We pulled up and Matt ran up the hillside to snap a close up picture.

We turned around - stopping to take some more pictures along Lock Road.

Back on Rt 84, we came across this huge pumpkin patch just south of Thompson. In our many years of driving Rt 84 (including Matt's years at Bonnett's), we had never seen this field used for pumpkins!

North of Thompson, we saw this bus full of pumpkins! Fun stuff!

We drove through Savannah, heading straight to the Mississippi Palisades State Park. We wanted to drive to the overlook - atop the bluff. The view and the fall leaves - all beautiful!

Lunchtime! We left the Palisades and headed a few miles south, back into Savannah. Pizza at Manny's!

Matt caught us tickling Manny's feet - trying to wake him up!

Unfortunately, Manny's started using paper straws for their drinks. This is not okay with us (not that they asked us for our opinion). It feels like the straw disintegrates in your mouth as you drink. I ran out to the van to pillage our straw collection - day saved! Ha!

Tummies full, we hit the road again - driving Blackjack Road (north of Hanover) into Galena. 

Tis the season!

We saw these roadside attractions and turned around to see things up close.

Galena was busy - as expected. We had Matt drop us off at the bottom of the hill so we could walk up the staircase.

Matt drove to the top of the hill to meet us. Once up at the top, we took a few minutes to enjoy the view of the city and take in the historic buildings.

We finished our time in Galena by driving Main Street to show the girls the town. We loved the Halloween and Fall themes throughout the town. Another time, I will bring the girls up to do some shopping. 

We weren't quite sure on the next stop. Matt & I discussed our options - we knew that we wanted to head towards Rockford for dinner and possibly stop at Castle Rock near Oregon, IL. 

As we were driving Stagecoach Trail towards Rockford, we saw a sign for Apple River Canyon State Park. I had a light bulb moment - remembering a day trip that Matt & I took in 2010. I suggested that we try to find the spillway/waterfall from Apple Canyon Lake. We pulled off the main road and did a quick Google search. A bit more driving and then we found it!!

Driving into Rockford, we realized that our daylight was limited and we, most likely, wouldn't make it to Castle Rock State Park (we like to visit the Scenic Overlook) before dark. Because of this, we decided to spend some time in Rockford at the Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens along the Rock River. This is always a favorite stop for us, no matter the time of year. It is a beautiful setting!

Two very "life-like" trees off in the distance.

Notice that the ducks and swans are all heading towards the girls...evidently they thought the girls had food? Kinda freaked them out - hence the nervous, hysterical laughs!

We left the Gardens and made our way across town to Giordano's for some Chicago Style pizza - deep dish! 

We left Giordano's and hit the road for home. The sun had already set so we drove the interstate the whole way home. What a fun day! Great company (though we really missed Alex & Will), beautiful scenery and yummy food! We really enjoyed the time away.