Exploring!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  I thought I'd fill you in on more of our trip today.  The early parts of our mornings were filled with as much exercise as Mom and Dad thought we could handle.  Something about "getting someone as tired as possible before going to Grandma's".  For the record, I don't think they meant me.

Anyway, Mom wanted to explore a covered bridge we had passed.  Here's a look:

Unfortunately, there were "PRIVATE PROPERTY" signs all over the place. It's OK; when Mom got close enough, she realized it wasn't an old one anyway.

We had also driven by a reservoir, where Mom and Dad spotted a little walking trail. We drove out there one morning and had a walk around.

"Come on, everyone!  There are ducks on the other side of that bridge!!!"

That's right - ducks!  Oodles of them!  And you know what that means -- duck poop galore!  What a great walk that was!

"Hey ... is this the Trippy Trap Bridge?!?"
"I'm not sure.  Let me check for trolls.  And Billy Goats."

That place was a blast, as far as Mags and I were concerned.  Mom and Dad might not have been so enamored - there's a chance we got muddy, covered in little seedlings, and they seemed to not appreciate all the duck poop.  They thought we could do with some more exercise after that, though, so we drove out to a park Mom had noticed the day before.

The park was nice - sidewalks all over the place and lots of interesting things to explore!  I found an old train car!

"Maggie!  Check it out!  A train!"

"Isn't it cool?"
"Ooh!  It's like a car from Hercule Poirot's Murder On the Orient Express!"

Here's a shot of us with Dad:

Dad, Maggie, and me.  Dad's the tall one!

We also found a caboose nearby!

"What is the caboose doing way over here?!?  This IS a mystery!"
"I know you love a good mystery, Maggie!"

And then ...

"SQUIRREL!!!"
"SQUIRREL!!!"

They may officially call Illinois the "Land of Lincoln", but from what we saw, it should be renamed the "Land of Squirrels"!  They were everywhere!!!  How fun!

More to come tomorrow!

Cammie!