A Weekend's Adventure

If you recall, we have not been in Illinois very long so we have lots to explore.   We decided to do a last minute camping trip this past weekend to Western Illinois; mostly wanting to check out the historic town of Galena, but also to find some camping sites and cool spots to escape to.  We tend to like the overland style trips where we stay a place a night and then adventure more and find a new place the next night.  So this time we stayed at Mississippi Palisades State Park for our first night and Apple River Canyon State Park the second night.  Mississippi Palisades is right across the street from the great ol' Mississippi River and has an area of overlooks that has some terrific views of the river.  Unlike most state parks where you are crammed in side by side, this park has a few hidden gems where you can be isolated and not have to see your neighbors.  They also allow you to park practically anywhere and aren't strict about staying on the tent pads or gravel parking.  They have both electric and non-electric sites, showers, vault toilets, and a camp store.  Unfortunately, half of the camping area was closed off due to mudslides from all the recent rain we have gotten, so we didn't get to see it all.  After checking out the overlooks, we decided to venture towards Galena and happened to find a winery on the way.  After going down several miles of dirt roads (which we started to get nervous may have been private but never saw signs posted, then we realized we were just in the country and that's how roads were out that way), we arrived at the Massbach Ridge Winery, which had an awesome vineyard and a delicious wine selection.  After relaxing at the winery, we set off for the historic town of Galena once more, which if you didn't know is home of President Ulysses S. Grant's home.  We checked out the house, found the home town historical marker, walked main street where we got some yummy fresh baked bread from the bakery and some caramel apple popcorn from the Great Popcorn Co.  (which literally has almost any flavor you can think of).  Unfortunately, we had to do a quick pass through because we had the pup in the truck because she was too afraid to walk the busy streets.  So before we knew it, we were off again.  We checked out Thunder Bay falls just outside of town before making way to Apple River Canyon State Park for the night.  In some of my pictures you can see the damages from the rain waters in that area.  As far as the campground itself, there are a few pretty spacious sites, but there is not a whole lot to do.  They are all non-electric sites, no showers, and vault toilets.  If you walk or drive throughout the state park area you can going fishing, walk the river, or just have a picnic lunch somewhere.  The following we day, we stopped in at Small Town Brewery in Wauconda, IL, as we have always loved their Not Your Father's Rootbeer and wanted to see what else they had, before heading home.