A Day In Southern Illinois

Our last stop before we headed back home on our 2 week road trip was in Southern Illinois. I use that term because we kind of travelled all over the place in our 24 hours there.

Our first stop upon returning to Illinois was the Garden of the Gods. We decided to take the half mile observation trail. It was a very short hike, if you even want to use that term. To be honest, it was more of just a walk for me. My son, on the other hand was climbing all over the place. He was climbing every rock he could get his hands on. Clearly, we were very cautious and I held my son’s hand when necessary because in this area, you are very high up and every year, people die from accidents on these rocks. The views are just stunning from here. And we had so much fun finding the camel and monkey rock formations. Even though the main path is only a half mile, we spent an hour here. Partially because we spent a lot of time off the main path on the large rocks and partially because we took the time to sit and embrace the beauty of this place. There were plenty of people that stayed much longer than we did. It didn’t feel crowded at all, but we visited at noon on a Wednesday.

Owen’s Notes: “I really liked that I got to climb around a bunch. There were so many rocks that I got to climb up, down, and over to. There were also so many sights to see like the camel and the monkey.”

We stayed in the Best Western in Marion for the night. The biggest reason I chose this hotel was because we had enough points to stay here for free. It was clean and nice enough. It was nothing extravagant, but it was exactly what we needed. They had a pool and a hot tub, which we did swim at. It was a perfect way to end our trip. They also had free wifi, free breakfast, a mini fridge, and a microwave. Plus, the hotel was right next to the highway so it was a great location for us.

The next morning, we drove over to the Rolling Oak Alpaca Ranch. I had made a reservation for a tour online in advance. It cost $10 per person. Our tour started at 9:30am and lasted about an hour. We were able to hang out with the alpacas and feed them. We also met a couple goats. It was great to learn all about the alpacas. Plus, since our tour was just myself and my son, we could ask any questions we wanted and take as many pictures as we wanted. Then, we learned all about how yarn is made. I just love the couple that owns this farm. They have such positive attitudes and were such a pleasure to be around. We truly had a blast and it was just the perfect ending to a perfect trip.

Owen’s Notes: “I really really liked all of the alpacas. I also liked that I got to see goats. My favorite alpaca was Little Num. I got to hug her.”

There are so many things to do in southern Illinois. We definitely could have spent more than a day here, but alas, we had to head home.

Terre Bleu Lavender Farm

At the beginning of August, my son and I went on a 2 week roadtrip (just the 2 of us!). We had an absolute blast. Our first stop was Toronto, Ontario. Before we got there, though, we stopped at the Terre Bleu Lavender Farm.

Terre Bleu Lavender Farm at 2501 Sideroad 25, Milton, ON
We arrived around 1:45pm on a Friday afternoon. After we paid our admission ($17/adult and $12/child), we were directed to a tent where we were shown an intro video about the farm. We were given a couple instructions like “don’t step on or over the rows of lavender” and “do not pick the lavender.” Then, we were free to roam as much as we wanted.

There are multiple different areas to the farm and we thoroughly enjoyed every one of them!

Here’s a map:

The Animal Pasture

Yellow Bench Trail

Lavender Field 2: Yellow Door
There is usually a line to take pictures in front of the door. We were fortunate enough to have kind people behind us that were willing to take a picture of the two of us.

Wildflowers

Lavender Field 1

Distillery

Herb Bar

Apiary
I just love how this was set up with a caged in area so that you don’t have to worry about getting stung.

Ice Cream
We bought some ice cream and some lemonade. And truly, I didn’t know how much I would actually like either one of these things because lavender seems so floral to me. But they were both delicious!

Store
I ended up leaving with some lavender oil in a roller ball, glass container. We also got some lavender and mint chapstick. I have seriously been using this stuff nonstop for 3 weeks. I love it!

Owen's Notes: "So cool! There was lavender everywhere. Row after row after row of lavender. There was also a yellow door. I like doors. I got to eat lavender ice cream and drink lavender lemonade. They were delicious!"

We thoroughly enjoyed our time here! We spent about 2 hours here. You could easily spend longer, but we were tired and wanted to get to our next destination. I would highly recommend visiting here if you get the chance.

There is a tour that you can take. It’s complimentary so you don’t have to pay any extra for it, but we just wanted to go at our own leisure so we chose not to follow along with that.