Lucas had a three day weekend so we decided to try out Timber Ridge Treehouse in Southern Illinois. This meant we had a 5.5 hour drive on Friday. We stopped at Yoder’s Kitchen for lunch on the way down. I don’t ever remember going but it’s an Amish buffet and it was pretty good. Lucas said it was one of the best lunches he had ever had.

Before checking into our treehouse we did the Garden of the Gods Observation Trail. I had done this trail a couple times when I was younger. It’s a whole different story when you have a kid. I was so nervous with Lucas jumping around on rocks. The trail is beautiful and it is unbelievable that you’re in Illinois.

After the trail we checked into our house. It was pretty cool. The upstairs bedrooms of the treehouse were a bit challenging because you had to take a ladder up and the ceiling was very low. Lucas really liked it. Two cats showed up to our treehouse and they were very friendly. For dinner I made grilled cheese and tomato soup. After dinner Don and Lucas made a fire and Lucas had a smore.

The next day we woke up early and made breakfast. Then we headed down to Cave in Rock. I had also been here before with my parents. It’s a cave in the side of the cliffs on the shore of the Ohio River. Lucas loved it. He thought it was so cool. After the cave Don had found a gemstone store he wanted to check out but it was closed. We didn’t know what to do to, but Don found a mineral museum in Kentucky. We had to take the ferry across the river to get to it, but the ferry was free. I can’t remember ever taking my car on a ferry but it was pretty cool. The Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum was neat. There were a lot of rocks to see. After checking it out we went to eat at Candy’s Kitchen. We all had cheeseburgers. It was pretty good.

On the way back to Illinois Lucas fell asleep and he missed the car ferry. But we took him to another trail called Rim Rock National Recreation Trail. The trail was pretty cool. There is a upper trail and lower trail. The trails used to connect with a staircase but the stairs were out. We started with the upper but then quickly decided to do the lower because everything I read said that was better. It was very cool. There were narrow passages between giant rocks. We got to the point were the stairs used to be and had to turn around. I asked Lucas if he wanted to do another trail but he said no, which I thought was weird. Then he told me had to poop. We had at least a 15-20 minute walk back to the car and restrooms at this trail were the worst we have encountered on this trip. We got back as quick as we could and made our way for the bathroom. When we opened the door a bunch of bugs flew out and Lucas said he would wait until we got back to the treehouse.

Luckily, we made it back. It was late afternoon, Don and Lucas wanted to gather wood for the fire. During this Lucas stepped right into what I believe was poison ivy so I made him shower and I soaped him up. Here’s to hoping he doesn’t, and none of us, get poison ivy. We checked out the pavilion at the treehouse resort, it had bags, frisbee golf, tetherball, and horseshoes. We decided to stay in again for dinner and I made more grilled cheese and soup. The fire Lucas and Don made tonight was better and we all enjoyed a smore.

On Sunday we woke up early again and made breakfast. We did a good job of eating a lot of the food we brought. We decided to do the Indian Point Trail. We saw some backpackers coming out of the trail and we found where they camped. This trail was short and pretty good, but I think the first two we did were better. On the way home we stopped at diner for brunch. Then Lucas slept for the majority of the ride home. I think it was a pretty successful trip.