Summer’s Here! It’s Time to Get Outside

June 16, 2010 by Taylor Studios in Other

I love summer and now that it’s upon us, I’m spending as much time outside as possible. Last weekend I was in Missouri for a family reunion. My husband is fortunate enough to have grandparents who owned a farm and his grandma still lives on some of the property. We stay with her when we’re in Mexico. (Missouri, not the country. Yes, it’s a real town in the middle of the state.) There’s a pond on the property stocked with catfish, bass, bluegill, and a couple other varieties of fish, plus a few snapping turtles and I’ve been told several snakes. While nothing was biting this weekend, it didn’t keep us from spending several hours Sunday afternoon sitting comfortably under a shade tree casting our lines over and over. It was the perfect day.

This weekend we plan on camping in Indiana. Canoeing, fishing, and eating are about all we plan to do for two whole days. We’re going to one of the smaller and lesser known state parks. We’re hoping that translates to fewer people! By choosing a smaller park, we realize we’ll be giving up amenities like a convenience store and an interpretive center. In the past, I don’t think I would have given a second thought to the interpretive center. However, after being in this industry for a while, museums and nature centers have taken on new meaning. Now, not only do I keep an eye out for them, but also I view them in an entirely different way. I look for the central theme, the traffic flow, how visitors respond to the exhibits, and how things are built. I still don’t read every word of text, however, and can usually zip in and out in half the time as my husband, who reads everything.

I read Lori Rackl’s this morning about various spots in Illinois in which to camp and thought the timing was fitting, for me anyway. A wide range of camping options are discussed for locations throughout the state, including parks that have interpretive centers. I grew up in Southern Illinois, very close to the Shawnee National Forest, so Giant City State Park and Ferne Clyffe State Park were frequent hiking locations for me. Crab Orchard Lake and Rend Lake were favorite boating and swimming spots as well. One of our current projects is a design-build job at the new Rend Lake Visitor Center. We install in October and the building opens sometime in December. For anyone looking for a new interpretive experience, put Rend Lake on your list. As for this summer, I hope to visit a couple of the parks mentioned in the blog.

Where are some of your favorite summer getaway spots?

Posted by: Kara