I must really be old fashioned. As a kid growing up with a "car guy" father, I think of Fall as a time for family drives to see the autumn scenery. This year, I thought I would check the Web to see if parents and kids were still enjoying family time on weekend drives to see the trees changing color. I went to Google and put in the search term "family drives." The result of my search was a surprise. The first item was an article titled: "What to do when his family drives you crazy." The next item was a notice about a science fiction story: "Family drives through an extraterrestrial safari park." The third item was a technical article headlined: "DX Switch Family Drives the Transition to Gigabit Ethernet
in Small, Medium Businesses."
I started to wonder if anyone was still interested in enjoying family time on a car trip to see nature's beauty during the change of seasons. When singer Dinah Shore used to do commercials for Chevrolet, her musical slogan in every commercial was: "See the USA in your Chevrolet."
If your kids are still at home or if your grandchildren need a new experience, I recommend a weekend drive. Take a one or two day trip to the country and see the real beauty of Illinois or any of our surrounding states. There's a good chance you will find great scenery; unique, out-of-the-way restaurants; friendly people; and the reassurance that we still have a great country worth appreciating.
Before you get to the real scenery as you head out of town, you are likely to see enormous fields of corn and soy beans. You might see pastures still green with grazing farm animals. You will see farm houses surrounded by red and white buildings. By city standards, these are enormous estates with sky that stretches from horizon to horizon.
These sights used to make me wonder about what it might be like to live on one of those farms.
You may already know a great destination for a Fall trip. If you don't, I have listed a few Web addresses on the subject I managed to find on my Web search.
Close to home we have the Illinois River Valley or the hilly shores of the Mississippi in the northwest corner of the state. The Iowa side of the river in that area is very pretty and you will find a great selection of parks for picnics along these rivers.
In Indiana, you might consider a visit to Brown County. And Wisconsin is the Vermont of the Midwest.
I know you are busy, but when you look back, there aren't many occasions for families to really enjoy their time together. Sure kids will whine and complain. But as you all grow older, those family trips in the car may be counted among your best memories. Travel safely. |
