Welcome to the Afton Forest Preserve in DeKalb, Illinois! Last weekend we arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon and wanted to take a nice walk after a long drive. The lady at the hotel suggested the Forest Preserve, so we decided to see what it was all about. As you can see, it is friendly, complete with a fun welcome sign at the entrance.
It is out in the midst of farmland. See the farm behind us on the left. The entire preserve is surrounded by farms and crops.
They didn’t have a good map of the place and being as Mom can almost get lost standing still, we decided to follow the path around the water. Unfortunately, it had a lot of offshoots and we did take some of those, but in the end, we found our car again without any trouble.
There were lots of these big, rectangular rocks at the picnic areas. Finally, we gave in and did a photo of us sitting on one of them. Note how beautiful the blue sky is! The weather was absolutely perfect, almost too warm, but we survived.
One of the paths we took went over what must be a flood area when they have lots of water. We will call it a boardwalk.
These pretty yellow flowers were all over in the prairie along the walking paths. They are in full bloom.
For those folks who are interested in more information on the Afton Forest Preserve, we stumbled across this informational sign. It seems like it is perhaps, Scandinavian???
They have a big observation deck overlooking the area where we were walking. The view was great with the clear sky and sunshine! The walking paths are a mix of grass, gravel, wood, and asphalt.
Mom had us climb up onto the platform as an exercise. The stair treads are open which frightens some dogs, but we did just fine and had no trouble hanging out up on top.
It was almost eighty degrees out, but we still obeyed the signs and stayed of the ice. Well, actually, we could not find any ice. We hoped to find some to cool us off, but no luck.
That is our hour long visit to the Afton Forest Preserve in a nutshell. We headed back to the hotel, and then off to bed because Olivia had to sniff at her trial on Sunday. If you are ever in DeKalb, it is a fun place for a walk.
My GBGV Life is joining Living Laughing and Barking in Our Backyard for their Nature Friday blog hop.
Looking good girls! We love these pictures. Good thing you didn’t go on the ice!!?? We love how adventurous you all are as you are on your trips. Our mom admires your mom’s courage! Have a great weekend. Your friend Lilly (PS Mom has had all kinds of connectivity trouble so we haven’t been able to comment, but we have been reading!)
Glad you enjoy our adventures. We are touring in Iowa today where Mom’s family lived like one hundred years ago. It is fun, but exhausting. Hope your connectivity issues get better. Happy Friday!
oh that looks so great! we love the sign and the rocks… and has that prairie something to do with Wyatt the airedale? because it has the name of his peeps?
We didn’t see anything about Wyatt, but one never knows.
You guys find the best places
We love to find new places to explore!
That does look like a very inviting place and I do like that welcome sign!
The welcome sign is super fun!
What a beautiful day for an exploration! I know if life gave you a lemon you all would make lemonade. 🙂 You look beautiful. Have a pawsome weekend! XOXO, Sparkle
We do our best to make lemonade if we get a lemon, most of the time it works.
What fun! I noticed Olivia catching scents in a few photos. Hope all goes fabulous at the trial.
I am a bit air scenter. Madison is more a ground sniffer, but we each find what we are looking for.
WOW! Beautiful blue skies and abundant sunshine – you couldn’t have picked a prettier day or place for your walk!
It was a beautiful day to explore a new place.
What great posers you are. You also get to explore so many places. That’s a good thing.
Love the beautiful yellow flowers.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. My best to your mom. ♥
Mom wants us to have all the experiences we can because it is fun and we learn from everything we do.
We had to laugh at your mom getting lost just standing still because my mom can do the exact same thing☺ You girls always find the best spots to explore and you found pretty yellow flowers just like we did!
I know, matching yellow flowers. Our mom is a directional disaster! Today she even had the name of our hotel wrong and was getting all mad because she couldn’t find it but then realized it was the wrong hotel she was looking for.
Looks like a lovely place
It is a very interesting place.
What a nice place for a little hike. We sure are glad your Mama got you back to the car safely! BOL!
It is always something we wonder about. She has gotten lost in places we go fairly often. No sense of direction.
What a lovely prairie and with you two as such purrfect models, the pictures look even more wonderful😸Pawkisses for a Happy Weekend🐾😽💞
Thank you. It is a nice place for walking.
The Afton Forest Reserve does look like a great place to explore, and Gail and I think you two guys were on particularly fine posing form today!
Toodle pip!
Bertie.
Thank you. We do our best, but some days are better than other.
Trying from my phone to see if it works!
I got it 🙂 Not sure what the computer settings are that cause issues, but it seems to be the case for you too.
A really nice place, i bet you would love to come back when there is ice!
It would depend on whether or not they plow the trails.
That looks like a fun place to visit. You girls are just the prettiest things we’ve seen.
Awww, you boys are charmers. It was a great place for a walk after a long drive.