An article in USA Today’s July 2 issue highlights a couple casualties of high gas prices and the recession: less driving and reduced vacations. I’m currently working on a book project that may help some people who are foregoing travel vacations.
By renting DVDs as a substitute for travel, many are missing out on some wonderful family opportunities! For lots of families, scenery is part of a decent vacation.
Growing up in eastern Kansas, we believed a real vacation meant traveling to the Missouri Ozarks or the Colorado Rockies.
Without the cash to spend on a long voyage, families are now opting for stay-at-home vacations, aka, “staycations.”
I suggest that scenery is everywhere and low budget vacations can be arranged, if folks become aware of the locations and know what to look for.
So, I’m writing a resource for people who live in perhaps the most maligned state for its blandness: Illinois!
How often have I heard people say of Illinois, “It’s so flat!” There are good geologic reasons to make this statement.
During the great Ice Ages, glaciers spread across 85 percent of the state. The melting ice dumped sediments that covered Illinois’ otherwise rugged landscape and filled in valleys. Few people have visited the 15 percent of the state that retains its earlier rugged topography.
Most Illinois citizens can reach at least one of these areas in a few hours driving time. The scenery in the northwest corner of Illinois is beautiful, as is the far southern region. Parts of western Illinois are good too.
How many Illinoisans have visited or even heard of Apple River Canyon State Park?
The steep canyon walls and trails will make you think you are anywhere but Illinois! Some 600 native plants have been logged in this one park.
In the spring, the floral display alone is spectacular! And the surrounding countryside has amazing landforms left untouched by the smoothing action of Ice Age glaciers.
One of the reasons why people are unaware of the great state parks and their surrounding scenery is the location of interstate highways. These roads carry most U.S. traffic and connect large cities. Metropolitan centers tend to be located in low lying areas, which are also low on the scenery scale.
The less soil and rock contractors have to move in making an interstate the less expensive the road. This forces most interstates to traverse “flat” landscapes.
My book will focus on helping people know about interesting scenic locations and how to get there.
Fortunately, the glaciated portion of the state also has some neat scenery and those will be included. The USA Today article indicates that gas prices have permanently altered how people drive.
If so, that is all the more reason to find nearby scenic places to vacation. What is true for people in Illinois is no doubt true for residents of other states. Every region has its natural beauty.
We have only to discover it!
Dr. Max Reams is chairman of the Department of Physical Sciences at Olivet Nazarene University.
Thk u Dr. Reams 4 a great article. I had u as a prof in '84 & '85. You piqued my interest in Geology! Do u know of any "diamonds in the rough" in Indiana?
ReplyDeleteThk u also 4 the marriage & family advice u passed along too!