Raleigh, NC

I visited a friend in Raleigh, NC over a three day weekend.  While it was 90 degrees there, back in Illinois it was in the 40's and 50's.  We decided to keep it somewhat and visit three state parks.  The first was Raven Rock.

I think I liked this one the best.  On a Saturday in May, it wasn't too crowded - some widely cut trails were fairly easy hiking.

Beautiful rock formations by the river....

And a lot of people cooling off in the river too...  We did not as we had left our swim suits in the car which was a mile or two from this point at the rivers edge.

We then had lunch at a fabulous BBQ place, and ventured northward to Eno River State park.  We did not a nice figure-8 loop - the Holden Mill Trail.  

I think here we only saw about 10 people on the trail, and maybe 20 in the river near the visitor center.  Not bad for a Saturday in May.

On the way back to Raleigh, we stopped at the Duke University campus and walked through the gardens.  Beautiful.

In the morning, the Raleigh half Ironman went about two blocks from his apartment.  So we walked over and ventured to the finish line to see some of the top finishers come in.  That was a fun experience.

We got some sandwiches and went to William B. Umstead State Park....took the Sals Branch trail from the visitor center to the lake.  The airport was just a few miles down the road - so soon enough, it was already time to head back to Chicago.

The next Monday, in the evening, we visited a more local attraction - the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

The hiking was nice - the ticks were out though.  Soon enough, the mosquitoes will be out too - it has been raining a lot recently.

One last local shot - of the Healing Field at the VFW.  They had it up the week before labor day.  I enjoyed walking by with the dogs in the mornings.  One night, we went over for the short ceremony they had at the end of the day.