Illinois Beach State Park

No more posting until about August 22. There's much to do in the days ahead, and who knows, I might even see something worth posting about later. It's been known to happen.

We spent some time last Friday under a hot afternoon sun at Illinois Beach State Park. Besides beach, there's a lodge and some forested areas, but we went to the beach. It wasn't very crowded, which suits me. This is the beach looking north, toward the Zion Nuclear Power Station.

The plant generated electricity from the early '70s to the late '90s, but has been permanently dark in more recent years because of the risk of spawning Godzilla-like creatures to wreak havoc on Chicago... I mean, because the operator couldn't run it profitably any more. Plans now call for tearing the power station down, which is going to be one exacting brownfield reclamation project (especially if the workers uncover Godzilla-like creatures breeding in the spent-fuel pool).

The girls frolicked on the lakeshore.

I thought it was too hot to be at the beach, but I have unusual ideas about the best times to be at a beach. Mainly, when it's not hot or cold. Cloudy, no more than 75 degrees, and stiff wind blowing from offshore are more to my liking. But I managed to entertain myself even in this hotter setting. At one point, I found a pile of rocks near the edge of the land, a random jumble, and gave it a little order.

I called it BeachHenge.