You Can Do It With Enough Determination

Even though circumstances are not what you may have hoped for, you can still reach your goal with resolute determination.

We had wanted to take the RV we had purchased out for a test camping experience.  We chose to go a couple days to Starved Rock State Park which is a few hours drive from us.  The problem is that is was about the hottest week of the summer- in the 90's.  We wanted to do some biking and I wanted to do some hiking in the canyons.  I was hoping to take our dog with me so he could get some exercise.

The situation-
Temperature in the 90's.  Too hot to take the dog out hiking.
The park was a couple of miles from our campground.  Too hot to take the camper and park it at a trail head to go hiking.  Both my husband and our dog would be miserable in the camper while they waited for me to finish a hike.  We had to leave the camper in the campground connected to electricity for the air conditioning.  So this meant riding our bikes in the heat to the park if we wanted to see anything.

Solution-
I rode my bike in the early morning, when it was a little cooler, down back gravel roads to get to the east side of the park and go hiking on that end.  On the next couple of mornings I rode my bike to catch the trails in the middle and then on the west end. In the evening when it cooled off a little we took our dog out around the campground for a little run.


During the middle of the day, my husband and I rode our bikes the 2.5 miles each day into the park and spent time in the air conditioned hotel for lunch, took a bus tour in the air conditioned trolley, and sat in the shade to see a nature program about hawks. Mind you, when we got back to our RV, we were soaking wet in sweat.  Whew!








But we did it, I hiked, we biked, I got some nice pictures of the canyons and it is a vacation to remember.