Location: Apple Canyon Lake
Attraction: Relaxing, Connecting, and ATVing
It was the week of our anniversary and Jill had a major goal that she was working towards for her essential oil business. If she could get 150 enrollments before the end of September, we both got to go on a trip to Hawaii to see how sandalwood is made and distilled. So naturally she had to work on the weekends around our anniversary. Rather than skip a weekend away, we decided to mix work with pleasure. I went with her to a class she was teaching near Chicago Friday night, and we would spend some one-on-one time together Saturday.
We ended up staying with a friend of Jill’s that was included in the oil class Jill was teaching. Jill taught the class and I hung out with a few guys in the couple’s basement that I had never met before, drinking beer and playing Golden Tee. I had met the Mrs. before but only once or twice and we couldn’t have said more than a couple of words to each other, but the kindness her and her family showed to us was unbelievable. Not only did they feed us pizza and drinks, but when we mentioned we had plans to stay at a hotel and spend some time together on the way home, they invited us to stay at their lake house instead!
Fast forward to morning and we said our good-byes, expressed our gratitude, and headed out for some breakfast. We picked a place called Brunch Cafe where we split an order of blueberry pancakes and a breakfast burrito, and of course Jill had to get a strawberry mimosa to celebrate hitting her goal. This food was amazing and the service was outstanding. The pancakes had blueberries and blueberry sauce drizzled all over and a “brunch cream” spread between the two fluffy cakes. Jill went to the bathroom shortly after we ordered and to her surprise, she returned to our meals on the table and these pancakes nearly half gone. The burrito, too, was incredible. The chorizo was juicy and potatoes crispy. All the veggies and extras were fresh and flavorful. It was a great start to date day.
We then headed for the lake house. Once we found our way around the winding roads and beautiful Illinois country-side, we had to figured out how to get into the place. Once that puzzle was solved we did a quick self-guided tour and uncovered what would be the highlight of our stay. Two side-by-side ATVs. One RZR and one Ranger.
The RZR was low on gas so we settled on taking the Ranger around the trails. Our new friends had told us about the trail that went around the lake and it took us a while to find it, but once we did, and realized it was all gravel, it was easy to follow. Since we now had our barrings, we packed a cooler and set off on our journey. There were several paths that led to the lake and we would venture off to check out the boats at the boat docks and the lake-side scenery. The path we were cruising along on was surrounded by a canopy of trees and beautiful nature. When we got to the south end of the lake, there was a gorgeous waterfall from where the man-made lake was damned up. We stopped to enjoy the view for a bit, enjoying the roar of the waterfall and the mist that bellowed up from the creek and then headed on our merry way.
We ended up passing a marina that had gas so we filled up the Ranger and headed back for a quick bite to eat. We grilled some hot dogs and ate some chips and salsa and since we knew where the gas was now, decided to take the RZR out for a spin. The RZR was a bit more spunky and agile than the Ranger. I had been driving most of the time so we switched drivers for a while and I think Jill rather enjoyed herself cruising around the woods in an ATV.
Once we parked the ATVs we started a fire in their fire pit and sat around it cuddling and talking like teenagers. We felt very fortunate to be on the receiving end of such kind acquaintances.
Love Live Connect 