Already the end of the weekend. It felt short. Though this past week we were supposed to go on a short vacation out west (South Dakota and the badlands) but my dad ended up having to work so we made do and started looking for things to do around here. My dad came home early every day so it didn't feel so much like a normal week. And since he worked from home Friday morning we formed this plan: to drive north until we found a beach that was both clean and not crowded. Though there is a small beach just a few blocks from our apartment, it's pretty busy and by the end of the day gets quite dirty with people not picking up their own trash, leaving it there for the rest of us to tolerate.
After trying several small local parks on the lake we eventually ended up at the Illinois State Beach which is a state park. This beach is very similar to the one we found in Holland, Michigan. So after enjoying the evening there we came back to Chicago and left again the next day for the same beach.

It's a little dark because we like going to the beach at about 5 pm. The sun isn't so strong so not need for sun screen and most of the beach-goers have left for the day.

By the water it was a little rocky and our feet were not used walking on the sharp little stones, but after the five or six feet of rocks it was all soft sand. 

The water was shockingly cold. Even though it has been quite warm here (around 87°F/30°C and high humidity) the temperature of the water didn't no in the least reflect that. It took a little while to get used to the water but once we did it was amazing, refreshing and invigorating. 

 

We found our hide out when it gets too hot for our likes we can just pack up and go spend a few hours floating in the cool lake waters.  

じゃあな。