Illinois Book Tour

 I had a wonderful time touring in Illinois 
with my books, 

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk
and 
A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach

I gave a lecture at the beautiful Lake Forest Open Lands Association property called

Mellody Farm.

Gates to the once grand estate

This land was once part of the 1,000 acre estate of the Armour family (of the Armour meatpacking fortune). 

 Fifty acres of this estate are now preserved and efforts are underway to restore the land to pre-farming days. There are diverse habitats found here.

John Sentell, President of Lake Forest Open Lands, introduces me to the audience

Resident turtle at Lake Forest Open Lands

 In between my book tour events, I spent some time at the gathering of regional independent booksellers at the Heartland Fall Forum held in Rosemont, IL.

 It was wonderful to mingle with bookseller friends and to celebrate the indie spirit.

Evergreen Park Public Library

My last appearance in Illinois was in Evergreen Park at the lovely library there. I had time to stop in at Anderson's Bookshop (they graciously supplied books for my library appearance).

Anderson's Bookshop, a wonderful indie bookstore

Anderson's!

Segment 10 Day 4 Zion->Lake Forest 19 miles

High of 72 degrees.

Thursday, September 24

I began this day by hiking out to the Illinois Beach State Park. This park protects several different types of habitat including over six miles of lakeshore, and over 4,o00 acres of wetlands, prairie, dunes, and swale. I had hoped to hike the entire shoreline of this park, but the south end is a restricted nature preserve and wetland.

The beach is unique because it is bookended by the Zion Nuclear Power Plant on the north end, and a conventional coal power plant on the south. I walked through Waukegan in the middle of the day. This harbor has a toxic industrial history and is in the process of getting cleaned up.

I walked on a bike path from the Great Lakes Naval Station (an active naval base on the lakeshore), and walked it all the way into Lake Forest.