I spent the weekend with my mom and step-dad in Crystal Lake, about an hour and a half from Evanston. With every visit, we like to have an ‘adventure’. This usually means a restaurant in another town and some kind of destination (Volo Antique Mall, resale shops, Bristol Renaissance Faire, forest preserve, Kane County Flea Market, etc). On Sunday, we ate at Happy Jacks in McHenry, a deli and ice cream shop decorated with old-timey Coca-Cola paraphernalia. Inexpensive yet great food, casual and cheery; we love it!

What I love about our adventures is that they often aren’t planned. “Hey guys, wanna go get cheese in Wisconsin?” “Yea, sure!!” And then we’re on our way. This time, we took an unexpected turn into Boger Bog in Bull Valley for an impromptu nature walk!

Boger Bog has 38 acres to roam: there’s prairie, wooded land and wetland. What is funny, is that Boger Bog is not a bog but a fen. What’s the difference? Let’s just say that a fen is a more hospitable wetland for wildlife than an acidic bog.

We really enjoyed our unplanned walk through nature, there is nothing more refreshing! If I knew what was good for me, I’d do it everyday!

But, what was the best part of this bug loving gal’s walk? A walking stick!! Oh, I was SO excited to find this insect. I have this weird knack for seeing tiny bug movement…even in dense leafy brush. It’s super weird. People always say, “How did you see that?” I don’t know, the bugs and I are one. At first I was hesitant to pick it up because I once had an aggressive showdown with a praying mantis in Costa Rica (we ended our differences amicably with me running away in fear) and the two insects look a little alike. But this walking stick was as gentle as can be. Its body, though it looks hard like a stick, was soft. I had to be super careful not to hurt it and took my time picking it up. Once I did, I was surprised to see how speedily it could walk up my arm. And the cutest thing, when I touched it, it made his front antenna go straight like his body so that he’d look like a stick rather than prey. That little dude made my day!