Chicago River Trail and Botanic Gardens

Wow...to celebrate freedom and independence we biked the North Branch of the Chicago River Trail; a full 35 miles. That is 9 miles more than my best prior biking day. As if that was not enough, we rode to the Chicago Botanic Gardens (which is just off the trail) parked our bikes and walked another 4 or so miles through the gorgeous gardens.

There were lots of folks out and about but not enough to make you feel as though the place was crowded; we did have to pay more attention than usual on the bike trail (since there were all levels of bikers there today) and adjust our speed and position accordingly.

The park along the trail was filled with groups of people having cook-outs and picnics, some fishing some just sunning. Clearly, it is a great day to be alive to take advantage of the absolutely perfect weather.

I did not take any pictures while biking but more than made up for it at the Botanic Gardens. I have no idea the names of these flowers so I will simply say, scroll down and enjoy. I don't know how I managed to take better than usual pictures but I did...so enjoy.









Hey, we weren't the only ones who decided to bike here!