Zac & Stephanie Wedding - lodging & site-seeing

Zac Wiles & Stephanie Greiff wedding website:  http://greiffandwiles.ourwedding.com/

                                  

The Ceremony and Reception will be at Starved Rock State Park.  Starved Rock is located 3 miles south of I-80 (Utica exit #81) on Route 178 near LaSalle/Peru & Ottawa.  It is about 1.5 hours west of Chicago.

http://www.starvedrocklodge.com/index.cfm?pageID=20 

GPS coordinates:  N 41.31671, W 88.99415

The wedding ceremony will be outdoors at the Sunrise Shelter on the East side of the Main Lodge at 5 pm and the reception will be in the main lodge immediately following.

There are one and two room Pioneer cabins surrounding this East area which are in the reserved block for Saturday & Sunday nights.   Two large four-room Deluxe cabins rented as individual rooms are located on the west side near the indoor pool and are also reserved as part of the block for Saturday and Sunday (see attached graphic).

Rooms are also in the reserved block in the Main Lodge & Hotel for both Saturday and Sunday nights.  http://www.starvedrocklodge.com/

The lodge and cabins are fairly close together and an easy walk between sites.

Please make individual room reservations by calling  (800)-868-7625 (ROCK) to book rooms before June 21 for either Saturday-Sunday (7/21 & 22) or Sunday only (7/22/12), otherwise the block of rooms will be released.  Reservations must be done by calling, not online.  Rooms can be cancelled up to 72 hours before stay.


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Additional lodging can also be found just outside the park in Utica & Ottawa and of course along I-80:

Starved Rock Inn is a rustic eight-room country motel in Utica.

This inn is not included in the wedding block of rooms, but is associated with Starved Rock State Park:

http://www.starvedrockstatepark.org/index.cfm?pageID=190

Grizzly Jack’s Grand Bear Resort with a kids waterpark located one mile south of Starved Rock State Park entrance:

http://www.grizzlyjacksresort.com/ 

More lodging in the immediate area can be found at:

http://www.enjoylasallecounty.com/lodging.html

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Great Sightseeing:

Hiking trails are abundant, with waterfalls and eagle viewing.  Walking shoes recommended.

     




        

Check out all the things to see on their website:

http://www.starvedrockstatepark.org/ 

There is a really neat lock & dam on the Illinois River next to the State Park with a great visitor center for viewing barge traffic.

http://www.johnweeks.com/river_illinois/pages/illLD3.html 

http://jove.geol.niu.edu/faculty/fischer/429_info/429trips/starvedrock/lock.html

Illinois-Michigan (I&M) Canal Boat ride: http://www.lasallecanalboat.org/ 

More things to do in LaSalle County: http://www.enjoylasallecounty.com/ 

Ottawa is nice town to the east of Starved Rock State Park and has some shopping, mansion tour, lodging, and other amenities: http://www.experienceottawa.com/ 

Illinois Riverboat tours, boat & canoe rentals are available:

http://www.belleoftherock.com/tourBoat.htm

http://www.starvedrockadventures.com/

If you are approaching from the West (Nebraska folks), then you might want to check out John Deere’s home, museum & factory tours:

http://www.deere.com/wps/dcom/en_US/corporate/our_company/fans_visitors/tours_attractions/index.page?

Everything from the 1,400 acre world headquarters in Moline, Illinois & factory tours (48 hour notice needed) to the blacksmith shop of John Deere in Dixon, Illinois where it all began.

If you are feeling really adventuresome, you can even jump out of a perfectly good airplane at Skydive Chicago, just north of Ottawa.  Zac, Kelly & I can personally recommend it.

http://www.skydivechicago.com/ 

And of course, if you get bored with all of that, the City of Chicago is only about 1.5 hours east of Starved Rock State Park.

We are getting excited to see all the family & friends for the celebration of the wedding for Zac & Stephanie at 5pm on Sunday, July 22nd, 2012.

Come early - stay late and most of all have fun!   
                                                      Ed & Janice
                                                   Zac & Stephanie

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! IT HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!

well, okay, so that was a catchy subject eh?  lol!  you're probably wondering what has arrived.  the answer?  NOTHING!  hehehe.  i'm just bored and needed an attention grabber.  but i DO have WONDERFUL news to post on here.  so without further ado, here i go!

1) let's see how long it takes mom BEFORE she reads this.  and no, i don't talk much to her or dad...just been hiding and staying in my comfy hidey-hole :).  in other words, my apt when i'm NOT at school or working.  hehehe...BUT, i've been named Associate of the Month at work.  my name gets to go on a plaque at work and my pic is displayed (ugh!) and i get a $25 bonus!  woo hoo!!!!  NOT EVEN three whole months in the lab and BAM!  a SUPER recognition for me :D.  sooooo glad i got out of security!!!!!  this is a MUCH better fit for me, my passion for photography AND my ability to be VERY detail oriented and editing customers' photos for them :D.  <3 my job! 

2) i have FINALLY figured out what to do with life...i think...since professional singing isn't going to happen (or i HIGHLY doubt it!), i'm going to do graphic design :D.  my MAIN goal is to do web page/multimedia web design, but advertising would work too! :)  i am VERY good at being creative, writing and thinking outside the box...oh and detail oriented!  sooooo graphic design career--here i come!!!!

3) i have been so busy with school and work, i don't have time to be on this blog..but i'm progressing slowly, but steady in life and figuring things out, and continuously growing :).  it's nice to FINALLY get to that point :).  man, i've been hiding all along and finally starting to come out of my shell :D.

4) OOHHHH!!!!  i got a NEW camera!!!!  well, i've had it for awhile now. buuuuut i was rummaging around in our bins in the back one day and found a nikon s8200 on clearance for $229!!!  retailed originally for $329.  soooooo i used my tax money (oops, should have paid bills--hehe) and bought it!  i'm in LOVE with my camera!  not ONLY does it take GREAT photos, but it takes full HD video!!!!  has a GREAT mic for audio too!!!!  i have managed to get some AWESOME shots AND i made a video of the sandhill cranes at the blinds AND i have also made a video of me singing!  a GREAT compact long zoom camera and DEFINITELY worth the $$$!!!!  now, who wants to fork over $429 so i can buy me my nikon p510 i sell at work?  it's a 42x zoom, 16.1 megapixel, full hd movie mode and a GREAT camera!  any takers?  i could use a longer zoom for some pics ;).  hehehehe. 

hmm, what else should i write?  oh i uploaded my video of me singing to both youtube and facebook.  speaking of facebook, if you are on there, PLEASE let me know on here so i can go hunting for you and add you.  i found one person tonight, and in turn, found a bunch of relatives to add (the second cousins), but still, could use a LOT more of you...it's funny how i forget to add my distant relatives...but yes, really, if you're on there, let me know.  you can follow me a LOT easier than on here...i keep forgetting to get on here and blog.

i thnk that's it.  i'll upload a video of me singing.  oh i'm singing this song next sunday at church.  somebody got roped into offertory.  hehe, well no, i volunteered.  tomorrow is worship assistant.  marty suggested i do offertory the 15th and i obliged.  but i was debating between singing this one again or point of grace's the great divide.  hence, i chose this song--laura story's blessings.  i absolutely LOVE the song!  but i MIGHT upload a photo or two from my s8200 to show how much i LOVE the camera too!  and yes, i LOVE photography :D.

 scout (a friend's cat) drinks uphill!!!!

ike is terrified because i made him try to lay by mike and he wanted to escape.  hehehe.

 mike is demoralized by the camera.  hehe.

okay, i was up until 3:35 am last night trying to get the video to work, but tonight i hope to be in bed within the next hour.  sooo i'll sign off here and again, please let me know if you're on facebook!  catch you all on the flip side!