Sunday, July 27, 2014

Indiana Dunes State Park




July 26th-Day 3

We were warned-something about bad neighborhoods and homicide rates in Gary, IN. Apparently, Indiana Dunes State Park is far enough away to not be a concern. It is a bit crowded, but well-kept and pleasant, and wow is it humid. It is near the shore of Lake Michigan and has some pretty serious sand dunes, too. The long (1100-miles in one shot) drive went OK. I slept from 9P until about 2A, while James drove and sipped on a Red Bull. I then drove for about an hour while James slept. He somehow managed on less than 2 hours of sleep for the night. After a quick stop at Trader Joe's for food for the next 3 days, we arrived in Chicago at about 3P and walked around for a couple of hours. We reminisced about the last time we were here and tried to park in a parking garage with our minivan and roof box on top then ended up not fitting and having to send someone (me) down to the bottom to stop traffic while James backed down the spiral to get out. to We did not make that mistake again. Somehow we managed to find meter parking relatively near where we planned to eat dinner. It's always exciting to be in a city. After walking around for a couple of hours, we went to "Unos" for authentic Chicago-style pizza. Super deep dish and loaded. One piece is more than a meal!

Soon after we got back onto the freeway in the direction of Indiana, Nicole said she had to go to the bathroom-BAD. We took the next exit and soon realized we were in a bad part of town. We wanted to get out of dodge, but when you have to go, you have to go. So, we found a gas station and pulled in to the parking lot. James said, "I am going in with her and you stay in the car and lock the doors until I get back." It turned out to be a very educational moment as the kids asked questions about why these people are the way they are.

After arriving at our destination, pleasantly surprised to find that it is not scary, we set up camp, hit the beach, and took our first showers of the trip so far. Running water really is a wonderful thing. And these showers were free, and mostly clean. We then went to bed early and slept late-so late that we missed church. Wendy said, "Well, I was looking forward to 3 hours of church, but now I guess we'll just have to go back to the beach and read scriptures." So, they went to the beach and I'm sitting here, following the shade as I work on family history in my swim suit...

1 comment:

  1. You need to make a book of Wendy quotes. Her quote about church and reading scriptures on the beach is another Wendy classic. Tell James to be careful with all of this driving! I don't know how he managed on 2 hours of sleep and that's coming from a night owl like myself!

    ReplyDelete