Indiana Dunes NP

Greetings from Indiana!

We left Altoona, Iowa yesterday morning, battled Chicago afternoon rush hour traffic, and arrived at the campground early evening.  Our camp host came by and told us to watch out for mosquitos, ticks and poison ivy in the campground.  Have gotten more than a few mosquito bites, found a tick in the trailer shower pan this morning and have been avoiding any plants with three leaves.  But it is wonderful to be back at a campground.  Sites are huge and spaced far apart.  As I write this, Canada Geese are flying overhead and honking.

Indiana Dunes became a national park on Feb. 15, 2019.  Prior to that it was a national lakeshore.  Most parks we have visited are in the wilderness while this one is surrounded by metropolitan areas.  Driving from one area of the park to another we went past the Port of Indiana and the US Steel’s Gary Works, the world’s largest steel mill.

We took a great hike today through wooded areas, over dunes, and ended up at the shore of Lake Michigan.  Pictures below.

Tomorrow we are headed to Cuyahoga NP near Cleveland, Ohio.

Thinking about taking the short swim to Chicago.  Talked to a local who said we were lucky to have such a clear day to see the Chicago skyline.  We are at the southern tip of Lake Michigan.

Water was a little too cold to swim that far.  The water is clean and clear.  No seaweed, no rocks or shells, and no tar!

We were surprised that trees grow right on the beach.

Took this on our return hike from the shore.  While hiking back a muskrat was hurrying down the path so quickly that we had to move out of the way or he might have run into us.  Neither of us had ever seen one before.  The ranger told us they are a real nuisance, pulling up plants that they are trying to get restablished.

Our campsite is in the woods!  Easy to understand the camp host warnings.

Looking straight up at the campsite - my attempt at artistic photography😉.