If you decided to see Lake Michigan and the dunes, I recommend going to the Indiana Dunes State Park. The other dunes parks in northern Indiana are known to be "party" places, not the most wholesome places for families.
So, we get there and find the trail that a friend told me about. This was trail number 7. It's not too difficult but isn't exactly a cake walk either! Who wants cake when you are trecking through the woods on sand hills anyway? Right off the bat there is a pretty steep sand hill to climb. Instantly I thought, oh my... how many more of these are we going to have to climb? Ok... I can do this.
As we hiked up and down some smaller "doable" hills and trails things went ok. It was quite lovely and natural. We did have a couple of steep hills along the way but I did it.
Then, we were almost to the beach on trail number 7 and came to a cross roads with trail number 8. Trail 7 continued straight in front of us at a decent, easy to manage rate, but not trail 8. When looking to the right, trail 8 was a HUGE mountain of sand. You could tell by the blue sky at the top that it lead to some sort of clearing.
The boys decided to climb up trail 8 to see what was at the top. Our oldest was so excited that he ran most of the way up trudging through fairly deep sand for a trail. I have NO idea how he managed. After the boys got to the top they started yelling out, "Come on!! Mom & Dad, come up here! It's awesome!"
I wasn't sure if I should believe them or not! LOL! Were they just saying that to watch us struggle up this huge mountain of sand or was there something spectacular to see?
My loving husband decided we should do it. I reluctantly obliged and started up the hot sand. Have mercy! Each step I took, my foot sunk in the sand up to the top of my shoe and slid backward about 6 inches. How on earth am I supposed to get to the top at that rate?
About halfway up the mountain, my body started burning. By the time I got to the top, my head was throbbing! You know when you exercise too much and your head starts throbbing from the stress and the heat?
I kept telling my husband that it felt like my head was going to explode!
So, was the view worth it? ....wellll.... kind of.... ;)
It was worth it to see my boys excited about the climb. It was worth it to see God's beauty and experience it as a family. It was worth it to be out of the "class room" of our homeschool. It was worth it for the boys to learn about nature by being in it!
Yeah, it was worth it. ...smiles...
The easy stroll back down the mountain to the blessed beach!
Yeah, we glow white! But we won't get skin cancer. ;)
Son 1 (15) exploring the water for cool rocks
Son 2 (13) skipping rocks
Even the husband got his white feet wet!
All in all, it was a wonderful trip!
I highly recommend a visit to Indiana Dunes State Park for any family or homeschool. It is fun and educational!
God is so glorious!
This was not a paid review. All opinions are my own! All photos are property of Janet Powers Copyright 2012.
2 comments:
been there, and loved it!!!
Ahhhhh, my favorite sort of vacation: nature & hiking! We have many such state parks here in WA State, and hubby & I are forever looking for new ways to experience them. We love Mt. Rainier, & have spent many a lovely day trekking the lush forests there.
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