Indiana Dunes National Park

 I’m writing this while parked in front of Dirty Duds Laundromat in Wheeling, IL waiting for our laundry to be cleaned.  You’d think I should have predicted the amount of sand we all would drag into our home-on-wheels, but I didn’t.  I found I can’t sleep in bedding filled with grit. 

Our time spent at Indiana Dunes National Park was heavenly.  Peaceful dunes sitting on the southernmost border of Lake Michigan.  Chicago can be seen in the distance from the beach. 

Day 2 of our visit was spent mostly inside as the heavens opened up and soaked the park.  I won the scrabble game this time: 350-194! 

After the sun came out and dried up all the rain, we took Trail #10 as our hike for the day.  The description read “Moderate, 5 miles”, but actually it was a grueling (yet rewarding) 6.5 miles of meandering through the woods,

climbing over the dunes, and slugging through the soft sand of the beach for the last 3 miles. We had the beach to ourselves, which was pretty fantastic, so that made it all worth it. We all were exhausted once we finally made it home.  

Day 3 was a more restful day of short strolls and a nice mellow bike ride along the bike path and train tracks. 

Our final dinner there consisted of our goodies from the Paducah Farmers Market: Fire Grilled NY Strip, Fresh Arugula and Tomato salad, and Instapot Mashed Red Skin Potatoes

We actually camped at the 

because they simply had a better location and amenities than the National Park campground.  It’s weird that there is a State Park totally surrounded by a National Park….go figure!