↓
 

words and images

🇺🇦✏️✒️📚📔🌜dreamer 🌕 thinker 🌕 aspirant📱📷🚴‍♀️🏕🍄🌻

Menu
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Book Reviews
  • Letters
  • Photography
  • Poems & Stories
  • About Diane Schirf
  • Site Map

Tag Archives: National Park Service

Post navigation

← Older posts

Lodgings I have known: Arrowhead Lodge, Kabetogama, Minnesota

words and images Posted on March 9, 2023 by dlschirfMarch 9, 2023
July 16, 2013

One of my favorite stays may have been the shortest. It wasn’t a choice, but came about serendipitously.

The drive from Superior, Wisconsin (Amnicon State Park), to Kabetogama, Minnesota, started late, after the summer sunset. J and I spent eternity passing through what, at night, looked like sparsely populated areas. It was a relief (literally) to find a roadside bar. When we arrived at the planned destination, it was probably after 1 a.m. — late enough to find the windows dark, the door locked, and the phone unanswered. It turns out family-run lodges aren’t like a Hilton or Marriott, with 24-hour desk attendants. Oops.

I was too tired to sit up or think, but I didn’t fancy trying to sleep in a car not designed for camping. Somehow I came up with the thought of calling around, which was not easy to do because cell coverage was weak and intermittent. It was difficult both to find places through Yelp! or websites, then to make phone calls. I can’t remember now, but I think i made some calls that went unanswered before I got to Arrowhead Lodge (still in the “A” section). A tired-sounding woman answered.

I quickly explained the situation and probably warned her the call might drop. She said she had space for us — hallelujah! When I said we’d be right over (before she changed her mind), she answered, “No hurry. I have to get dressed.” Yikes.

Arrowhead Lodge is 2.5 miles, or 7 minutes, from Sandy Point Lodge via dark rural roads. I didn’t know if I could stay awake that long. We made it after 2 a.m.

I stayed in a no-frills room with several beds to choose from, a fan, and maybe a radio — my memory is dim. The floor had a shared bathroom, in which several people (maybe even over time) had left assorted toiletries. I didn’t mind — all part of the adventure and shared outdoor experience. I didn’t see anyone, though, and several of the rooms were empty (open doors).

In the morning (a mere few hours later), we ate a great breakfast (al fresco, I think). Our perch overlooked Lake Kabetogama, which I’ve since learned is “Kab” to the locals, plus a flock of white pelicans. If we hadn’t been due to join a Kettle Falls cruise, I could have stayed there the rest of the day, but we left reluctantly. At the cruise departure point, J. realized his camera bag was missing. We raced back to Arrowhead to find our host keeping an eye on it while it took up a barstool. With our wee hours arrival and forgetfulness, she must have thought we were quite the characters.

Sadly, I took only a few poor photos at Arrowhead Lodge.

Sleeping quarters at Arrowhead Lodge
Arrowhead Lodge and Resort
Sleeping quarters at Arrowhead Lodge
Arrowhead Lodge
Lake Kabetogama at Arrowhead Lodge
The view during breakfast at Arrowhead Lodge
White pelicans on Lake Kabetogama at Arrowhead Lodge
White pelicans

Later the owners, including the poor soul I’d woken up, sold the resort. The new owners have restored Arrowhead. which had deteriorated over the decades since its 1931 opening in the extremes of Minnesota’s climate. The first part of the video below shows the restoration effort and is well worth a look.

First part is about the renovation of Arrowhead Lodge
Posted in Adventure, Blog, Video | Tagged lodgings, Minnesota, National Park Service, photo, travel, video | Leave a reply

Ridge and swale topography at Miller Woods, Indiana Dunes National Park

Miller Woods is part of Indiana Dunes National Park. The Wolverine, Amtrak’s train from Chicago to Pontiac (and back), passes it and offers an opportunity to see ridge and swale topography.

June 22, 2022 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog, Video Tagged Amtrak, Indiana, National Park, National Park Service, nature, train, video Reply

Pullman National Monument

words and images Posted on June 20, 2022 by dlschirfJune 24, 2022
June 19, 2022

J had thought to go to Sagawau Canyon or Chicago Botanic Garden, but the roads were too red and the delays too great for my tolerance (33+ minutes!). He suggested the National Park Service property closest to me — Pullman National Monument, about 20 to 25 minutes away via Stony Island, potholes and all.

A ranger who seemed happy to see visitors greeted us and gave us brochures and a neighborhood map. When I saw Cottage Grove and a Metra stop on the map, I realized I pass within a few blocks of the visitor center when I take Metra to Homewood or University Park. The Kensington station is at 115th Street and Cottage Grove. Pullman is near Lake Calumet, Big Marsh Park, Indian Ridge, and Dead Stick Pond, and not far from Hegewisch Marsh and Beaubien Woods. It’s a strange area, abandoned in part by industry, bisected by I-94 and its ceaseless noise, and only partially reclaimed by wetlands.

The visitor center is well laid out. Our ranger friend told us the second and third floors are being developed, and the building across the way, roofed with plastic sheeting, is being restored by the state of Illinois.

As someone who’s not from Chicago and who’s never fully embraced living here, I didn’t know much about Pullman or the economic and labor situation. From the 1890s, I know more about serial killer H. H. Holmes than anything else. Now I know a bit more.

A timeline on the wall shows the history of Pullman, from its association with luxury and its conversion to wartime production (twice) to its final delivery in 1981 to Amtrak. Mixed in are episodes of economic, social, and labor unrest, with federal troops called in, firing on and killing striking laborers.

Other exhibits include a gander at what a Pullman car looked like on the inside, with reproduced seats and ceiling.  A video shows a porter at work putting up a bed and a couple commenting on the car’s luxury. Displays cover the Pullman neighborhood and the restricted life lower-level employees led — what would it be like to sleep, eat, and be entertained within steps of work, with little means to go anywhere else day to day?

Race is part of the rail labor story. While many Pullman porters (most? all?), like one of Michelle Obama’s ancestors, were African American, they were not allowed to join the new rail labor unions. In their conflicts with the upper business classes, the unions turned down help from people with whom they had common cause, apparently without seeing the irony. To be fair, it’s noted that labor leader Eugene Debs did not agree with this choice to exclude African Americans.

One great thing about the visitor center exhibits: They’re tactile and include Braille. Instead of, say, a flat drawing of a Pullman car,  the graphic is grooved or carved so you can feel the shape and details. Sometimes Iv’e wondered if Braille is an endangered language but it seems not.

There’s also a spot where people, mostly children, can write their reactions. I wish I’d taken photos. One wrote that while capitalism has some benefits, it also creates problems, which are listed. That kid is smarter than the average bear, as we used to say.

The exhibits draw such observations out by asking questions about life for laborers, many immigrants, in the shadow of privileged and wealthy owners and leaders, and about the violence of the government response when rail service linking Midwest and West was severed. I’d like to think it wouldn’t happen again, but these are “interesting times,” with income disparity and other inequities driving unrest, overt and covert. While Pullman may seem to be in the distant past, the issues resonate today.

There is, of course, a very good gift shop, where we learned the author of one of the books for sale (which I was buying) was speaking nearby. His talk would have been half over by then, so I passed.

Afterward we drove around a bit to see some of the neighborhood’s highlights and housing. I especially liked the livery stable.

Next to the Lake Hotel, we found Gateway Garden. We’d seen a sign on a house about local honey; J discovered the property contained many, many beehives. They must have more than Gateway Garden to meet their needs. Unlike J, I didn’t see the apiary or meet the owners, but I wonder if they get complaints. I hope not.

See this article from May 2022: ‘Good memories’: Brothers revisit last Pullman passenger rail car they helped build

Pullman National Monument
Pullman National Monument
18 photos
Visitor Center
State of Illinois is working on this building
Pullman car ceiling
Pullman car seat (replica, I assume) — not comfortable
Pullman painter at work
I liked this grill at the Pullman Visitor Center
Yikes
Pullman advertisement "Take it easy"
Livery stable building
Pullman housing, I think, adjacent to livery stable
Lake Hotel
Pullman Gateway Garden
Pullman Gratitude Project
Pullman Gratitude Project
Grateful for cats
Pullman Gateway Garden
Pullman Gateway Garden
Pullman Freight Depot and Gas Works sign
Posted in Adventure, Blog, Chicago | Tagged Chicago, National Monument, National Park Service, photo | 1 Reply

Google Maps most viewed photos

Every now and then I get an email updating me on my Google Maps photo statistics. As of today, these photos have 10,000+ views. The surprises? The chicken and the nondescript view of Lincoln Park Zoo’s south lagoon. That so many people are looking at Beaubien Woods. And that the photo of the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls didn’t make the cut as of today. Not looking like it will for a long time.

Untitled
Amnicon Falls State Park, Wisconsin: 14,802 views
Untitled
Beaubien Woods, Illinois: 17,361views
Untitled
Garden of the Gods at Shawnee National Forest, Illinois: 18,008 views
Untitled
Rock of Ages off Isle Royale National Park, Michigan: 18,257 views
Warren Dunes State Park, Michigan: 18,341 views
Untitled
Tytoona Cave near Tyrone and Altoona, Pennsylvania: 18,938 views
Untitled
Chellberg Farm, Indiana Dunes National Park: 22,212 views
Untitled
Beaubien Woods, Illinois: 29,821 views
Lincoln Park Zoo, Illinois: 29,976 views
Untitled
Fountain of Time by Lorado Taft, Chicago, Illinois: 49,474 views
Untitled
Black Partridge Woods, Illinois: 49,719 views
Untitled
Black Partridge Woods, Illinois: 67,286 views

Finally, at six figures:

Untitled
F. W. Knox Villa, aka Old Hickory, Coudersport, Pennsylvania: 105,725 views
Untitled
I received this right after I posted
December 1, 2020 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog, Photography Tagged Chicago, Forest Preserves of Cook County, Hyde Park, Lincoln Park Zoo, Michigan state park, National Forest, National Park Service, Pennsylvania, photo, Wisconsin state park 2 Replies

Lodgings I have known: Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast near Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

words and images Posted on May 11, 2020 by dlschirfMay 11, 2020
Down on the farm, May 20 and 21, 2015

When passing through Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I stayed at Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast, which I think may have been for sale.

The house was large with an impressive dining room fireplace, but what I loved most were the rooms. To get to one of them, you went down a few steps, then up a few steps into the next room, all connected, set up for children. I can’t get enough of houses with oddities like this — multiple levels on one floor, attic rooms, mysterious little slanted doors or floors that sort of thing.1

As a farm, Shady Oaks featured horses, with two or three in a pasture and a pony in the stable. The B&B could accommodate travelers with horses too. On their website, they warned fussier visitors that theirs was a working farm, so there might be equipment, hay, etc., about the place. People had complained. Between the horses and the comfortable porch overlooking the pasture and the long drive ahead, I found Shady Oaks very hard to leave.

Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
10 photos
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed and Breakfast
Shady Oaks Farm Bed & Breakfast

1 My favorite was my aunt’s second floor apartment in Altoona, Pennsylvania. When you walked through her bedroom and maybe down a step or two (memory fails), you found yourself in another bedroom — in another house. Those houses have since been torn down, and I doubt their like will be seen again in our present-day bland, cookie-cutter modern housing.

Posted in Adventure, Blog | Tagged lodgings, National Park Service, Ohio, photo, travel | Leave a reply

Maple Sugar Time at Chellberg Farm, 3/7/2020

words and images Posted on March 8, 2020 by dlschirfMarch 8, 2020

Last year’s Maple Sugar Time at Chellberg Farm was not productive. The daytime temperatures were too cold for maple sap to run. I remember someone saying they used water in the sugar shack — there wasn’t enough (or any?) sap for the demonstration. It was still fun and informative, even without the star attraction — maple sap.

This year’s a different story. Maple sap is pouring out of the sugar maples — literally. This extractor was filling every five to six minutes. At 2 p.m., the tub was about one-third full. By 4 p.m., it was nearly two-thirds full.

Collecting maple sap by the gallon at Chellberg Farm

The warm air, sunshine, and freely flowing sap gave the day and everyone involved energy. We had our traditional Lions Club breakfast at 2, then checked out all the stations on the trail to the farmhouse.

Boiling over fire
Heating over fire
Spiles
Evolution of the spile for collecting maple sap
Steaming sugar shack
I could smell the maple-y sweetness of the heated sap in the sugar shack
Untitled
Took a long time and a lot of wood and boiling to get this syrup

After picking up some goodies (maple syrup, maple cream, maple water, and an Indiana Dunes National Park mug), we also visited Chellberg Farm’s current animal helpers, starting with Belgian team Bill and Jack.

Are ewe giving me the eye? (okay, may not be a ewe)
Are ewe looking at me?
Three months old
Three months old and not afraid to speak up

After a stop at the Schoolhouse Shop and Tiger Lily’s for dinner, time to go home and rest my own sap.

Posted in Adventure, Blog | Tagged Indiana, National Lakeshore, National Park Service, photo, video | Leave a reply

Octave Chanute: Patron Saint of Flight

words and images Posted on February 22, 2020 by dlschirfMay 2, 2020

Facebook has many flaws, but it does alert me when events I might be interested in are coming up. A few weeks ago I found out about the world premiere of Octave Chanute: Patron Saint of Flight, at Indiana Dunes Visitor Center. I knew the Chanute name vaguely from the old Air Force base, but I couldn’t have told you then where the base had been located or why it was named Chanute. This sounded like a way to get in a visit to Indiana Dunes, learn something, and spend what might be otherwise a dull winter afternoon, depending on the weather.

The parking lot was unusually crowded, and when J and I walked in about a half hour early, a good-sized group was watching Shifting Sands: On the Path to Sustainability, a documentary on the history of Indiana Dunes and efforts to restore what can be restored. It’s meant to inspire, but it’s also tragic and depressing.

By the time Shifting Sands ended and Octave Chanute was scheduled to begin, the auditorium had filled up, even when extra folding chairs were brought out. Soon it was standing room only.

Simine Short, author of Locomotive to Aeromotive: Octave Chanute and the Transportation Revolution, and young director Paul Nelson introduced the film. I mention Nelson’s relative age because the audience was mostly 50 plus, possibly 60 plus, which disappointed me because I would like to see younger people interested in history. Of course, when I was younger none of my peers would have been interested, either.

Octave Chanute: Patron Saint of Flight film premiere at Indiana Dunes Visitor Center
That’s director Paul Nelson dimly seen in the plaid shirt

Bridge 16, or the Portage Bridge

The presentation began with some technical glitches (flashbacks to every high school A/V club everywhere!), but my ears perked up at the mention of the Portage Bridge, accompanied by a photo I recognized immediately. Through this film, I found out Octave Chanute was the engineer behind the much-loved railroad bridge over the Genesee River at Letchworth State Park in New York.

Known for his bridges, Chanute was called in when the original timber trestle, the longest and tallest wooden bridge in the world when it opened in 1852, was reduced to ashes on May 6, 1875, after a train had passed over (spark?). Chanute’s iron replacement opened only 86 days after the fire. According to Short’s book, the piers were rebuilt and the uprights and girders strengthened in 1880, “making the bridge better than new.”

Pgbridge 1864
See page for author / Public domain
The original timber Bridge 16 over the Genesee River
Portage Bridge at Letchworth State Park
Chanute’s iron Portage Bridge over the Genesee River, replaced in 2017 by the Genesee Arch Bridge, at Letchworth State Park
Portage Bridge at Letchworth State Park
Another view of Chanute’s iron bridge over the Genesee River, replaced in 2017 by the Genesee Arch Bridge, at Letchworth State Park

Although modern Norfolk Southern trains were restricted to 10 miles per hour over the Letchworth gorge, Chanute’s bridge lasted until 2017, when the Genesee Arch Bridge opened. The state of New York declined the offer of the 1875 bridge, the last of which was demolished on March 20, 2018. I’d been fortunate to visit the old bridge one last time in 2015. When I’d found out about the premiere of this film, I’d had no idea it would take me back to perhaps the most iconic of my childhood memories. I remember walking along those tracks with my brother during one of his visits.

But wait! There’s more!

Kinzua Bridge

My ears perked up again at the mention of Kinzua Bridge. I’d found out about Kinzua Bridge State Park when I was looking up Kinzua Dam, another place I’d visited as a child, for my 2015 swing through Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania.

It turns out that Octave Chanute was behind the original 2,000-foot-long Kinzua Bridge (or Viaduct), built in 1882 at 302 feet above the narrow valley floor. Short calls it Chanute’s “most spectacular bridge.” She adds that the bridge was rebuilt in 1900 “to keep up with the increasing volume and weight of the coal traffic.” Carl W. Buchholz redesigned the superstructure on the original masonry foundation piers.

By 1959 the viaduct failed safety inspections and was closed to commercial rail traffic. Restoration began in 2002, but in 2003 an F2 tornado “tore eleven towers from their concrete bases. Investigators found that the anchor bolts, installed under Chanute’s supervision, had rusted over the past 120 years.” Over time, the materials had failed the design.

After seeing this film, I’m even happier that I had the opportunity to walk out on what’s still standing of Kinzua Bridge and get a look at the remnants resting in peace on the valley floor. Even destroyed, Kinzua Bridge is indeed a “spectacular” sight.

Kinzua Bridge State Park
Remnants of the rebuilt and now repurposed Kinzua Bridge near Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Bridge State Park
Kinzua Bridge Skywalk with visitors
Kinzua Bridge State Park
Railroad tracks on Kinzua Bridge
Kinzua Bridge State Park
View down from Kinzua Bridge

Why Indiana Dunes?

Of course, most of the film was about Chanute’s contributions to flight and relationship with Wilbur Wright (rocky; Chanute was an open source kind of man and Wilbur believed in closely held information). What’s the link to Indiana Dunes? With their lake winds, elevations, and soft sand, the Dunes were Chanute’s choice for safely testing their experiments — the Kitty Hawk of the Midwest.

Epilogue, March 8, 2020

Octave Grill in Chesterton is named for Octave Chanute. Found out they serve a Chanute burger.

Chanute burger at Octave Grill in Chesterton, Indiana
Chanute burger at Octave Grill in Chesterton
Posted in Blog, Film | Tagged film, Indiana state park, Letchworth, National Park Service, New York state park, Pennsylvania state park, photo | 1 Reply

Flight 93 National Memorial

Flight 93 National Memorial
Shanksville, Pennsylvania

September 11, 2019 by dlschirf Posted in Blog, Photography Tagged National Park Service, Pennsylvania, photo Reply

Emita II at Michigan City

words and images Posted on August 10, 2019 by dlschirfMay 14, 2022
August 10, 2019

Another Saturday, another trip to Indiana Dunes. First, J. and I detoured to Valparaiso because Rise’n Roll is open until 7 p.m. for the summer (although it’s too bad their customers don’t seem to know that). Afterward we were going to try a somewhat new Mediterranean restaurant, but the wait was longer than I wanted, so we went next door and waited just as long. My spur-of-the-moment decisions are not always logical.

Having watched the Perseid meteor shower, and possibly the International Space Station, at Indiana Dunes National Park West Beach several years ago, I keep wanting to recapture the magic. The NPS doesn’t host the event anymore; it’s at the state park beach these days, minus ranger and guest speaker. It doesn’t seem to be as dark at the beach, though, with Chicago lighting up the night across the way.

After staring at the sky for a while, my eyes play tricks. Stars blink on and off, then disappear entirely. Other lights move erratically, then also disappear. Even without the Perseids (we may have spotted one or two streaks), I saw an entire show.

August 11, 2019

For breakfast, we went to Round the Clock, the two-restaurant chain (Chesterton, Valparaiso). Contrary to the name’s promise, the restaurant closes at night and opens in the morning. This disappointed me vaguely. I didn’t expect Round the Clock to have hours!

On to the Schoolhouse Shop. I wanted to sip coffee with the birds and butterflies in the back area, but since they also had a ginger iced tea I went with that. The cashier told us there were frogs by the water feature if we wanted to sit there, but I opted for a spot closer to the bird feeders and flowers, where a black swallowtail repeatedly evaded me.

Eventually I wandered back to the water and heard a plop that sounded suspiciously like a frog jumping in. As I walked around the edge I heard a second plop. I still didn’t see anything, but a few seconds later I caught a movement followed by a third plop. Eventually I spotted one frog in the water, convinced no doubt he couldn’t be seen. I left for a few moments and when I came back one was perched on an overturned flower pot and another was half sunning on a wee ledge. Later I saw a third one hanging in the water, one leg askew, pretending to be dead or invisible. He reassured me of his health when I got too close. Someone on iNaturalist helped me identify them as green frogs.

Green frog at the Schoolhouse Shop
Green frog at the Schoolhouse Shop

I can’t tell you how much I hate to leave the Schoolhouse Shop, although I always do so poorer.

Dunes Clothiers at the Schoolhouse Shop
Good thing these aren’t my size
Ailanthus webworm moth
Ailanthus webworm moth checking itself out in the car mirror near the Schoolhouse Shop

But we had a date with the Emita II, a tour boat moored in Trail Creek by the Old Lighthouse Museum in Michigan City. Last year I’d made arrangements for a tour, but the afternoon excursions were canceled due to choppy waters. I was glad to have a chance to try again. The clouds were gathering but Lake Michigan looked as calm as it ever does.

Emita II moored at Michigan City, Indiana
Active Michigan City bridge
Waited for the bridge, then saw it go up again from the boat

We arrived early enough to get a table by the rail that would be on the shore/port side going out — perfect. While we waited for everyone to board, I heard a familiar sound approaching. A westbound Amtrak train raced by on the opposite shore of Trail Creek — possibly the Wolverine that leaves Chicago at 1:25 p.m. on its way to Pontiac. It breezed by so fast it was mostly a blur.

Finally 3 p.m. came and we backed out, passing the Nipsco coal-fired generating plant with its cooling tower that dominates Michigan City — I’m told it can be seen from Chicago, although I haven’t yet looked for it. Our host told us the more slender tower marked the location of the Hoosier Slide, once Indiana’s most recognizable landmark. All that’s left of the Hoosier Slide are vintage blue-tinted Ball canning jars.

Site of the late Hoosier Slide
Tower marks the spot (and approximate height) of the Hoosier Slide, once Indiana’s most famous landmark
Double-crested cormorant among the gulls

After leaving the creek for Lake Michigan, we passed Mt. Baldy, a “living” dune that is moving four feet a year, which means at some point it will bury the nearby NPS buildings and parking lot and encroach on U.S. Rte. 12. Mt. Baldy is also famous for mysteriously swallowing a six-year-old boy who was recovered three and a half hours later. The Smithsonian and the Northwest Indiana Times have the story. I tried to climb Mt. Baldy once but had to stop maybe 20 feet short of the crest — stopped by fatigue, steepness, and shifting sands.

Now Mt. Baldy is closed except for ranger-led hikes; the rangers know where the tree holes are. On this day several people were trespassing on the shore side of Baldy. “They’re not supposed to be there,” the boat guide said. I wonder how often that happens. The guide noted that Baldy has an armchair shape vs. a normal sand dune shape due to its ongoing loss of sand. I wonder what its future will be and hope it, unlike the Hoosier Slide, will have one.

Mt. Baldy, the "living" dune
Mt. Baldy, a “living” dune

After Baldy there’s a series of beaches and dunes, with many visitors as well as boaters just off shore.

Indiana Dunes west of Michigan City
Indiana Dunes

I didn’t know what to expect after the dunes, but there was Beverly Shores — and the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair Century of Progress Homes. The flamingo pink Florida Tropical House is the easiest to see, but you get a glimpse of all of them (the Cypress House is the least visible).

Century of Progress houses
Florida Tropical House
Florida Tropical House

The round trip takes about two hours. On the way back we spotted a boat with a plethora of fishing rods sticking up and men who likely had more beer than fish.

Fishermen

I also took more photos of Indiana’s only lighthouse. The former lighthouse, now the Old Lighthouse Museum, was tended for 43 years by a woman named Harriet Colfax. Having once tried to pick up a bucket of sand representative of a single lighthouse oil bucket, I can tell you toting those buckets up lighthouse stairs even once a day would not have been the job for me. I can just haul myself up, with the help of the railing. Yet lives depended on the lighthouse and its keeper.

Indiana's only lighthouse
Indiana’s only lighthouse
Old Lighthouse Museum, Michigan City, Indiana
Amtrak through Michigan City
Blurred eastbound Amtrak around 1700 hours — can’t figure out which one

After dinner at Leeds Public House we detoured to the shore road, something I’ve wanted to do for a while. Eventually we started to recognize some of the eastern beaches, then the Century of Progress houses, then Kemil Beach. It didn’t take much longer than the usual route, except for getting onto it — the turn was blocked by a big utility vehicle and crew.

And so ended another Indiana Dunes adventure.

Posted in Adventure, Blog | Tagged Indiana, Indiana state park, Lake Michigan, National Park Service, photo, state park, wildlife | 2 Replies

Prickly pear cactus

July 4, 2019

You could spend the 4th of July eating, drinking, and making merry with fireworks. Or you could take a nearly 40-minute walk on Indiana Dunes National Park West Beach Trail, Loop 2, on loose, sloping sand in 90º plus heat and full sun to look for prickly pear cactus.

I leave it to you to guess which I did.

In search of prickly pear
Prickly pear cactus
July 14, 2019 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog Tagged Indiana, Lake Michigan, National Park Service, nature, photo Reply

Post navigation

← Older posts

Recent Posts

  • RANI incense cones
  • Backyard games
  • German Winter Nights by Johann Beer
  • Hungry squirrel and red-tailed hawk
  • Lodgings I have known: Arrowhead Lodge, Kabetogama, Minnesota

Top Posts & Pages

  • "I'd rather be slowly consumed by moss"
  • Maple Sugar Time at Chellberg Farm, 3/7/2020
  • Golconda, Burden Falls, Bell Smith Springs Recreation Area
  • Book review: Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
  • Book review: The Black Arrow
  • Advertising II: The (Brief) Sequel
  • Google Maps most viewed photos
  • Book review: The Collected Stories by Paul Theroux
  • Relics: Fotomat
  • Book review: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Other Tales of New York

Other realms

  • BookCrossing
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram
  • LibraryThing
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Good viewing

  • Art of John Taft
  • bensozia
  • Bill of the Birds (no longer updated)
  • BrontëBlog
  • Edge
  • Karen Winters Fine Art
  • Mental Floss
  • Musical Assumptions
  • National Geographic News
  • Orange Crate Art
  • Sexy Archaeology
  • The Creative Journey
  • The Introvert's Corner
  • The Pen Addict
  • The Raucous Royals
  • Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
  • Woodclinched
  • World-O-Crap

BOINC Stats

Copyright © 1996–2023 Diane Schirf. Photographs and writing mine unless noted.
↑
 

Loading Comments...