Indiana Sand Dunes National Park

Taking a short side trip from Chicago to the Sand Dunes of Indiana. We book a campsite for the weekend while our car was being wrapped. We were really excited to be camping right on Lake Michigan. Hoping for some warm weather to get some beach time in the sun as well.

Mountain House warmth.

We arrived at the campsite mid morning. It was a rainy, cold, raw day. When I say cold it was 32 degrees cold. We quickly set up camp as fast as we could once the rain had stopped for a moment, then we got back into the car and turned on the heat and heated seats. We ended up napping in the car for a couple hours before deciding to go find something to do. Hanging out at camp was not an option because it was way to cold.

We went to the visitor center at the campground, and then went into the nearest town in search of a Target. I found my Indiana Cupcake! We wasted most of our day shopping then pretty much hung out in our sleeping bags trying to stay warm. Dinner was a quick hot dogs and beans with some warm Tang. Yes, we drank warm Tang and it was delicious, try it! We woke the next morning pretty excited to take a HOT shower as advertised in our reservations.

I took off all my clothes, put my money in the shower and stood there putting my hand under the water waiting for it to warm up. It started getting warm so I jumped underneath the shower head. It never got warmer than barely warm. Now I was wet and cold and with shampoo in my hair and then the water went cold. I have never washed my hair out as fast as this day and quickly wrapped my very small but Large packable Sea to Summit towel around my body. Quickly I put my clothes back on and ran to the car and turned the heat on. Those heated seats are amazing!

 The next day was supposed to be around 67 degrees and sunny so we decided to hit the trails around the park. They were stunning. With views from atop a bird watching perch, and from tops of sand dunes, to overlooking the great lake was incredible. We spent the afternoon on the trails and then walked roughly a little over a mile of the beach back to our campground.

While we walked along the beach I came across some skeletal remains, shoes, balloons, and many other odds and ends. The beauty of Lake Michigan was so large it looked like the ocean as we walked along side it. It was just massive. However, the amount of trash that was washed ashore was a disgrace to man kind. In the length of what we walked on the beach I counted 37 washed up balloons. You don't realize what happens to all those balloons you let fly away into the air. Well, I never really thought to much about it until now. It was such an eye opener for me to see how much trash ends up in a lake, let alone what I imagine would be in the ocean.

We spent our second day basking in the sun. Laying on the shores of Lake Michigan we enjoyed reading and listening to music. Being the first long exposure to the sun my legs had seen since last summer, I burnt. It was still somewhat chilly with the winds coming off the lake so I didn't realize how much I was baking. Woops, should have remember the sun block.

Getting my toes wet. Brr.

Beautiful view of Lake Michigan

After laying there for a few hours we walked back to the campground only for me to then realize how much pain I would be in for the next few days. The back of my legs were lobster red. I didn't have any aloe gel, or room for it in the car so I used our Green Goo that was supplied to us by a sponsor of ours, Sierra Sage. This helped temporarily. Sleeping that night was a brutal biatch.

Seat to Summit Kitchen Sink

Our time here I think was too short, but it was great. We did a good variety of things and I even got to dip my feet into one of the 5 Great Lakes. There is definitely something to be said about that.

Warming our feet by the fire.

Time to pick up our wonderfully wrapped vehicle. . .Back to Chicago. . .