Indiana Sand Dunes National Park

Day 290
​Beverly Shores IN

The day started off with more chores. My interview date is approaching and I've still got some things to do for prep. I need shoes and a haircut today. I found a barber on the way to the shoe store in downtown Chesterton Indiana. I walked in and took a seat like a normal customer. The owner of the place was talking to another barber about how dumb it is that the other employee hadn't shown up yet. I was there less than a couple minutes and I already new how much work he had missed, how often he called off, and a general description of his laziness. It kind of irked me to listen to this guy talk crap about his employees right in front of the customers waiting in line. I got up and walked down the street to Gatsby's Barber Shoppe and Shave Parlor. This place was done up in an entire 1930's motif with some soft swing dance music playing. The owner there greeted me with a big friendly hello and went straight to work on making me look good. I didn't even know what I wanted, but he made it turn out great. With the haircut out of the way we could get on to some shoe shopping and lunch. It takes me forever to find shoes. Low and behold we were back home by 1 pm to walk the dog and prep for the second part of the day. Let's go see these sand dunes. 

First impressions are always key. A visitor center for this piece of federal ground set the expectations on the low side right off the bat. A poster board sign leaning up on a small stand near some bushes doesn't exactly express a sense of pride for what we are about to witness. It is also one of the few visitor centers we have seen that was not attached to the park. Roughly 3 miles down the road is where the actual park grounds are at. So it's back in the jeep and to the first parking lot for a look at what is here.

Sand. This place has sand dunes leaning into the Lake Michigan shoreline. It is not an amazing collection of rolling sand dunes. More of a singular dune that separates the lake from the state of Indiana. Still, not a bad thing to see when you are surrounded by city on all sides.

Trekking to the bottom was an easy task. Sand fills up the tops of my shoes. Slowly the grainy bits settle into my socks and between my toes. It may be because I took the express route and ran straight down the face of the dune. Katie took the long way and walked along it's edge for a couple of hundred of feet to meet me at the bottom. Together we can look at the 100 foot tall sand pile with coal burning power plants as the backdrop.

Turn your head to the west and things look a lot better. An unspoiled natural shoreline awaits visitors to come down and hang out. Cold weather has kept most of the people away today. We've got this half of the coast all to ourselves.

One can stare at sand and water for only so long. It's back to Shirley and another stop down the road. Wouldn't you know it, a beach awaits us that looks exactly the same as the other one. The day has grown long and we call it quits. All we need to do is drive through the rest of the National Park to get back to the campground. Between here and there is an unexpected surprise. A nearly mile wide swamp that divides sand dunes from solid land.

Eli is waiting at the door when we get home. He needs his walk like always. Out the door and down the street we go for what will be our last National Park in who knows how long. As I stumble through the campground in a day-dreaming haze, Katie hears a high pitch squeak on the side of the road. A tiny baby mouse is trying to crawl home. We nudge him in the right direction and wish him the best of luck. Stay strong little man. I know the feeling. Three days left on the adventure of a lifetime.