Wednesday September 21, 2022 - We've been home from Alaska for 3 weeks, and we miss camping, so we decided we needed a few days on the road. Our National Parks pass will expire at the end of October so we thought we should go visit the National Park that is only 2.5 hours from our house. Indiana Dunes National Park is a bit of a hodgepodge of areas, but we spent the afternoon exploring as many of the areas as we could. We had lunch on Porter Beach and then headed to the Visitor Center to see where to next. They told us about a road along Lakefront Dr that had pretty views and also had a collection of homes from the 1933 Wold's Fair. The Century of Progress Homes showed futuristic ideas in architecture and after the fair the homes were moved by barge from Chicago to the Indiana Dunes. All 5 homes are privately owned and are being restored using private funds, but they are located on National Park land. We then headed to Portage Beach and River Walk, which had a nice walk out the pier and the walk along the river was short, because it was closed for repairs. We then drove to West Beach for some dune hiking and dinner. There is a campground within the NP, but since we had been exploring all day instead of enjoying the campground, we decided to camp in the parking lot of the Visitor Center for free (we found this option on iOverlander and confirmed that it was OK with the ranger).
we're happy to be on the road again!
lunch at Portage Beach
nice national park bench
the "pink house", one of 5 of the century of progress homes from the 1933 world's fair
the walk back to the pavilion
a windy day on the water
Are we ready for a climb to the top of that dune...250 steps?
Yes!!
Now we're headed down the steps and Kev is afraid there will be more steps up later
Nope just a nice walk on the beach
And dinner in the completely empty parking lot
with a view of the sunset
Good night Tiny
Thursday/Friday September 22/23 2022 - In the morning we got up and did a 4.5 mile round bike ride to Indiana Dunes State Park. Then we drove an hour north to South Haven, MI to walk around there a bit and have some perch for lunch at Captain Louies. It was then another hour to Holland State Park for a night of camping there. It was quite windy along the lake, so we saved our hike in Holland for the next morning. It was 3.5 miles round trip from the campsite to the Holland light house and then a small side trip up the Mt Pisgah Dune (this dune was only 200 steps...Kev was so happy!). After the hike we grilled some hot dogs for lunch at the campground before our 3.5 hour drive home.
Morning view of the Visitor Center parking lot
Bike trail to Indiana Dunes SP
First signs of Fall
a basket full of perch and tots at Captain Louies in South Haven
The wind was blowing today and the water was rolling onto the sidewalk
We couldn't walk out to the lighthouse today, since the water was so high
the kite surfers were loving the wind
Happy anniversary breakfast!
Holland light house
not nearly as windy today
sandy beach
View from top of Mt Pisgah looking out at Lake Michigan
Lighthouse from the top of the dune
View from the top of Mt Pisgah looking out at Lake Macatawa
Grilling at the campsite before heading home
