Indiana Day 6

We had a huge driving day today. We woke up in Nauvoo and left the little stone church house a little after 6:30. Then we drove for four and a half hours until we reached Indiana Dunes National Park. There were no stops, and not much to see, but the boys did great! So far on this trip, they have added Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Iowa to their state count. Then by the end of this day, they added Ohio. 

Indiana Dunes took up the bulk of our afternoon. We had lunch in the car, and then explored West Beach. There was a short hike on which Seth counted 499 stairs, but it led to the beach of Lake Michigan. We splashed in the water for a bit, and it was nice and cool. The boys enjoyed skipping rocks.

There were a lot of stairs on this trail.

There was also a lot of sand.

Lake Michigan was nice.

It was so hot. The water felt really nice on our feet.

Mom and Dad loved this trip!

Then we spotted birds in Long Lake right along the shore. There were great egrets, geese, ducks, and even a small toad. This is what the boys really like to do, so we spent a lot of time looking.

The lake was one of our favorite stops in Indiana Dunes National Park.

We are always happy when we spot wildlife.

We spotted a small toad.

There were also a bunch of turtles.

After a few hikes fell through, we visited the Visitor Center to turn in the Junior Rangers. They directed us to the Great Marsh. This sounded just right to us, so we happily drove out there. We managed to spot a few turtles, a white-tailed deer, and a wood duck. The ticks kept us from enjoying the hike too much, though. Three of us brushed ticks off ourselves, but the walk through the marsh was a favorite.

We visited an old farm. Farm animals love Dad.

They weren't sure about the boys.

The Great Marsh trail was very green.

Mark was so excited to see birds.

We spotted this beautiful white-tailed deer.

There were lots of sandhill cranes.

This was an interesting National Park.

We left around 4 o'clock because we knew we had another five hours into Cleveland. As it turned out, with dinner, that ended up being a lot longer. We finally rolled across the Guardian Bridge about 11 pm. There was plenty to do along the way, though. The boys enjoyed watching movies on the screens in the new van, and Mom and Dad enjoyed making them listen to Little House on the Prairie books. Then we read scriptures and Dad read to Seth. Sometimes, we just talked or looked for animals. Our dinner stop was at a nice little restaurant in the middle of nowhere. It was cheap, so we even ordered pie!

The food and pie were delicious.

Now we are staying in a beautiful little house on the edge of Cleveland. There are four floors, and a nice large porch. The house is about a hundred years old, but it is just nice and comfortable for us.