Day 2

This morning, we woke around 7:30 and immediately began preparing for our second day of driving. Today we plan to venture to Indiana Dunes State Park on the southern shore of Lake Michigan to have dinner on the grill and even possibly camp for the night. If we are all feeling energized, we will leave from there in the early evening and perhaps make it to Iowa. I am doubting this, but we have good intentions:) For now, we are driving and driving and the kids are watching dvd's. I don't know what we would do without those dvd players. We had an eye opener yesterday as we arrived in Ohio when we drove past a deserted, humongous GM plant. The empty plant did not even have a security guard stationed there. I am wondering how many more reminders of our economy we will witness as we drive across the states. A few days ago, Ben and I purchased a U.S. map decal for the side of the RV. It is an empty outline and as we pass through the states, we will fill in the states we have visited. This has become something of a tradition now that the kids cannot wait to help Ben with as we enter each state. The kids also want me to take a picture each time they fill one of the states in. Michelle and I spent considerable time in WalMart this morning buying ice and 5 dollar movies for the kids' dvd players and laptops. Even though we are having a wonderful adventure, the Jordan kids are also sad about leaving their home and friends behind. This is a difficult change for them and I wonder how I would have managed at their age if I had been moved from Pennsylvania to California. It is also exciting for them. At the same time, I watch my kids who have travelled all over with us. They have so much mileage on them, so they are somewhat cavalier about the trip. Since they are babies we have been camping and travelling, taking cruises and road trips. It was only a few months ago that we drove to Fort Lauderdale for Christmas! They thought that trip was long! Just wait until they see how far California is from Tamaqua, PA. I have never been to Indiana, and Ben cannot believe that. He tells me that Indiana is so flat that it is as if someone has ironed it! I am looking forward to Rushmore!

Finally we arrive in Indiana and, of course, the scenery out my truck window is straight out of a John Cougar Mellencamp video. Farms, farmhouses, tractors, and watering apparatuses sit on every fertile field. The weather is overcast and slightly humid and the kids are content watching movies and reading books. From time to time we stop for gas. Gas is as expensive as 3.09 in Indiana! Our destination this evening is Indiana Dunes State Park near Valpariso, Indiana. After dinner with the Jordans at a Bob Evans, we can barely manage the 6 miles to the state park to set up and sleep for the night. As we make our way to the park, we are excited to get there, drop everything, and head to the beach of Lake Michigan to see the sunset. Ben and I have now been to three of the five great lakes: Erie, Michigan, and Ontario, so we are now going to add the other two to our bucket list.

Nothing prepared us for the enormity nor the beauty of Indiana Dunes State Park. What a gorgeous, clean, well managed facility. They charge out of staters 10.00 to enter the park, but once inside, we head to the campground and camp for 17.00 in a wonderful place. We set up quickly and head down the trails to the beach. The park is known for its enormous, pristine sand dunes, and signs appear everywhere warning us not to walk on them. After some time in the fragrant forrest, we come to a boardwalk that takes us to Lake Michigan. As we turn the bend from the dunes, we are absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer size and majesty of Lake Michigan. Bennie and Ethan begin to run toward it, and Ethan cannot wait to hit the waves. I warn him that the water will be freezing, but my boys do not even notice the chill in the air and the artic temperature of the lake water. Already the deep orange sun is beginning to set and we feel the freedom of no longer sitting in the truck and watching concrete and guardrails go by at 60 miles an hour. As the boys charge the waves and Michelle and I discuss the beauty of our surroundings, I am reminded of my childhood and the trips I used to take with my mother and father to Sandy Hook, NJ when we would all sleep in my father's van on the beach. As the sunsets into the hazy fog rolling into the coast, we head back to the campground for hot coffee, nachos and cheese and guitar music courtesy of Tim and Matt, who are very talented. We are all so tired, but I think we are grateful and fortunate to be together and have this momentous experience.