jewelry workshop

Because obviously I haven't been to enough state parks over the long weekend (or spent enough hours in the car, for that matter), my mom and I decided to go to a workshop today at Indiana Dunes State Park. The workshop was on making wire-wrapped jewelry using beach glass, and for a small fee ($5 each) we got to work with an instructor to learn some techniques, and then we we got all the materials we needed to design our own creations. Mine turned out pretty well, I think.

Of course, I'm no artist, so they were no match for Marlene's creations. Friends, you should have seen it. We were at a table with three other women, and they all watched in fascination as my mom turned out piece after piece that was beautiful and perfect. [The women, collectively: "How does she do that?" Me: "She's like that with everything creative. It's infuriating."] Then she made friends with the women, gave them some tips, and even showed them some pictures of her other work once she learned that one of the women was also a quilter. We really had a great time, and it was the perfect way to end the long weekend. And DEFINITELY worth the drive!

state parks project, part 23: fort harrison

Friends, we've been criss-crossing this state all year long, and almost every trip has taken us around or through Indianapolis. And every single time, we've seen the sign for Fort Harrison State Park, and we've shrugged and said, "Eh, maybe on the next trip." We knew there was a big golf course there, and an inn that looks to be a little (or a lot) on the fancy side, neither of which really struck us as compelling reasons to prioritize a visit. How foolish we were!

As soon as we got out of the car, the boys found trees to climb, so they started off on the right foot. Then we headed down the Fall Creek Trail, a moderate trail just over a mile long that had lots of elevation changes, a bridge over a bubbling creek, and even a long boardwalk area with benches. It was challenging, but we totally fell in love with the terrain.

Maybe best of all were the birds! It's not exactly birding season, but still we managed to spot (and photograph!) a female hairy woodpecker, a male red-bellied woodpecker, and a great horned owl. The owl was particularly incredible. Liam spotted it in a tree far above and ahead of us, and luckily I had the right lens on my camera. I couldn't see it with the naked eye, but Mike found it and started taking pictures. It looked RIGHT AT US (creepy!) and then took off in a great expanse of wings.

We ended up going farther along the trail than we thought we would (all the way to the end), and we came back on a different trail, the Harrison Trace Trail, which was (happily for me) paved and only had a few steep places. It wound around Duck Pond, so we took some time to explore more little nooks and crannies of the park. We even got to watch a man fly a drone over the pond, and the boys let me take a picture of the three of them looking like they enjoy each other's company. Definitely a win!

We really enjoyed this park. Like I said, I can't believe we passed it over so many times when all that fun and beauty were waiting for us! But now that our eyes have been opened, I'm sure we'll be back. It's on the north side of Indy, so just a little less than two hours from our house. Who knows? We might even try the fancy inn one of these trips.

See also: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9, SPP10, SPP11, 
SPP12, SPP13, SPP14, SPP15, SPP16, SPP17, SPP18, SPP19, SPP20, SPP21, SPP22.

state parks project, part 22: versailles

Today's first park was Versailles State Park in Versailles. According to the brochure, this is the second-largest park in the state. It's beautiful, with lots of interesting features like a dam and a covered bridge and rolling hills. Unfortunately for us (since we were there to hike), it seems like a fantastic place for mountain biking, with no less than six (!!!) biking trails of varying difficulty, as well as a great place to go kayaking/boating/fishing.

Curiously, Versailles has only three hiking trails. Two of them were a lot longer than we had time for, so we started down the Fallen Creek Trail, which (you guessed it) crosses Fallen Creek three times. It was a nice trail that wound through the woods, but when we got to the first creek crossing, we discovered that there wasn't a bridge, and we weren't willing to get our shoes soaked on a cold late November day, so we ended up turning around at about the halfway mark.

But not to worry! We went back and explored Versailles Lake a little, then we headed for the dam and spillway, where the boys climbed to the top to check things out. And finally, we stopped at the covered bridge.

Verdict: We have to give this one an incomplete since it seems to be a park designed for activities other than the one we were there to undertake. Mike would LOVE to take the boys back for a few runs on the mountain bike trails (if we ever get our bike trailer situation figured out), and I would very much enjoy renting a kayak and spending some time on the lake. As it stands, though, we had a nice walk in the woods and explored some interesting features, but whether it was our general energy level, the off season, or the park itself, somehow we just weren't feeling it on this one. We're perfectly willing to give the other activities a go, though, if we get a chance to go back, and if we do, we'll let you know our revised opinion.

See also: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9, SPP10, SPP11, 
SPP12, SPP13, SPP14, SPP15, SPP16, SPP17, SPP18, SPP19, SPP20, SPP21.

state parks project, part 21: clifty falls

I haven't been to Clifty Falls State Park in scenic Madison since I was in college. As you know, that was a pretty long time ago, so my memories are mostly of climbing lots of stairs and seeing some waterfalls. Turns out my memories are pretty accurate, because guess what we spent today doing? If you guessed "climbing lots of stairs and seeing some waterfalls," you are totally right!

We arrived at the Clifty Falls Inn last night, just in time to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving dinner that we neither had to cook for nor clean up after (which makes it exactly my speed). The staff at the inn actually called to see if we wanted a dinner reservation because we had a reservation to stay at the inn, and I was so glad they did. Last year, we stayed at a hotel on Thanksgiving too, but we didn't exactly plan ahead, so we ended up going to Hardee's, the only "restaurant" in the whole town that was open, which of course was pretty unsatisfying. This year's feast was miles above that. Note to self: Always make Thanksgiving reservations at a place that serves dinner.

This morning, instead of waking up early to do some Black Friday shopping, the boys and I had a leisurely breakfast while Mike got showered and ready to go, then we hit the trails. We didn't do any one particular trail because we were more after a variety pack of the park's offerings, so we basically started at one end and worked our way to the other, stopping along the way for anything that caught our fancy. We saw a few waterfalls, as mentioned, along with some spectacular views of Clifty Canyon. The boys got to do a little climbing and running around, which was really great for them. We generally try to keep them fairly quiet so other people can enjoy the trail too, but today there were no other people, so we didn't have to worry about reining them in.

Our longest stop along our park tour was also the final stop. We spent more than an hour exploring the area around Clifty Falls, Little Clifty Falls, and Cake Rock. My budding photographer Liam took some really nice pictures, but Henry tried to follow him and was going too fast along some slippery rocks and took a tumble. He landed hard, and it was loud and alarming, but luckily he landed on his butt, and he was fine after a few minutes. Whew! Maybe that'll teach them to listen to us when we tell them to slow down. (It won't.)

We had one good bird sighting for the day too: a female hairy woodpecker.

We had a minor crisis when we realized that we forgot to bring Henry's swimsuit, so before we stopped for lunch, I reluctantly went into the local big box store to try to find one. I probably could have saved myself some trouble because of course swimsuits are out of season, but I did find a whole bunch of $2 movies and $4 sets of PJs, so I guess that's a silver lining. Anyway, back at the inn, Mike got to take a nap while I took the boys down to the pool, which they had entirely to themselves for TWO HOURS. Where were all the people? Surely not still shopping. Maybe they all went out on the trails for the late afternoon.

We've got one more night here, then we're heading back north. But if you get a chance to visit either the park or the inn, we highly recommend both. Fort seal of approval!

See also: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9, SPP10, SPP11, 
SPP12, SPP13, SPP14, SPP15, SPP16, SPP17, SPP18, SPP19, SPP20.

state parks project, part 20: whitewater memorial

Happy Thanksgiving! We're out on the road again. We spent the morning exploring Whitewater Memorial State Park in Liberty. I'll be honest: We weren't sure what to think heading to this park. We read some reviews that were (to put it kindly) not very complimentary. One of them even advised us to give up on the idea of a nice park experience and just spend some time in a local dumpster instead. (Ouch.) Luckily it didn't turn out to be nearly such a dire experience (then again, we weren't camping or using the facilities, so don't take my word for it).

Once we got to the park (and check out the map — this park is pretty far from anyplace we would normally visit, so we really went out of our way to get there) and made for the trailhead, we noticed something unusual: The sky was full of birds. BIG birds. BIG, QUIET, CREEPY birds. Turkey vultures, to be more specific. There were hundreds of them! We stopped and took some pictures and watched them for a while, then we hit the trail.

The trail we chose is called Cattail Alley, a moderate one-mile trail (not a loop, though, so a mile out and a mile back). We had nice views of the lake, and basically had the whole place to ourselves because everyone else in the whole state was off eating turkey or something. Near the end of the trail, there are acres of cattails. We read that in the spring, lots of waterfowl and other birds love to hang out there. It was pretty to look at in the almost winter too, though.

And here's something you don't see every day. Definitely not your average picnic spot.

Once we got back to the car from the trail, we realized that the turkey vultures were still hanging out, especially in a grove of trees not too far away, so we drove over and stood under them taking pictures and geeking out while Henry played on the nearby playground (he is ALWAYS after us to stop at the playground, but by the time we get done hiking, we're usually pretty tired and just want to go home). The turkey vultures were really quiet — the only real noise they made was when they flapped their wings. Mike and the boys even made a bunch of noise in a coordinated effort to get them to react, but no go. They also were not very graceful. They sort of crash-landed on branches. Still very fun to watch.

As for the holiday, don't feel bad for us, because we still got our turkey. We're staying at the Clifty Falls Inn, and they had an impressive Thanksgiving dinner. I even got to try my first-ever piece of sugar cream pie, the official state pie. I'm not sure how it happened that I've lived in this state almost my whole life and never had the opportunity to try it. Tasty!

See also: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9, SPP10, SPP11, 
SPP12, SPP13, SPP14, SPP15, SPP16, SPP17, SPP18, SPP19.