state parks project, part 24: spring mill

Although later events completely overshadowed it, we spent the weekend visiting the last two state parks on our list. We stayed Friday night and Saturday night at the Spring Mill Inn at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell. We actually meant to visit Spring Mill a lot earlier in the year. I made a reservation to spend Memorial Day weekend there, but then I realized that we had other plans, so we rescheduled for early September, but then we realized that was too close to yet more plans, so we rescheduled again for this past weekend. What can I say? We're a family on the go.

It was pretty late by the time we arrived on Friday, so we didn't do much more than get settled into our room, watch a movie, and sleep. But we woke up Saturday morning ready to hike. The day was chilly and overcast, but that didn't bother us. We chose a rugged trail that started with a scary-steep descent right from the inn down a wooded and rocky hillside, then we followed the trail until we got to Donaldson Cave (which is open year-round; we were hoping to take a boat tour through the underground river in Twin Caves, but alas, that was closed for the season). The cave had a beautiful rocky opening, but inside, it turned out that if you wanted to explore, you had to climb about six feet up a rock wall (with rocks helpfully stacked against it to make a very precarious staircase). The boys clambered right up, and I seriously considered it. I'm pretty sure I could have made it up there relatively easy, but the prospect of getting back down seemed a little too daunting, so I gave them a flashlight and wished them well on their exploration. (You may remember that Mike isn't a fan of caves, so he scouted out the surrounding area during this time.)

The boys got extremely dirty exploring the cave (the true mark of a good time), and they shouted excitedly when they found another entrance. Liam had my phone, so he took some pictures, but only one really turned out. Still, they were very proud of themselves for their extremely successful spelunking.

The trail we were on reminded me a lot of Gatlinburg. It was very hilly, and there was a crisp, clear stream with huge rocks all around it, and it was very peaceful. It's kind of funny that I told Mike and the boys about it, because it turns out that Brown County State Park, which is about 90 minutes away, is actually nicknamed the "Little Smokies" because of that resemblance. Guess I was getting ahead of myself.

Eventually, some of us got tired, so we split up. Max, Henry and I hiked back to the inn to shower and rest, and Liam and Mike kept on hiking, going up and down lots of hills and through a nature preserve of virgin timber. Mike reported that the trees were huge and impressive.

Oh, and just to make our day, we saw a bunch of pileated woodpeckers. You can tell this one is male because he has a red stripe on his cheek.

It turns out that all the schedule shuffling we did worked to our advantage, because we unwittingly ended up coming on the weekend of Holiday in the Village. Spring Mill features a limestone gristmill that's in the center of Pioneer Village, a little town full of restored buildings from the early 1800s. Costumed interpreters "live" in 1863 and do crafts and period-appropriate activities during the summer, and for the holidays, they do traditional decorations and activities too. So after a quick trip into town for some lunch, we set off to tour the village. We stopped in at the tavern and met Father Christmas, who gave the boys coloring books. It was actually pretty funny, because Liam walked up to him, offered his hand for a very manly shake, and said, "Hi, Father Christmas, how's it going?" I wasn't going to make them take pictures (I've never made them do Santa pictures), but FC himself asked about it, and Liam was a good sport. And of course, once Liam did it, Henry had to do it too, leaving Max the lone holdout.

Elsewhere in the village, we checked out dormant gardens, watched a pioneer family having a holiday meal, and made potpourri ornaments. We tried walking on stilts, we marveled at the decorations on the trees (popcorn strings, cranberries, actual sugar cookies), and we ate rock candy and cookies. There was supposed to be wassail, a traditional drink, but if it was there, we didn't find it. Even so, we had a really lovely time. Spring Mill was well worth the wait!

See also: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9, SPP10, SPP11, 
SPP12, SPP13, SPP14, SPP15, SPP16, SPP17, SPP18, SPP19, SPP20, SPP21, SPP22, SPP23.

charlie, 2010-2016

Last night, we got home from the last of our state park adventures, and the first thing we did was greet Charlie. Avalon and Jack stayed with him for the weekend, and Amelia and the kids came over and played ball with him for a while on Saturday, but he missed us, and he was so happy to see us when we came in. The feeling was mutual. We all petted him and hugged him and talked to him.

But a few minutes later, he made one of his escapes. The gate wasn't latched, and the door was ajar, and he pushed it open and off he went. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence; if Charlie saw an opportunity to go explore the neighborhood, he took it. It was cold last night, though, and snowing really hard. Liam went after him, and followed him all the way to the main road that goes through our town (a couple blocks from our house). The snow was really coming down, and visibility was terrible, so when Charlie went into the road, he got hit by a car. The driver tried to stop, but it was too late, and he basically slid right into Charlie. The family in the car was nice enough to help Liam bring Charlie home, and he was limping but seemed relatively unharmed.

Even though he didn't have any visible injuries, Charlie was obviously in pain, so I called the vet's office, then called the emergency clinic in South Bend to let them know I was bringing him in. All the way there, I was hoping he just had some bruises and would recover in a few days, but that turned out not to be the case. He had internal injuries that were just too severe, and we lost him.

We are all devastated, especially the boys, but we managed to take some time late last night to talk about the things we love most and will always cherish when we remember Charlie. Like the way he greeted us when we walked in the door, whether we were gone all day or just 10 minutes. The way he loved to swim and go hiking with us. The way he made himself right at home on the couch while we all watched TV together. The way he understood exactly what I was saying when I talked to him. He was the best dog we could ever have asked for.

Farewell, dear Charlie. From the minute we brought you home, you had our hearts, and we were incredibly lucky to have had yours in return.

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.