We left around 8:30 a.m., surprised because, a day ago, we never believed we would leave this early. A week before, we completed a two-day sale of much of my mother’s property. A few days ago we discovered that much remained. We carried several car loads of goods up to our house, occupying the car we expected to be packing with our goods. Then, last night, we unexpectedly drove again to Salem to accept an offer made on my mother’s house. It seemed the saga of mother’s estate would never end, but now the end seems all too real.
But we did all our packing this morning and left in sunny but chilly weather. Since having a delicious dinner last night at The Fifth Season, my mood has improved exponentially. I’ve been anxious for months, but finally feel relaxed.
We encounter very little traffic and like our book on tape, “Hard Truth” by Nevada Barr. Set in Rocky Mountain National Park, it involves the disappearance of three girls and a Mormon break-away cult.
Determined to “stop and smell the roses” more than on recent trips, we made lunch at Pokagon State Park near Angola, IN. I had discovered this lovely park on my LCC trip in late April and thought Susie would like the long green lawn sloping from a lodge down to the lake. She did.
We set up camp at Dunewood Campground in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, where we stayed four years ago on our first big trip, and were on the fine sand beach by 3:00. Susie went for a largely unsuccessful search for beach glass and I read The New Yorker. I had wanted to stay here a few months ago during my LCC Conference in Chicago, but it had been too cold and rainy. Not today. It was, in my mind, perfect and in Susie’s, a little on the chilly side.
Back at our large and very private site ($15), we ate rice and beans with tortillas, improved with some fresh cilantro we grew at home. We were surrounded by a large Southeast Asian family on one side, who told the rangers we had jumped their claim to our site, and a group of Eastern Europeans from indeterminate origin on the other, who ran their silent BMW engine non-stop.
I’m especially enjoying two Christmas gifts from Susie – lightweight pants that zip off into shorts and a pair of faux crocs from LL Bean. And we are getting a kick out of a Father’s Day gift from Derek, a water bottle whose lid collects solar energy, then reflects light into the body of the bottle – very useful for entering the tent after the Ranger talk tonight.
With no hint of rain, I watched the stars and the full moon rising.
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