7.25.2005

Vacation 2005!

Weeeeeeeeeeee'rrrrree Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

In perhaps one of the most spontaneous moves kates and I have pulled, we left on our road trip to Ohio one day early, deciding at about 1:30 p.m. last Tuesday that we should go camping for a couple nights before getting to Ohio on Thursday ... we had contemplated going to the zoo, but backed off because of the afternoon heat. Then Kates brought up an earlier notion of going camping. I made a quick call out to Indiana Dunes, they said we had a good chance at getting a site that night, I looked at Kates and said 'you go shopping, I'll pack the car, we can be out of here by 4:30' ... and that's exactly what we did!

We made the trek through downtown Chicago's rush-hour traffic, zipped over the Indiana (AKA: the armpit of America) border and pulled into Indiana Dunes State Park a little after 7 p.m.

I'll give you the rest in pictures ...


We were up at 6 AM on Wednesday (not by design!), ate a quick breakfast and took a hike! Imagine the Rocky Mountains covered in sand and you have Indiana Dunes.


... And the trail leads to Lake Michigan. MUCH better than the ocean, if you ask me.


... Another view of the Dunes.

We barely got in our dinner before some good thunderstorms rolled in, canceled our campfire and forced us into our tent for the evening. We survived though, packed up Thursday morning and were on the road by mid-morning.

We arrived in good 'ol Toledo late Thursday afternoon and were in Detroit a couple hours later for the Tigers-Twins game.


My stadium review: LOTS to look at! A fantastic fan experience that features a carousel and food court behind home plate, wonderful statues in left field and kiosks with Tigers history throughout the stadium ... but the food and souvenirs are pretty dang expensive compared to other stadiums I've visited ...


... We spent Friday at the Toledo Zoo. If you see one zoo, you've seen 'em all ... until you've seen this hippo!


... On Saturday, we were in Cleveland. Saw the outside of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame (didn't have enough time to go in ...) and spent some time on the Lake Erie harbor before heading over to Jacobs Field for the Indians-Mariners game! A dream come true.

From the day it opened in '94 and through watching those great Indians teams of the '90s, I had long wanted to visit this stadium. It was everything I had seen in pictures and imagined. Yet, sadly, compared to the standards of Comerica, this stadium already seemed dated ... On the other hand, the food and souvenirs weren't nearly as pricy. Plus it was cap day!

After thaaaaaaaaaaat...

We loaded up the car Sunday morning in the Toledo rain and drove through monsoons to reach the Indiana border (AKA: the armpit of America), made a couple stops for food and gas, battled traffic in downtown Chicago and arrived at our doorstep about seven hours later ...

... and already planning for vacation 2006!

No comments: