Indiana Dunes State Park, Michigan
The big question was whether to take the ferry from Milwaukee to Muskegon or to drive around the southern end of Lake Michigan, through Chicago and up the other side. Initially the ferry seemed like the ideal solution, but when he considered the cost of $271 for the two of us plus the car, with the fact that the ferry doesn't leave Milwaukee till around noon, and that cars have to wait in line for a long time before they can get on the ferry—making the total ferry process take as long as driving it out—Dan decided to take the highway.
Fortunately it was a Sunday so traffic wasn't too bad. We could have got through Chicago pretty quickly except that highway construction reduced the number of lanes. Getting through the metropolis was also something of a navigational challenge because of the number of times we had to change highways; using the iPad, I helped Dan figure out which lane to chose from the constantly changing green highway signs.
The big reward of all this was that in the afternoon on the southern end of Lake Michigan we got to visit the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. After a short hike through the grassy sand dunes, we reached a sandy beach packed with sunbathers. What a photo opportunity! Not only the scantily clad family groups at play, but the gray-blue skyline of Chicago spiking on the horizon, and the industrial complexes on either side of the lake. The lake is so vast that it is like the ocean, except that the waves are smaller and have a faster cycle. It must have been fairly warm because lots of young women were swimming. The scene was calm and friendly. The weather was pleasant and clear. We enjoyed walking both the beach and the dunes.
I took lots of video but only one still shot.
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| Indiana Dunes on the southern end of Lake Michigan |
