Play in the Sand--TRIP 3 (2012)

"Guide me to the tollway, and have the money ready," directed Andy, as we climbed back into Little Red. "You are going to need to navigate me around Chicago. I hate driving on this road."
That was evident when he missed the first toll.
"It's okay," I tried to calm him down. "We can always stop at the next one, pick up a form and mail it in.  It will be okay."
After five days with Grandma, it was tough to say good-bye. We didn't stall in the morning, but by the time the breakfast dishes were put away, the bathroom was scrubbed clean, the beds were changed, the laundry was folded and packed and the car was loaded, it was 11:30 a.m.
"No rain in the forecast," I said to Andy, as we pulled out of Grandma's driveway.  The street, still damp in patches from last night's downpour and covered with leaves, showed signs of drying. Grey clouds hung low, but it wasn't raining.

Cattails dominate the lower
terrain along Miller Woods Trail.

Many leaves, already
down in the oak
savanna, litter the paths.

"Time for exercise," Andy had announced, as we pulled into the parking lot at Paul H. Douglas Environmental Center, near the southern shore of Lake Michigan.  First, we followed the woods trail through an oak savanna habitat and over boardwalks along the Miller Woods Trail. Abundant wildlife and dramatic scenery hardly described the area on the damp and drizzly day, but that's what the trail guide promised. The cattails, dark brown and ready to seed, and a few yellow leaves made for a pleasant walk with temperatures in the low 60's. Some sun would have made for better pictures. Back at the environmental education center Ranger Kip and Ranger Julie chatted about the advantages of traveling in the off season. For us, one of those is certainly the time to chat with rangers.  I read on the sign that this national lakeshore, established in 1966, covered 15,000 acres of wetlands, prairies, sand dunes, oak savannas, forests and historic sites along Lake Michigan from Gary to Michigan City, Indiana. I thought it was interesting that Lake Michigan is 307 miles long, 118 miles wide and as much as 923 feet deep.

A light rain starts as we descend the steps to Lake Michigan.
Going down means going back up on the other wide.

At West Beach we planned our own loop walk: West Beach Trail to Long Lake Trail (.2 mile), back to West Beach Trail (.2), around to Dune Succession Trail (.7), to the water and bathhouse (.8), and back to the parking lot (.1). Our little two-mile hike took us up 247 steps, and then back down, over ankle-deep sand trails and along extensive leaf-strewn boardwalks. It would have been totally wonderful if it had not been for the occasional sprinkles that insisted on plaguing our stroll.
We certainly don't begrudge Indiana the rain. They need it badly. In fact, one beautiful pond in the Indiana Dunes, which I photographed last year was now totally dry and overgrown. And Long Lake, usually a mile from one end to the other, was a huge pit of mud. But we were sad the skies determined to cry when we wanted to walk, especially when the weathermen had promised clearing from the North.

One of many spiders waits in his web
between the railings at Riverwalk.

After a bunch of wrong turns that landed us at the security entrance to a steel plant...twice, we found the Burns Waterway. We followed Riverwalk Drive to the lakefront and river walk. Suddenly with a blast of breeze, the skies cleared and the sun went down in a blaze behind scattered clouds.
"Now, why couldn't that have happened a couple hours ago?" joked Andy.

As the sun dips low, the skies clear near the beach.

At least it gave us a chance to enjoy the path along the waterway and the Ogden Dunes.  Spiders had spun magic along the hand rails. At least ten had webs that caught the wind across the groin, and at least ten spiders waited patiently for dinner.

Heavy skies offer little contrast for
photography at Lake Michigan.

Across the railroad tracks, boats bobbed gently in an exclusive marina development. It seemed so odd to be looking just across an inlet canal at a steel mill. But Ranger Kip and Ranger Julie at Miller Woods had told us that here heavy industry and environmentalists worked together for the good of all.
Maybe that's why gas prices in Michigan City were the lowest of anywhere we have been on this trip--3.269 per gallon at all the stations in town. Something is getting manipulated somewhere!