Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Mark on top of Mt. Jackson

Sue on top of Mt. Holden

Lake Michigan from the top of Mt. Holden

At the top of Mt. Tom

At the top of Mt. Tom

A Couple of Days at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

A Couple of Days at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

After having the RV in storage for three months and completing some projects on the house we headed out to the Northwest Region of Indiana (known as The Region) to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.   Indiana Dunes is very different from most national parks which usually have a couple of gated entrances- Indiana Dunes has 9 entrances - only one with a gate house.  The park stretches from Michigan City to Gary along the Lake Michigan shoreline. I was last here in 1970, a long time ago.  There is also a state park (Indiana Dunes State Park)in the  middle of the National Lakeshore Park.  We visited all but one of the beaches - walking the beach and wading - the Lake Michigan water was too COLD for Mark and I to go for dip.  We were amazed at how many people were swimming on the beaches -  lots of them. The beaches were very busy.  I guess we are just  weenies when it comes to cold water temps.   After spending a week in Destin, FL - Lake Michigan is definitely COLD water.

West Beach, Portage Beach, Kemil Road Beach, Dunbar Beach, Lake View Beach and Central Avenue Beach were amazingly very different.  Some were all sand while others were all rocks.  We were disappointed that Mount Baldy was closed to the public - scientists from the Indiana Geological Survey and from Indiana University are trying to determine the cause of holes that have opened up on the surface of Mount Baldy. They are doing limited ranger-guided hikes this summer, but not  during the time we were there. We also used our Indiana State Parks Pass and entered the Indiana Dunes State Park to see the beach and the old Pavilion and Beach House that is being renovated.  We ended up staying in a private campground - the state park campground was full and the national park campground was very rustic!!!  No services.

We hiked trails and completed the 3 Dune Challenge -  a 1.5 mile hike that took us to the top of Mt. Jackson (El. 176 ft.),  Mt. Holden (El. 184) and Mt. Tom (El. 192).  This was all hiking in the sand - no convenient walkways, etc. on the trails. We decided to wear shoes - but the climb was 45 degrees at times.  Of course we came back down in between each dune.  The views of Lake Michigan from the top of the dunes was beautiful -  we could even see the skyline of  Chicago from Mt. Tom visibility was so clear.  These dunes are impressive - but they are small compared to the dunes at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park in northern Michigan on Lake Michigan. Sleeping Bear has the most impressive  natural dunes.

We also drove Lakeshore Drive - to see the 1933 Century of Progress Homes located of the shores of Lake Michigan in the national park.  These homes were built for the  1933 Chicago World's Fair. They were later loaded onto barges to bring them across Lake Michigan to the National Park Service location to become part of the park.

It's interesting how the park wraps around the town/cities in the area. Very different from most of the national parks.

Back Home Again...

      After seven weeks of travel in 12 different states, we are back home in Indiana. We had a wonderful trip seeing parts of the US that were relatively new to us.  We ended up traveling 4,755 miles and spending $1,286.00 on gas - a huge difference (much lower) in fuel costs from out trip last summer to the Northwest. We paid under $2.00 a gallon for gas from Indianapolis to Gulf Shores, Alabama heading south. Prices were a little higher in Arizona($2.35 for one fuel stop), but they dropped back down all the way back to the Midwest.  We ended up spending $950.50 on RV parks and campsites in State and National Parks.  We had electric and water at all of our sites which was really nice with the Cool nights.

Painted Desert National Park and Petrified Forest National Park

The Painted Desert

Pieces of the Petrified Forest are everywhere

Petroglyphs on the rocks in the National Park

Huge pieces of petrified wood

An old car at the point in the park where

Route 66 cut right through the National Park.

The inn in the Painted Desert

A piece of petrified wood in front of the park sign

The Painted Desert

The Painted Desert

Grand Canyon National Park

Williams, Arizona - Route 66

Historic Route 66 goes right through downtown 

Williams.

Cafe 66 in downtown Williams - yes they have snow 

here - elevation 6,000 ft. 

This sign pretty much says it all...

Williams is also where the Grand Canyon Railroad

station is located - a train departs daily for the Grand Canyon

50 miles north of Williams

The Grand Canyon Brewery is located in 

downtown Williams.

Strolling the streets of Williams we found this 

crazy guy outside a store.

Beautiful Sedona, Arizona

The trees, bushes and flowers were blooming in Sedona. 

A rainbow in front of the red rocks after a quick

 rain shower in Sedona

Thanks to Winter Storm Thor - the highest elevations had snow
on the red rocks- so pretty!!!

Sedona red rocks

Bell Rock in Sedona

Sedona

Sedona - lots of neat hiking trails to explore

People were scaling Bell Rock when we were there - 

Mark made it half way up Bell Rock before he decided to 

turn around and head  back down. We will go back to Sedona.

Our campsite at Dead Horse Ranch State Park from the hill behind us-
nice trail with great views of the area. 

Out on another hike...our daily routine

One of the lakes at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. 

Nice walking paths all around the lakes here. 

Tuzigoot National Monument - home of early settlers

in the Verde Valley. 

The remains of Tuzigoot

More of Tuzigoot

Jerome, AZ - the most talked about mining town -

now a visitors attraction. Lots of cars and not enough parking. 

Phoenix, Arizona

The views on our hike in South Mountain Park and Preserve in Phoenix.
More than 16,000 acres and 51 miles of trails, this is the largest city park
in the United States.  COOL park. 

Taking a break on a trail in South Mountain Park. 

Enjoying the views on a hike-we had beautiful weather in Phoenix. 

The main tent at the Phoenix Raceway - The Good Sam Rally

Phoenix 2015 

The parking lots at Phoenix Raceway with 100's of RVs parked
 for the big event.  Lots of generators running 16 hours daily...

Phoenix and Good Sam...

      Our next stop was Phoenix where we stayed in an RV park on the west side of town in Goodyear(a suburb).  The park was fine  and again they gave us a HUGE corner site with lots of room- very nice.  We hike one day on several trails in the area.  We also decided to attend a Good Sam Rally happening here this week at the Phoenix Raceway. We are members of Good Sam but we have never attended an event until this one. The Phoenix Rally happens to be one of the largest Rallies in the  US.  There were several thousands of RV's parked in the parking lots with other people like us staying in a nearby RV park.  We decided we made the right decision to stay off site and just drive in from our private RV park 5 miles away.  This Rally is comparable to the Annapolis Boat Show - dealers of all makes of RV there with their latest models to show, every kind of RV vendor out there, entertainment, and seminars being presented daily. Shuttles provided transportation to and from parking lots and the RV camps. It was a unique experience for us...

     We also spent one day visiting with one of Mark's former swimmers and a babysitter for our children way back when they were little ones. It was wonderful to see her again after 20 years - she has lived in Phoenix now for 20 years and loves it out here. Steph and her husband were a wealth of information about the area and the Sedona area. They spend their spare time bicycling, hiking, kayaking and camping in the area.

       Then we were off to Cottonwood, AZ where we stayed for four days at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. From there we traveled around the area to visit historic Cottonwood, and the mining town of Jerome- the most talked about mining town in America, now listed on the National Historic Register. Jerome went from a population of 15,000 in its heyday to a ghost town of under 50 people.  Today it is a center for the arts, with unique shops, galleries, wineries, tasting rooms, dining and lodging. The view from Jerome of the Verde Valley was wonderful. We also visited the Tuzigoot National Monument.  Winter Storm Thor passed through while we were at Dead Horse Ranch State Park which brought us rain in the campground but snow on the mountain tops which was so pretty the day after the storm with clear blue skies.

      We also spent two days driving to beautiful Sedona to drive the neat Red Rock Byway and the other beautiful vistas of the Red Rocks which surround Sedona.  Sedona is a biking and hiking type of town.  Traveling through the red rock canyons was fabulous. We will come back to Sedona since we could not do much hiking due to the wet conditions from the rains and some of the trails were off limits.

     From Cottonwood, we drove north to the town of Williams, AZ - just west of Flagstaff on I-40 to stay a couple of nights so we could drive from there north to see the Grand Canyon NP.  Williams is at 6,000 ft altitude, so they did have some snow on the ground when we arrived left from Thor.  Not enough to be a problem.  Williams is located on the original Route 66 - The Mother Road- from Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA- a total of 2,488 miles. Route 66 is also known a the Main Street of America and the Will Rodgers Highway.  The town is also home to the Grand Canyon Brewing Company located on Route 66- yes, the Grand Canyon has its own beer.  We enjoyed a dinner in the old saloon - now a Mexican Restaurant and we enjoyed a very good Southwestern dinner.

          We drove the 50 miles north of Williams to the Grand Canyon NP and we were not disappointed.  The weather was crystal clear blue skies which helped make the little amount of snow they had on the canyon tops even more beautiful. We did the south rim from end to end.  You now have to take one of the free shuttles(buses) to do Hermit Road (March thru November) - no cars allowed. The vistas were great.  The North Rim of the park is closed until Mid-May.  The Grand Canyon covers 277 miles of the Colorado River and the adjacent uplands.  We spent a great day there enjoying the sites - even in March, the park was very busy.

Mission San Xavier Del Bac - Tucson

Mission San Xavier Del Bac

Inside the mission

Mission grounds and gardens

The front entrance-beautiful

The mission and grounds