Wandering Where We’ll Be

Yes, we are 39 miles from Louisville as I begin this blog entry.

Now, where did we leave off? Last blog entry, we were in Indianapolis and it was afternoon. Later that evening, we met up with Dave at his apartment complex. We went out for dinner at a place called Bourbon Street. Dave explained that this place has undergone several makeovers since it is in an out-of-the-way place. It is a corner building on the eastern side of the city on Indiana Ave. It seems to have only off-street parking. It has good food. I (Dan) had a Reuben with fries. Tim had an oyster po-boy with fries. Dave had a nacho plate. We all had iced tea to drink. I normally hate iced tea but it sounded good because we sat outside on the ground floor and had southwest exposure to a very bright sun with almost no shade. Bourbon Street had inside bar seating and an upper floor with outdoor seating as well as indoor seating. I didn’t go up to look to see the “ambience” of the place but I’m sure it had a New Orleans “feel” to it. When we first sat down, there wasn’t anyone outside with us and only a few inside. The second story outdoor seating was loaded. As we ate, the place became jammed with people. This place may have had makeovers, but the current incarnation seems to be a “hit”.

After dinner, we went for a walk along the canal. This was very pretty. There were flowers, artwork, waterfalls, trees, a lot of people, ducks that teased Jake until he barked at them and wanted to dive into the canal to teach them a lesson. This was a long walk. A lot of it was in the shade but we were still hot (and I was sunburned-what a surprise given my ghostlike skin which fries first and then tans later. Tim had a sunburned nose but 3 days later it is gone and not even peeling. unfair). We were all tired afterwards. We went back to Justin and Jennifer’s place and hung out ‘til bedtime. A big thanks to Justin and Jennifer for letting us camp out in their backyard. Also, a big thanks to Dave for hosting us about Indianapolis. He had a big job since he had to have “dog friendly” places for Jake.

Next day, we drove south. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at Cascades Park where the bumblebees were hovering “still-in-the-air” near us. It was strange. It must have been mating season for them since they would wait for another bumblebee to “meet” them in the air and then they would fly off together to be back separately after at short time. After that, we drove through campus in Bloomington, Indiana. It was a very pretty campus to drive through…and very busy. There were a lot of students.

We eventually camped at a site on Hardin Ridge in Hoosier National Forest, a beautiful place. Almost as soon as we set up the tent, It began to rain…hard. We went into the tent. It continued to rain. Tim left the tent to set up a rain fly so we could make dinner and such. It continued to rain. By the time Tim was done (it didn’t take that long), he was soaked. Dinner, dishes washed after dinner, doggy fed; the rain eventually stopped. We went for a hike. It was pleasant but wet. We came back to sit outside a bit and set a fire and found our fire pit was about 4 inches deep with water. Tim set the fire on a grate “over” the fire pit. Eventually we went to bed after reading a bit. We woke up to an overcast day. After pancakes, we went for a hike. We had hiked to an outdoor amphitheater yesterday and had seen some trails leading from it but didn’t use them. Today, we did. Two of them went to Lake Monroe (kind of the “back end” of the lake). Some of the first trail was washed out or “being used” by a “new” stream. We had to go around these areas but that wasn’t very hard. We eventually got to the lake. It was over its banks-very high. The second trail was a way back to almost where we entered the first trail…like a big “U”. We hiked to the main part of Lake Monroe where a beach was. It was covered by lots of water. We made our way back to our campsite. We then went on a road trip that eventually led to T.C. Steele’s house (a historic site with extensive grounds). He was a major landscape painter. His house was on the top of a big hill. It has many trees, flowers, stone walkways, buildings with artwork, an old log home in back, wisteria (stunning flowers). We got a tour while Jake waited (and barked) in the truck. We headed back to home on a very curvy road. It took awhile. We had dinner, set up a fire in a 2 inch deep pond in our fire pit by stacking fire logs high. Eventually we went to bed.

We woke to a sunny day. We got ready. We set down the tent and left. We are on the road now; and we just crossed the Kentucky River as I end this blog.

That’s it for now.

Write to you all later, Dan

It’s Tuesday as I type this.  We’re heading east on Interstate 74, 50 miles outside of Indianapolis.  We’re listening to the Eurythmics’ “Here Comes the Rain Again”.   We’ll be giving our friend, Dave, a call once we get a little closer to Indianapolis to arrange to meet him.  We just stopped at a wayside rest near Hillsboro, IN to use the restroom and to give Jake a chance to “find a spot.”  While walking Jake behind the wayside rest building, we spotted a few different kinds of wild flowers – very pretty.  And, there are many flowering (cherry and crab apple, maybe?) trees along the highway.

We spent last night in Rock Falls, IL, visiting my grandma.  My real grandma on my mom’s side passed away when I was about 4 years old, and my grandpa re-married a couple years later to this grandma (Nadine) that we visited.  She’s 95 years old, and is doing pretty darn well for her age.  Her memory is slipping, but she remembered both me and Dan.  We last saw her in 2001 when we visited her on our way home from our trip to southeast United States (Indianapolis to visit Dave, Great Smoky Mountains, Florida, New Orleans, St. Louis, MO).  She did seem a bit more frail and less talkative than what we remembered, but we did see quite a few moments of the usual joking and kidding grandma.  For example, she apparently doesn’t like taking her pills, so she stalls, re-arranging them on the table.  Then, she says, “You mean I have to take all of these?” and looks my way to give me a wink.

We had a fun time visiting with Grandma and her daughter, Barb, and son-in-law, John.  Since Barb is allergic to dogs, we set up our tent next to their driveway on the side of their house.  We had originally planned to pitch the tent in their back yard, but it was too wet from the heavy rain they had last Sunday.

It’s now Wednesday, and we’re sitting outside a Panera Bread in Indianapolis.  Both yesterday and today have been beautiful days, weather-wise.  Jake’s near the table, soaking in the sun and — I’m sure — enjoying being out of the truck for awhile.  After we got into Indianapolis yesterday, we went with Dave to a restaurant with an outdoor patio so that Jake could hang out under/near our table.  After having dinner and a few beers, we drove out to Dave’s friends, Jennifer and Justin, who live about 20 minutes from downtown Indianapolis.  We hung out in their back yard, drinking wine for awhile and, then, went inside and watched the movie, “Walk the Line”.  Jennifer and Justin seem like really fun people and are very generous to let us camp in their backyard.  We’ll be staying one more night in Indianapolis and then be continuing on tomorrow morning.