Today was planned entirely around Indiana Dunes National Park, which is America's latest national park, incorporated on February 15, 2019 and making it the 61st national park. The park is so new that they still haven't erected the official national park sign yet (see photo of the van below next to the sign sitting on the ground outside the visitor's center) and they don't even have a guest book that you can sign. Not to worry for all you "park baggers" out there like me, they do have the Indiana Dunes NP passport stamp in the gift shop. I was sure to stamp my map with it, park #58 on my life list.
In case you are curious, here are some facts about my quest to visit all of the national parks:
(1) Shenandoah NP was my first park on a family vacation in 1974
(2) My wife and I began our quest to see all the national parks in 1989 at Acadia NP in Maine
(3) Yosemite NP is my absolute favorite, followed by Yellowstone and then Glacier
(4) There are 7 national parks in Alaska
(5) The largest national park is Wrangell-St Elias (in Alaska), which is 13.2 million acres, larger than the country of Switzerland (colder too)
(6) The oldest national park is Yellowstone NP, which was founded in 1872
(7) The newest national park is Indiana Dunes NP
(8) The three that I have not yet seen are: Gates of the Arctic NP and Kobuk Valley NP, both of which are in northern Alaska and cannot be accessed by any road and American Samoa, which is way out in the South Pacific
(9) I might never complete the quest because I am just not a checklist type of person (I've been to 49 of the US states and I have no desire to go see Oklahoma, for instance)
(10) Indiana Dunes should not be considered a "national park." It encompasses only 25 miles of sporadic coastline along the southern edge of Lake Michigan. When I stepped onto the shoreline and looked left I saw a steel mill and when I looked right I saw a power plant. The park is in no way isolated form civilization. And after last night's rainstorm, it was swarming with bugs! nasty, stinging, biting bugs that harassed me so much I shad to turn back. Here's a picture of the "Great Marsh." (OK, OK, I did see a blue heron)
And here's one of Long Lake, which while pretty, is also quite buggy.
The dunes at West Beach were nice, but you guessed it--even more buggy than the marsh! Plus there was a $6 "concessions" charge there because they had some teenage lifeguards who weren't even watching the water but were on their phones the whole time.
I went in anyway because (a) I am a strong swimmer, (b) it was too darned hot on the beach, or (c) I was getting viciously attacked by aforementioned bugs.
(11) Parks like this are part of the reason why I hate checklists.
Pretty boring, hot afternoon with not much to do. At least I only drove 115 miles today. Tomorrow will be a real hum dinger as I go coast to coast through Iowa.
For now, boondocking at the Bass Pro Shop here in Portage, IN.
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