From the Keeper's Catwalk

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Michigan City Lighthouse
Michigan City, Indiana

Every now and then you just have to ignore the "no trespassing" signs and wander a bit off course. That's what I did on Saturday, when I decided to climb up to the catwalk that goes out to the Michigan City East Pierhead light. You get a totally different perspective from up there, one that only the lighthouse keepers would normally see.

The friends of the lighthouse managed to save the catwalk from demolition a few years back. Catwalks are not too common on lighthouses outside the great lakes, and this one is still complete (many have had their walkways removed).

Maybe one day, when it's very cold and deserted, I'll trek all the way out to the lighthouse via the catwalk. It'll take some time for the Coast Guard to spot me - and in frigid weather, even they won't want to come out to chase me off!

Afternoon at the Lake

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Kintzel Ditch

Between two tall sand dunes is Kintzel Ditch, a small stream running from Michigan City, Indiana, through the wooded sand dunes, and ultimately into Lake Michigan. It's been interesting this year to watch the mouth of this stream change almost daily. In early spring, the mouth was almost in line with the stream. In mid summer, it was several hundred feet south, and ran parallel to the shore of Lake Michigan, creating a neat little island of sand between. Now, it's just a few feet south of the stream and changed every day by the wind, waves and water level.

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Chris Setting Up His Next Photo

Last Saturday was a perfect day to photograph the sand dunes and the stream, as the skies were perfectly blue and the lake was relatively calm, creating some great reflections.

Scarecrow Festival

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Festival Float

The 14th annual Wanatah, Indiana Scarecrow Festival took place last weekend. Wanatah is a town of about 1000 people in LaPorte County, Indiana, about 20 miles from Michigan City. The town is named after the Potawatomi Indiana Chief and means "knee deep in mud" - the town was built on a large marsh turned into farmland.

The scarecrow festival celebrates the harvest and for a town of 1000, they really had a crowd. The population must have quadrupled on Saturday during the parade.

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Hair Dresser Float

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Bicycle Show Off

Certified Pre Owned

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A Row of Ford Model "A" s

Motorists passing by Westfield Ford in Countryside on Sunday were treated to a few dozen Ford Model A cars. An interesting thing was that they were shown on the used car lot (enlarge the photo to see the sign in the background). I'd rather have one of these than most of the new cars out today! They've lasted 80 years so far, and I'd be able to work on them too.

A Sunday Drive

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1931 Model A

All stitched up and bandaged, we headed out on Sunday to a Ford Model A car meet in Countryside, IL. Our friends Jim and Janet had their 1931 Ford Model A pickup truck at the show, and we wanted to see it up close.

Not only did we get to see it, the kids got a ride too. The first thing they were confused about was the lack of seat belts after Janet told them to put them on!

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The Boys in the Driver's Seat

There were lots of other antique cars too, including a really cool wood bodied pie truck and a 1928 Model T. We definitely need to get to the next public show.

Left Behind

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Left Behind
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Racing toward the last sunset of summer, Danny tries to keep up with mom and Chris. I'm in no hurry for summer to end, but it was a perfect evening for a long walk on the beach - most of which was completely empty.

The wind and waves picked up making our hunt for fossils nearly impossible as the waves covered most the rocks with sand.

Amber Evening

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Door Prairie Horse Barn
LaPorte, Indiana

The Door Prairie barn in LaPorte, Indiana was built in 1882 and is the last example of a nine-sided barn in the country (and possibly the world). Nine pie-shaped stalls extend from a central feeding silo that extends up to the cupola. Chutes carry the silage down to each of the stalls to feed the horses. While this barn looks rather small when you pass by, it's really large when you stand next to it.

No longer used to keep horses, this barn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is owned by Peter Kessling, an antique car enthusiast who built the Door Prairie Auto Museum next door in 1993, only to donate the building to the county of LaPorte to house the county museum.

Little Sable Point Lighthouse

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Little Sable Point Lighthouse

Activated in 1874, the Little Sable Point lighthouse stands 107 feet above the dunes along the Michigan shore of Lake Michigan, making it the tallest lighthouse on Lake Michigan. Originally, the keepers dwelling was attached immediately to the east of the tower, but was razed in 1955. Shortly after the tower was automated in 1977, the white paint was removed from the tower, exposing the original brick seen today.

An interesting fact about the tower's Third Order Fresnel lens is that it is divided into thirds, and only the top two-thirds turn. This means the light seen by ships is a constant dim light (from the fixed bottom third of the lens) along with a brighter, occulting light (from the rotating top two-thirds of the lens). It's a rare Fresnel, and especially rare on the great lakes.

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Central Supported Spiral Staircase
Interior of Little Sable Point Light

The lighthouse is located in Silver Lake State Park, between Ludington and Muskegon Michigan, and well worth the drive up. Self-guided tours are given on weekends in the summer, and only cost $2 for adults.

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View from the Top

Summer's End

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Last Sunset of Summer 2008
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

The last day of summer 2008 was spent with family along the shore of Lake Michigan. I think we visited these beaches once or twice every weekend since April! Temperatures in the high 70s, and no crowds- a perfect Sunday to hunt for crinoid stems and other 200 million year old fossils. We generally get a large hand full each week if the surf is calm enough to wash the sand off of the pebbles along the shore.

We'll still visit each weekend until late November, then the holidays keep us busy until February when we'll start again. Last year at the beach

Attack

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Garter Snake


An irritated Garter snake shows it's serious about attacking if we get any closer. The recent floods have driven these snakes from their hiding spots, and we found no less than 30 in our 10 minute walk around the lake. Every snake that couldn't slither away fast enough would coil up and lunge at us!

End of the Road

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The Wife and Kids at the End of the Trail

Last weekend we received lots of rain - around 9 inches or more in 48 hours! One storm was followed by the remnants of Hurricane Gustav so we got a great soaking. This 188 acre lake is usually hundreds of feet from the road and about 30 to 40 feet below it. This rain caused it to raise almost to street level (much higher than the photo) so only the tops of mature trees could be seen.

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The lake that's always there was made to collect rainwater from the neighborhood streets, and is stocked with fish for fishing. The majority of the park cannot be seen due to the overflow of water. It's a good thing, or our homes would most likely be underwater right now!

Beverly Shores Station

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The Historic Beverly Shores Station
Beverly Shores, Indiana

Built in 1929 by the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (an interurban electric railroad), the Beverly Shores station is a fine example of Spanish Revival architecture, and perhaps the last example of a train station built in this style. During this time, the railroad was owned by Samual Insull who also designed several other stations along the South Shore Line using this Spanish Revival style.

This particular station was boarded up in 1997, no longer fit for use. The station was saved and by 2001 it was restored and turned into the Beverly Shores Depot Museum and Art Gallery. The waiting room still serves as the train station waiting room for the South Shore Railroad.

Civil War Days

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Dellwood Park's
Civil War Days

A great way to learn about history is to recreate it (as long as you're careful not to repeat the bad parts). Civil War reenactments are a perfect way to understand not only the history of war, but the technology and protocol as well.

At this year's Civil War Days at Lockport's Dellwood Park, the battle and all of the functions leading up to it were described in minute detail by a narrator. This really helped everyone understand how things were done and why.

Colorful Sunset

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View from our Front Porch

After a hot day running around the shore and paddling the canoe, the boys and I were treated to a great sunset. With lows in the 50's and 40's this week, I hope that wasn't the last summer evening we can enjoy....

Sunny Side Up

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A Back lit Wildflower
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

While climbing the dunes in the morning sun, I noticed a few of these wildflowers growing along with the tall grasses. They looked great illuminated from behind by the sun .

Inside the Dellwood Dam

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Valve and Pipes Inside the Dam
Dellwood Park
Lockport, IL

At the turn of the 20th century, Dellwood Park was turned into an amusement park by the Chicago and Joliet Railroad. The park offered swimming and boating in a large lagoon created by damming Fraction creek in two places. The natural limestone dells provided the perfect place to hold in the water. This appears to be a valve that would regulate the flow of water from the upstream dam to the downstream dam.

Dellwood

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Dellwood Park Dam
Lockport, Illinois

Just after the turn of the century, The Chicago and Joliet Electric Railroad built the 150 acre Dellwood Park in Lockport, Illinois. The park was developed into an amusement park specifically to increase ridership on the railway. The park had some interesting natural features such as tiny Fraction Creek and limestone dells. Dams were built across the creek to raise the water level to a sufficient depth for swimming and boating.

The dams still exist in ruin today, but most other buildings have been removed or destroyed by a 1930 fire. Fraction Creek feeds the Illinois and Michigan Canal at the edge of the park, where the modern railroad now runs.

After the Storm

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Sunset After the Storm
Treasure Island, Florida

Our last day in Florida was almost a complete washout. It rained from about 11:00 am until 7:00 pm. A rainy day in Florida is better than a sunny day at home, so we spent it shopping and seeing some sites indoors.

When we arrived back at the motel, the rain stopped and we headed off for one last walk on the beach. With all of the rain, the block walk from the street to the water was flooded. I've never seen so much rainwater on a beach - it was half way up to our knees in some places. Once we got to the water we were treated to this sunset. Along with the interesting sunset, the tide was low and in some places we were able to walk out into the water for a couple of hundred feet without ever going deeper than our knees. If I didn't have my camera, I'm certain I could have waded out past the buoys and never had to swim.

We found lots of little seashells that were really interesting and Kim found a baby shark that was dead. Of course we picked it up and passed it around to other people at the beach. An interesting site, yet we felt a bit somber for the poor thing. One thought entered my mind - if this baby shark is here, mommy and daddy are probably around somewhere....

Morning on the Dune

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View from Mt. Baldy

A morning hike to the top of Mt. Baldy yielded plenty of neat sites. The vivid blue sky and deep blue water provided a great contrast to the sand and clouds.

We also managed to see a rare inhabitant of the Indiana Dunes, a racerunner lizard. I thought we were too high in latitude to see any lizards, but the sand dunes provide the warmth and protection necessary to survive the winter.

St. Joseph Harbor

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St. Joseph Harbor Entrance

Took a long walk on a long pier to get this shot of the inner light of the St. Joseph, Michigan range lights. In the foreground is the beacon marking the southern limit of the entrance to the St. Joseph River and St. Joseph Harbor. Chris and I ventured to the end and climbed up to the base of the beacon (there's a hidden staircase without handrails) to get a great view of the lake and of Silver Beach, the beach to the south of the St. Joseph River.

Silver Beach has soft, powdery sand and not too many rocks - perfect for spending the day in the sand. A children's playground is also on the sand to keep the kids occupied once they're tired of building sandcastles and collecting snail shells.