Gem & Llew

Shawn asked us if we wanted to go to the Indiana State Fair last Sunday. We had heard about it and decided that it would be fun. It is in Indianapolis and we got there at about 2pm. This is the entrance.

This is Llew, Shawn and Maggie inside the entrance. Already looking just like the Ekka!

The main difference was the omnipresent corn... Well, it was the year of the corn.

There was the odd assortment of food...

and food serving venues...

and more normal yummy food.

In fact, there was an awful lot of food!

There were much the same rides and amusements as at the Ekka.

This was how the lazy people got around. We just walked. It was not as far as the Ekka and we simply did a circuit.

Then we saw the animals.
Cows,

llamas,

goats,

the best piglets in the state,

and the world's largest pig!

Lastly as a treat we saw several teams of six-horse hitch wagons.

Check out the video!

Last weekend we went camping to Indiana Dunes. You can see on these maps where that is.

We drove up on Friday with Drew and met Shawn, Ben and Kelly there. Andrew met us on Saturday.

We were early on Friday due to the fact that Shawn said to meet at 12, so we were there a bit before 12 - Indiana time. The dunes are actually on Chicago time and since Shawn was driving from there, that's what he meant. So we decided to go to Applebees in Chesterton. It opens at 11am, which was exactly when we got there. We were actually the first people. That is really something to write home about because usually there are lines outside Applebees waiting for opening!

Dunes means sledding. But we only had one sled. A trip to Kmart fixed that as along with food and drinks, they got boxes! This was a trial fitting.

Then, there was the firewood to cut up with 3 small hatchets. Took a while!

Taking turns, but being careful not to hit Shawn's car.

A little help lighting the fire from the ol' white gas.

The first adventure was geocaching as Tom as just been exposed to the wonders of too.

The object is to download treasure sites from the web to your GPS then go hunting.

Kelly found it with her GPS.

Ben wearing the treasure that was found.

The view was good too.

Later started the cooking. These were Llew's chicken thighs that had been in a dry rub and frozen since Thursday. They thawed perfectly for cooking and were served with a pesto pasta salad and fire-toasted garlic bread.

Can't have a campfire without marshmallows.

Shame about them melting in the car on the way!!!

Sticky mess.

Next morning were individual pizzas from Ben. A few burnt ones, but mostly good and really delicious.

Then we went for a hike up the dunes. I found a friend along the way. Then he bit me.

There were stairs for the first "mountain" Mt Tom.

Ah, the lovely, natural view...!

Hot, sweaty, puffed, and just starting out!

On the way up the next mountain - no stairs this time.

But again a lovely view.

The paths down were so steep that Shawn, Ben and Drew ran. Heaven forbid they met someone coming up!

This was Ben's friend. At least it didn't bite him, and he was sensible enough not to touch it.

At the campsite there was a baby hummingbird. At first it was right beside the fire pit so I moved it to the trees. Its mother found it there and came and fed it all through the three days and it seemed healthy and happy.

Time for sledding!

Down was the fun bit.

Up was the hard bit.

Andrew arrived in time for left-overs Saturday night.

More fire chat and lateral thinking puzzles.

That night was a huge storm. The boys put everything in cars at 3am just before it hit. We got a bit wet in the tent, but it was OK. The next morning was fine.

We sat around and had breakfast, but maybe we ate too much for the chair!