Day 692: Indiana to Michigan

This morning I went on a bike ride from Walmart to explore the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  I tried to get on to a bike trail, but it turned out to not be paved, so I passed it up:

Day692__01

After a while I rode out to the beach.  At least this time there were waves:

Day692__02

Day692__03

Behind the dunes there was a marshland:

Day692__04

Day692__05

There are some abandoned roads here:

Day692__06

After the ride, we drove east and north to overnight at the Walmart of Monroe, Michigan.  It’s our first time in Michigan:

Day692__07

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Kids Helping Kids

For children with cancer or other serious illness, life as they knew it is over. Instead of happy, carefree childhoods, there are days filled with pain, isolation, treatment, and the knowledge of “can’t do this” and “can’t do that.” Not a great way to go through the first two decades of life.

There is one thing that gives sick children the chance to escape the misery of illness: a summer vacation at Camp Simcha or Camp Simcha Special. These wonderful camps, run by Chai Lifeline, give kids the chance to just be children once again. Every summer, more than 400 kids and teens get to play ball, go swimming and boating, exercise their creativity, and make friends with others also living with health challenges. They are no longer sick, they’re just kids. When they leave camp, they go home with friends and memories that will last them throughout the year and give them the will to keep fighting.

Because we believe so strongly in Chai Lifeline’s work, B and I have joined Tour de Simcha. We plan to raise over $5,000 together and we hope you will help us reach this goal by making a small tax-deductible donation of $100. Your support is a critical part of this effort and I know that together we can make a difference to these children. All donations are 100% tax-deductible and the Tour de Simcha website makes donations quick, easy, and secure. Click on the “contact us” link to the right, and we’ll send you the link!

image

We’ve been training and raising funds for the past few months and the big ride is on Tuesday, July 7th!  B has made a lovely video that she would love to see go viral!  After viewing her video, please take a moment to share it with others so we can reach as many people as possible in the next few days.

Day 691: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Today we continued driving east, skirting the mess that is Chicago and entering Indiana:

Day691_01

A few miles after crossing the border, we arrived the visitor center for Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore:

Day691_02

Day691_03

Day691_04

B liked this chair in the visitor center:

Day691_05

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received a badge and patch:

Day691_06

Day691_07

We drove down to the lakeshore.  It’s the first time any of us have been to the Great Lakes.  It feels like being on the ocean, but there are no waves, which makes the experience odd:

Day691_08

Day691_09

Day691_10

Day691_11

There’s one in every family:

Day691_12

Day691_13

Day691_14

We left the lake shortly before sunset and drove east to overnight at the Walmart of Michigan City, Indiana.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 690: Onward, to Illinois

Shabbos was peaceful at the Verona Airport.  We didn’t see a single plane come or go, unfortunately.

This morning it was too windy to fly, so we did homeschool and then drove south, passing through the town of Brodhead where we visited with family:

Day690_01

Day690_02

We then continued on to overnight at the Walmart of DeKalb, Illinois.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 688: Madison to Verona

Today we spent the day with Uncle Dennis and Grandma DiAnn, then said our goodbyes and drove south to Verona, Wisconsin.  We received permission from the airport manager to overnight here through Sunday morning.  The weather is too stormy to fly today, but hopefully on Sunday it will be better.

Here’s the view from the intersection of the two runways, looking west.  The RV is parked next to the hangar building on the right:

Day689_01

Good Shabbos from the Verona Airport!  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.