Lake Michigan

To celebrate a long weekend leading up to the 4th of July, we went to visit Hank's grandmother.  But first, we stopped in Indianapolis for a Trampled by Turtles concert.  If you like bluegrassy kind of music, you have got to take a look at this band: http://trampledbyturtles.com/.  Their banjo, mandolin, and fiddle players are seriously out of this world good.  Wait So Long is my favorite song:)  It was an awesome outdoor concert in Opti Park, which is a great music spot in the Broad Ripple area. 

After the concert, we headed up to northern Indiana.  Hank's grandmother just happens to live 45 minutes from Lake Michigan!  Now I grew up on beaches in Florida; salt water, sea shells, palm trees... When I heard that there were beaches around Lake Michigan, I had a hard time picturing it.  I've been to part of Lake Michigan near Grand Rapids, but it was more rocky with lighthouses, etc.  Grandma Ruth said we had to go see Warren Dunes State Park where she used to take all of the kids growing up.  So one morning, Hank and I packed up and headed north across the state line into Michigan for a beach adventure.  The drive was beautiful.  It started out with farms on either side of the highway.  Slowly it became more green, and then vineyards starting popping up on either side of the road for miles!  They were gorgeous, with beautiful houses at the top of each vineyard for wine tasting.  I learned that a lot of these are bed and breakfasts, so we are definitely going to head back up there to enjoy the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail.  After passing fields filled with grapes and blueberries, we came to the entrance of Warren Dunes State Park... 

We drove through a wooded area, and then the road opened up to this...

Huge sand dunes everywhere! This is the largest dune, which we decided to climb... 

It was huge!  By the time we got to the top, I felt like I was back in Colorado climbing a mountain.  The views were beautiful...

The beach was awesome with soft white sand and smooth little rocks.  The water was freezing, but it felt good after the hike.  I cannot tell you how happy it made my heart to relax on a beach again...

 It was awesome.  I'd never thought of driving north to go to the beach... ;) Then we headed back to Indiana to finish the most fun and relaxing visit with Hank's grandma and sister, the family euchre queen and princess!

Grandma Ruth, thank you so much for such a fun time!  You are the best hostess ever:)