It was time to get outta town, so Martin drove us down the highway in his Mazda MX5 into Indiana, the next state to the south. Martin is a mechanical engineer, so we went to a steam museum at a place called Hesston (not the one near Hounslow). It was a lovely site in meadows and woods a few miles from Lake Michigan, that was run by enthusiastic volunteers. It had a full-size steam engine with a marvelous Shay engine that drives all the wheels so it can tackle steep hills. There were several small engines running on 7.5-inch tracks, but capable of taking twenty people around the track. A steam engine ran a complete saw mill which was cutting logs with a frightening four-foot diameter circular saw. For lunch we had some slow smoked brisket in a roll with barbecue sauce, sloppy and delicious.
Lake Michigan is over 1600 miles around and is 290 feet deep, it’s as big as the North Sea! At the southern end is the Warren Dunes State Park, a beautiful sandy beach with dunes two hundred feet high. We got out some folding chairs and watched the kids swimming in the lake in the warmish fresh water. When the sun clouded over it felt like a good time to climb the steep dunes to admire the beach from on high. Jeez it was hard work! Slipping sand is much tougher to climb than firm rock or grass, and we ended up ascending like monkeys on all-fours.
It was time to take the plunge into the lake to cool off. Guess what? I had forgotten my swimming shorts, so I swam in my M&S underpants. They are well made stout British underwear, and performed perfectly well, no one laughed and pointed at my soggy pants. On the way home Martin bought some sweet corn (12 for $1.99) and peaches from a farm shop in New Buffalo. He barbecued the corn when we got back to his house, it was really sweet and fresh, the best I have ever eaten!
timharnesstravels 