Visiting Indiana Dunes State Park

State Park vs National Park?  It makes total sense that there is a difference.  But for some reason, it seems to get all confusing when it comes to the Indiana Dunes.  The State Park is surrounded by the National Park.  It became a National Park (yay! a National Park close-ish to home!) in 2019 as the 61st National Park, a few years after I graduated college nearby when there wasn't that pesky division.  Now, the State Park is surrounded the National Park.  And I'm widening my college view - you don't just go to the Dunes for the beaches - you go for the trails!

I was inspired to return to the Dunes for the Three Dune Challenge.  I've never done anything like this before since I live in a very, very flat area.  I spent my Covid-era doing a two mile loop around the neighborhood and if I added in steps, I could get an elevation can of 17 feet over 45 minutes.  Not impressive.  The Three Dune Challenge promised inclines of 31, 38, and 43 degrees and 552 vertical feet, way more than the treadmills at OrangeTheory can do.  Plus, there was a free sticker if you could prove you completed it.  Challenge Accepted.

My trip was planned for a weekday in June, but the heat indices were near 100.  I knew better so rescheduled and when my friends and I looked at the weather and our calendars, early October was the soonest we could go.  We really lucked out and had perfect weather for the day.

To hike the Three Dune Challenge, you'll park and start next to the Nature Center.  If the parking lot is full, there are signs pointing to the overflow lot.  Watch out for poison ivy on the trail leading between the two parking lots.  There are bathrooms and water bottle fillers inside the Nature Center, as well as great exhibits and their amazing Interpretive Programs.  To complete the Three Dune Challenge, you'll start on Trail 8 and follow the signs to trail 4.  The Three Dune Challenge is clearly labeled so no map is needed.

If you plan on hiking the Three Dune Challenge, please be prepared.  We were literally asked if we would rent people our hiking sticks...  You should have:

• Good shoes (preferably ones that won't let in sand since there's a lot of that)
• Fully charged cell phone (you'll be taking a lot of pictures)
• Full water bottle (you'll get thirsty even if you normally don't on hikes)
• Snack (for now or later - I had a granola bar right before starting and that was perfect for me)
• First aid kit (you never know what will happen!)
• Sunglasses and sun protection, which will likely include a hat
• Hiking poles are highly recommended
• Optional: turn on Outdoor Hike on your fitness watch - I got my highest elevation for a fitness walk!  It was great to have my heart rate monitored so I knew when to stop and pause while going uphill.

Elsewhere in the park, there are picnic tables and trash cans for lunches, so feel free to leave your lunch in the car while you hike.  Shelters were all reserved when we went.  There were also lots of campsites for RV's.

We ran out of time to explore the beach (I'm a teacher and it was a school night), but that is always a popular option, especially in the warmer weather.

You can easily spend days exploring the different trails, so I can see why this is such a popular camping spot!  This map shows the various trails the park offers, from easy to rugged.

Your first stop when visiting the Dunes, however, should be the Visitor Center, which is for both the State Park and the National Park.  You can get maps, information, and more, including getting your National Parks Passport stamped.  There is a small giftshop, too, with both state and national park merchandise.

To claim your free sticker, you can get it from the Interpretive Naturalist at the Indiana Dunes State Park Nature Center (three oval options as of October 2024) or from the National Park Ranger at the Visitor Center (three oval options + three circle options as of October 2024).  I am pretty sure choosing the sticker was the most stressful part of the day.  This wasn't a decision I was prepared to make!

And remember to go back and take a selfie or a picture because you totally did it, I mean DUNED IT!

Indiana State Parks Hoosier Quests

I just visited the Indiana Dunes State Park and the bulletin board display at the Nature Center caught my eye.  There were special patches and pins with requirements!  Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout and I'm a sucker for a good patch or pin program, even as an adult.  While my around half day visit, the Explore program was perfect.

You essentially are completing five steps and they are geared to be completed over a day or weekend.  The wording for the steps comes directly from the Explore brochure from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources:

• Attend one interpretive program led by the interpretive naturalist. Check program schedules in advance at calendar.dnr.IN.gov. If no programs are available during your visit, call ahead for a self-guided activity/hike/tour option.
• Hike, bike, or paddle for at least 30 minutes on park trails, roads, or navigable waters.
• Complete a site-specific activity assigned by the park.
• Complete one hour of volunteer time. Unless otherwise instructed, pick up litter along the trail, by the pond or lake or river side, or around the playgrounds and picnic areas.
• Report to the interpretive naturalist or staff person about how your volunteer time benefited the property and yourself.

During my visit, the Interpretive Naturalist led a program called Sensational Sassafras.  First, we took a "short hike" (it was a total of five minutes there and back - I felt bad recording it as a workout on my watch) to see a Sassafras tree and it's three different designs of leaves on one tree as well as how much the deer loved the bark (ie: were eating it or rubbing against it).  Then, we headed back to the Nature Center to make beaded bracelets with Sassafras branches and drink Sassafras tea.  It was a great experience, lasting around 45 minutes, and included with the cost of admission to the park.

My friend and I spent around an hour hiking the Three Dune Challenge while there, but it would have been easy to hike any trail for half an hour.  Trails were clearly marked and there was a wide range of options for all ability and mobility levels.

Our site-specific activity assigned by the park was a list of six options by the Interpretive Naturalist at the Nature Center.  I recommend picking this up early in your visit since it may guide your day.  Again, the wide variety of options appealed to different skill levels and abilities.

For volunteering, my friend and I asked if they had garbage bags when the Interpretive Naturalist mentioned litter picking for an hour.  I asked for two bags and she said she would be sad if we brought back two full (grocery store sized) bags.  I pulled a spare pair of gloves from my first aid kit and we went to work and explored new areas of the park.  After an hour of walking around, we did fill one bag and brought it back to show the Interpretive Naturalist, but then promptly put it in the trash can outside.  Moving forward, I'll always make sure to keep extra bags and gloves in my car, along with my trash grabber.

Our volunteer time definitely made the park a cleaner place for guests and helped improve the natural habitat for all of its permanent residents.  One small boy, who was picnicking with his family, asked what we were doing when he saw us picking up trash.  We explained what we were doing and stressed how we were only doing it because we had gloves on and you always need gloves on when picking up trash.  I saw the grateful 'thank you' from his parent so he isn't picking up cigarette butts on their walk (we got a lot!).  The next generation is inspired!

Overall, adding the Explore pin into our trip is a great way to guide a visit to an Indiana State Park.  At only $2 a pin, it is an amazing price for a souvenir.  There are 35 different pins to collect, which make this a perfect activity or even "got to collect them all" goal for people who live nearby.  The Interpretive Naturalist can sign off as you complete each activity at a park so it doesn't have to be done in a day, like we did.  She said some people have been working on their Explore pin for YEARS at different parks,  and are tracking it all on the same worn piece of paper.

The Discover and Challenge programs will take more time to do.  They can be earned by kids and adults and are very affordable.  I can see myself earning the Challenge patch on a camping trip.  

If the above links are broken, this is the main website page: https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/programs/state-park-pin-and-patch-hoosier-quest-program/

Creating the perfect airplane outfit

 The perfect airplane outfit changes per trip, but it always has a few things for me:

• Compression socks for international flights
• A scarf
• My heaviest pants
• A light weight jacket

For my trip to Germany in summer 2023, I wore:

• Not pictured: Clarks slide on shoes that I wore pretty much every day to work that are very comfortable
• Purple compression socks that have been with me on every international adventure since 2013
• A lightweight scarf I bought in Spain
• A print t-shirt
• A black exercise jacket with zip up pockets
• Jeans - my only long pants jeans for the whole trip.  These are my heaviest pants and surprisingly comfortable.  I've been able to "rest" in jeans on planes before.  I don't sleep well on international flights anyways.
• Not pictured: my money belt

When I arrive to the airport, there is nothing in my pockets for ease of going through security.  Once I'm at the gate, I move things from my purse to my pockets so I'm not elbowing my neighbor or making a mess to find my essentials.  What I want on hand for my flight are:

• Ear planes - these are a LIFE SAVER for me since my ears will otherwise pop and I'll be in pain for hours to days afterwards.
• Headphones with a 3M jack.  I have a 3M to lightning convertor so I can use one pair the whole trip, whether to my iPhone or the airplane's TV or to a museum's audio guide.
• Hard candy for take off and landing
• Hand wipes
• Entertainment, ie: Kindle

How to pack your 3-1-1 liquids bag

By now, almost everyone is familiar with the 3-1-1 liquids rule.  According to the TSA: Each passenger may carry liquids, gels and aerosols in travel-size containers that are 3.4 ounces or100 milliliters. Each passenger is limited to one quart-size bag of liquids, gels and aerosols.

My liquids bag contains:

• Shampoo - even though this is provided at most hotels
• Conditioner - even though this is provided at most hotels
• Dish soap so I can wash my water bottle and my plastic silverware 
• Liquid foundation
• Moisturizer
• Toothpaste
• Sunscreen
• Nasal spray for my allergies - if it were a prescription with my name on it, it could go outside of my liquids bag
• Laundry soap so I can handwash my clothes in the sink
• Two laundry "pods" since I'll be away for a month on this particular trip and will be using washing machines
• Not pictured: the liquid for Covid tests.  I'm still packing my own tests since they are easy to carry and more convenient than finding a pharmacy if I'm unwell.

Other things I've put in my bag over the years:

• Peanut butter
• Hummus
• Over the counter first aid items like Neosporin and Sting Kill 

My favorite hack for keeping my liquids contained is to put a piece of plastic wrap over the mouth of the bottle BEFORE tightly screwing the lid on.

The past two times I've flown from O'Hare, security had us keep our liquids bag inside our carry on.  I still keep it near the top of my bag or in my purse for easy access.

I travel with an extra empty quart bag in case mine gets damaged along the way.  I always use a freezer bag so the bag is stronger and won't break as easily.  The rounded bottles are always no problem, but it's the pointed ends on the toothpaste and sunscreen that are most likely to damage the bag.

What's in your liquids bag?  Do you have any hacks?

Our Chalet Challenge

One of the things I am proudest of during my time at Our Chalet in Adelboden, Switzerland was completing the Our Chalet Challenge.  Since I participated in an official program, the patch was included if I earned it.  As a lifelong Girl Scout and current leader, I was going to earn it!  There were various steps I completed over a week.  As I completed activities, volunteers, staff, or leaders from other groups initialed my progress.  Then my booklet was reviewed and the next morning, right before I departed, I received my patch!  Talk about cutting it close!  

Not everyone who attends Our Chalet completes the challenge and some steps were definitely harder than others.  You can work on the Leadership, Packing, and Fitness elements in advance of the trip.  For the elements completed while at the World Center, there were several options to accommodate a wide ranger of interests and abilities.  Here is what I did to earn it:

Our Culture

Compulsory: Meet a Swiss person, talk to them and find out three facts about living in Switzerland.  I spoke with a Swiss staff member about education and we were comparing our educational systems and standards based grading!  It was a great conversation that ended only because of dinner.

Complete any three of the following:

c. Find out how you would travel by public transport from Our Chalet to the Capital City of Switzerland.  This was easy for me since I did it only days before.

e. Carry out a traditional Swiss craft.  We worked on Scherenschnitte, or paper cutting, while watching a movie one leisurely afternoon.

h. Name ten common objects in German.  This was easy since I was working on Germany in DuoLingo!  It was a random assortment of objects since I was just getting started on my language learning journey at the time.

WAGGGS & Five World Centers

Compulsory: Learn five facts about a Guide's / Scout culture that differs from your own member organizations.  One night was International Night so we shared more about our countries as well as local communities and Girl Scout and Girl Guiding cultures and traditions.  And of course, we swapped patches!

Complete any three of the following:

a. Explain to a Staff member why you like being a Guide/Scout and give an example of something you do to be a good world citizen.  

b. Recite your Guide / Scout promise and law and explain what they mean to you.

c. What is the theme of World Thinking Day this year?  This was another fun thing to discuss with other leaders since many of us run the same WAGGGS World Thinking Day badge!

Personal Challenge and Service

Complete your own personal challenge.  This is very personal to you and can be anything you decide - as long as it is a challenge!  Examples could be hiking a mountain, navigating your group using the map, completing the high ropes course, learning some German, being away from home for the first time, and much more!  My personal challenge was the number of hikes we went on!  I did not have time to get into the best shape but I never gave up and overall with the help of my hiking stick, was able to keep up with everyone else.  I only needed a few extra "photo breaks" while going up the Our Chalet hill.

Do a Good Turn for someone else staying at, or working for Our Chalet.  Explain to someone in what way you have done a Good Turn.  It wasn't big, but I helped volunteers clean an area after an activity ended.

Physical Challenge

Compulsory: Complete one of the following hikes: Engstligen Falls, Woodcarver's or Bunderfalls and Magic Tree OR do an activity that is a physical challenge for you.  I solo hiked to the Woodcarver.

Complete any two of the following:

a. Pack your rucksack with all the important items you need to take hiking in the Swiss Alps.  Show a member of staff and explain why you need each of them.  Having a properly packed backpack is essential!

f. Tell someone from another country about a hike or walk you went on back home.  What was different from hiking around Our Chalet?  Was anything the same?  Trying to compare the mountains to walking around your neighborhood in the Midwest...what a comparison! 

Our Chalet Knowledge

Compulsory: Talk a staff member through the history of Our Chalet.

Complete any three of the following:

a. Write a blog post for the Our Chalet blog.  Done!  This was my first time writing a blog post on my phone.

e. Find out what Our Chalet was used for during World War II.

g. There is a special tradition that is held in Baby Chalet.  What is it and why is it special?

Cheating and checking a bag

I know, I know.  I'm Carry On With a Camera.  I LIVE this lifestyle.  I pack as little as possible and do my laundry in the sink.  But then I flew to Switzerland for nearly two weeks over winter break and needed to pack snow pants, snow boots, layers of winter clothing, extra gloves in case they got wet, and hiking poles.  Hiking poles, even the collapsible ones, aren't allowed in carry on bags.  Since my physical fitness levels took a nose dive this school year, I knew the only way I would be climbing every mountain was with hiking poles.  Since I'm so short and have impossibly small feet, buying clothes or shoes while abroad would be an unnecessary stress, not to mention expense.  So I did something I swore I would never do and I did it for the first time in over two decades - I checked a bag both ways.

After reading horror story after horror story about lost bags, I bought an Apple Airtag.  If I had more time, I would have had it engraved, but time was not on my side.  I was risking nothing more if I was already uncomfortably checking a bag.

Here's what I did to make my journey smoother:

• Made sure I knew how to use the Find My app and Airtag prior to leaving.
• Bought an accessory from Apple to my Airtag was linked to the metal in my luggage so it couldn't be cut out or taken out easily.  I use a special hex key to install it.
• Used a brightly colored and unique luggage.  And take pictures of it in case it goes missing!
• Used TSA approved luggage locks.
• Made sure my name, e-mail address, and phone number(s) are clearly written on both the outside and inside of my luggage.  On my luggage tag, you'll have to do a bit of work (take out the paper) to see my contact information because of security.  I don't want my street address visible to all the strangers on public transit or the airport as I'm getting ready to travel.  SAFETY!
• I regularly checked my luggage for peace of mind.  I was able to do this as well when I left my bags in a luggage locker in a train station or at the hotel as well.

I did have some panic as I saw a sea of luggage come down the conveyor but not mine.  I had to wait around 5 minutes in both Zurich and Chicago for my bag, which is not bad at all.  I was so relieved to be connected with my bag.  Carry on only is the way for me but when required, I can adapt.

Even though my future travels don't have visions of waiting at the luggage carousel again, I do still plan on using the Apple Airtag to make my traveling go smoother.  What are your experiences with this tiny bit of technology?

Boarding the plane

When most people name their favorite place, they often name an exotic location or even a category like beach that evokes the ultimate feelings of relaxation.  For me, my favorite travel place and moments are boarding the airplane.  I swear, I should check my Apple Watch and see if my heart race really does skip a beat like it feels like when I board the plane to take my seat.  It takes everything in me to not skip down the loading bridge and on to the plane.  Once there, I hurriedly place my luggage in the overhead bin (sometimes with the assistance of a taller stranger) and take my seat and buckle in for an adventure.  Whether it is a short domestic flight to Ohio or a red eye to Germany, the excitement is still the same.  I'm about to soar through the air and see the world pass me by and take me to a new location.  Sometimes, I've been lucky and had the whole row to myself.  Other times, I learned to tuck my elbows in an make myself as small as possible as the plane was packed but in all situations, nothing could drown out my enthusiasm.

Some of my favorite plane boarding tips:

• Go to the bathroom before you board.
• Fill your water bottle, too!
• Make sure your essentials are where you think they are: passport, headphones, hard candy/gum, something to do on the plane...  Move some items to your pants pockets, if appropriate. 
• Have a hand wipe or disinfecting wipe for cleaning off your seat rests, seat belt, TV screen, and tray table.  Ew, germs!  I normally bring one in a snack bag so I have an instant garbage bag, too.
• Try not to put anything in the seat back pocket because again, ew germs! and you may lose something there.
• Keep your jacket or sweatshirt handy if you think you will get cold.
• Since I solo travel, I will put a luggage lock on my purse for extra security.  The key is safety pinned inside my money belt.  My money belt contains all my essentials: passport, ID, and credit/debit cards and all of my cash.  I keep my phone on me during the plane ride.
• If you are planning on sleeping, make sure your seat belt is always visible.  Buckle the seatbelt over the blanket so you are not disturbed during a mid-slumber turbulence.
• Settle in and enjoy the ride!