6 Days Until I Hit The Road

              Ok, I haven’t posted anything for a few days (as my son has informed me). It is getting closer and closer and my anxiety and excitement is getting higher and higher. That is what this post was originally going to be about, but things have changed.

              From the beginning of December, I was worried about Trump and the government messing things up for me by keeping the government shutdown going for a long time. My relief, as selfish as it may have been, was really great when the shutdown was ended and even more now that the spending bill has been signed.

              But now I found out that Trump and congress has thrown a change into my plans. The bill added a new National Park to our list of parks, and it is right on my route. They have renamed Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to Indiana Dunes National Park. I feel that it is absolutely necessary that I stop and explore it. I mean if it was two or three hundred miles out of my way I could just leave it for another trip. But really it is right there so I must stop.

              I have been there before in the mid 80’s when I lived in Crystal Lake, IL and it was a fun day trip. I will have to do some research about it and determine if it is just a couple of hours stop or worth a couple of days layover.

              Now back to my original thoughts. I am getting really excited about leaving on my trip. I feel like I am heading west with a horse and wagon, but it is an SUV and travel trailer and I am following a trail that has been followed by millions of people instead of blazing a trail that only a few hardy people have done before. I don’t have to be afraid of bandits and Indians. I am planning on learning about how those bandits and Indians (native Americans) lived. The National Park system preserves all the habitats and values of our predecessors and ancestors lived and existed. I am hoping that I can capture some of that.

              The more YouTube videos that I watch the more I want to leave yesterday. I am slowly getting over what this trip is going to cost me and learning what I am going to get out of it. I am learning more about what I have missed in my life and this trip is going to make up for some of that. I also hope that because of what I learn and photograph that just one of you will get excited enough to visit at least of the National Parks or other locations that I have visited.