Indiana Dunes, October 2
No swimming for several weeks due to crummy weather, wind and other obligations the few swimmable days. Mike had completely disappeared, it turns out he was touring Italy with his wife but had neglected to tell anyone he was going.
Today looked like a rare good day, Mike was back and I was available so an end of season dunes trip was in order. As predicted, the early morning storm passed through early, missing both our homes and the dunes. It was a beautiful sunny, though breezy, day by the time we got there about 11. As usual, we start with a hike in the dunes, the last mile or so along the lake. Often when we get to the lake we jump in. Today it felt cool, we guess 63, but not cold and the air we guess around 80. We decided to postpone the swim until later when we could do it properly, car parked by the lake with our stuff safely in the car, chairs towels and other necessities, such as beer, easily available. This was our big mistake.
By the time we finished the hike a storm was approaching. We did move to car to the lakeside parking and sat by the lake in our chairs watching the approaching storm. Mike counted over 100 lightning flashes during the 20 or so minutes we watched, obviously not conducive to swimming. As the storm got near we retreated to a picnic shelter thinking we could still be dry and yet continue to have a good view. But when the heart of the storm arrived the rain fell horizontally and we were soaked, Mike actually figured out that if we stood on the tables we could get more protection from the roof. I assumed that once the storm passed the sun would come out and we could swim, but when the storm passed we could only see another one close behind. So we gave up and had an early dinner at Wagners. We never did get to swim, a rather unfortunate end to the season.
Today looked like a rare good day, Mike was back and I was available so an end of season dunes trip was in order. As predicted, the early morning storm passed through early, missing both our homes and the dunes. It was a beautiful sunny, though breezy, day by the time we got there about 11. As usual, we start with a hike in the dunes, the last mile or so along the lake. Often when we get to the lake we jump in. Today it felt cool, we guess 63, but not cold and the air we guess around 80. We decided to postpone the swim until later when we could do it properly, car parked by the lake with our stuff safely in the car, chairs towels and other necessities, such as beer, easily available. This was our big mistake.
By the time we finished the hike a storm was approaching. We did move to car to the lakeside parking and sat by the lake in our chairs watching the approaching storm. Mike counted over 100 lightning flashes during the 20 or so minutes we watched, obviously not conducive to swimming. As the storm got near we retreated to a picnic shelter thinking we could still be dry and yet continue to have a good view. But when the heart of the storm arrived the rain fell horizontally and we were soaked, Mike actually figured out that if we stood on the tables we could get more protection from the roof. I assumed that once the storm passed the sun would come out and we could swim, but when the storm passed we could only see another one close behind. So we gave up and had an early dinner at Wagners. We never did get to swim, a rather unfortunate end to the season.
posted by Barry at 7:24 PM
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