Weekend With Josh and Caitlin

Josh and Caitlin came for a visit this weekend. They brought there dog Talula. On the drive here they drove through a snowstorm, they hit a couple of birds, but no damage to her car, and they got here safe.

We didn't have any specific plans, except that if there was a nice day we were going to take the dogs to Shades State Park in Indiana. Sunday was a nice day so we did just that.

We spent hours on the trails. We went down to the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Bazinga seemed to recognize the route from our previous visit. He tried to lead the way and kept looking back at Talula to make sure she was going the right way.

This was Caitlin's first time to the park and first time in Indiana. She loved all of the wild flowers, stopping frequently to take pictures.

 We went farther than Bazinga and I had gone in February. We got to the to the water fall. The waterfall at Shades is a convex waterfall instead of concave like most. It has something to do with the frost line bowing the ground out or something like that. I can't remember for sure, but it is really cool. We stayed at the bottom and let the dogs get dirty for a while.

We were all getting hot and thirsty and decided to take our sweatshirts back to the car and get something to drink. Bazinga figured out how to drink out of a faucet we found, Talula seemed to have trouble with the concept. We tried making a puddle for her, still no luck, no one said she was bright.

 We started down a different trail. One of the really fun things about Shades is that the trails aren't all boardwalk and well traveled. They have several different ranges of difficulty, from rugged to easy. The rugged trails can take you through creeks and ravines. You may have to walk across logs and stepping stones to get across a creek. It is not a place to wear good clothes or new shoes.

 This trail even had a ladder to climb down. Caitlin went first and then Josh had the honor of being the dog elevator. He got halfway down, I handed him Talula, he handed her to Caitlin and then we did the same with Bazinga. I was the last to go down. At first I thought maybe not such a good idea, and almost told the kids to come back up. Then I got brave and just went down. I survived, no major damage.

We continued down the path until it took us to what is called Sugar Creek. It looked a heck of a lot more like a river to me, but who am I to judge.

Josh and Caitlin spent times skipping stones as the dogs played in the mud. We spent a lot of time watching the "creek" rush by.

We walked back to the car, stopping often for pictures and the occasional rest stop (for me). I think all enjoyed the day. The dogs were filthy and exhausted by the time it was over. Both slept all the way back home. Bazinga had to have a bath, thanks to his dust mop tendencies. Josh, Caitlin and I, exhausted as well got home and ate dinner and made non specific plans for the next day.  That would come back to haunt us.