Rimersburg to Tucson

 

 

Another great bike trail! This is the Wabash-Cannonball Trail at Oak Openings Preserve near Swanton, OH.

Oak Openings Preserve of northwest Ohio is a globally rare ecosystem declared by the Nature Conservancy as "One of America's Last Great Places".  We really enjoyed hiking and biking this preserve.

 

 

 

Moving on, we arrived at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in northwest Indiana. This visit was filled with nostalgia for Joyce, as this area is where she spent many summers of her childhood.

 

 

 

A highlight of this visit was spending time with Joyce's brother, Scott and wife, Stacia in Valparaiso, IN. After dinner out and a walk through  the quaint town of Valparaiso, we met up with Orvill Redenbacher, the nationally known popcorn entrepreneur.

 

 

Indian Dunes State Park is surrounded by the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  This park features a wide variety of habitats, including beach, sand dunes, black oak forest, wooded wetlands and a button-bush marsh. Studies by botanist, Henry Cowles, in the early 1900's, resulted in the Indiana Dunes becoming known as "the birthplace of ecology".   

 

 

Beaches 

Marsh lands

 

Sand dunes



 

 One of best things about traveling in our RV is waking up to a new view.

 

 

 

Fort Kearney State Park 

                        Jackson Lake State Park

Prairie Sunflowers were enjoyed all along the way from Ohio through Colorado.