trip # 4

Good morning. Happy 4th of July!
Well, we did make it there safe, and returned home safe.
We left Friday after work for Indiana Dunes State Park, arriving around 3:30. Filled our fresh water tank, and got into our site. We didn't book this campground early enough, so the site we got was 3 sites from our usual. It was actually a better site. The weekend was stifling with heat indexes of 100-110. The site we ended up in had a big tree behind us and gave us much needed afternoon shade. We were also fortunate that this campground is one of a very few state parks that has 50 amp service at each site, which for any camper but a motor home wouldn't need. But with 50 amp, I was able to run both rooftop air conditioning units which kept the mo-ho nice and cool and comfortable.  :-)
Our weekend itinerary included a day in Chicago, a day in the park, and a day in Michigan City.
It didn't quite work out that way. Like I said, it was a stifling, hot, humid weekend. We made it into Chicago on Saturday, did a little shopping in the Lakeview area, and headed downtown. Got parked , and grabbed a little lunch. Our plan was then to head over to the loop, catch some artwork, go into Grant Park and view the Gold Coast Art Fair, head into Millennium Park for a sculpture exhibit, then out to Navy Pier. By time we got to the loop, Craig was nearly having a heat stroke so we ducked into Macy's to cool down and rest. I don't know if we're just getting to old, or if it was truly just to damn hot and humid, but we couldn't go 2 blocks without becoming a dripping mess. We decided the weather had won, and slowly made our way back to the car, plans abandoned. There was nothing to be done outside the rest of the day.
Back at the campground, we relaxed under our awning, with fans to try and keep us comfortable. Craig decided to cook dinner inside, and we turned in early.
I did manage to ride my bike each morning before the heat started building. I'd go out at the crack of dawn, when it was in the low 70's, and very comfortable. By the time Craig got up, it'd already be in the mid 80's, but still nice enough for our morning coffee walk.
I will take this moment to tell you, if you buy a bike and it was pre-assembled, make sure you double check everything before riding. The first ride of the weekend, my side slide down. I had to re-tighten that, then near the end of the ride, one of the foot pedals came off. I had to walk the bike back to the campsite and get out tools to fix that.
Anyway, the plan for the day was to fix breakfast, do a morning hike, hang out at the beach in the afternoon, and fix a past salad to go with dinner. We made it through breakfast. The heat and humidity had already gotten so bad, I was a perspiring mess by the time I finished grilling breakfast. We decided there was no way we could hike in this, and no way we'd sit on the beach in this. So, we decided to go up to the Four Winds casino where it'd be cool and comfortable. Spent a couple of hours there. They've added a large expansion that included another hotel wing, a show room, and a Hard Rock cafe. This place is getting huge! Of course, as is usual one of us wins, and the other loses. This time it was Craig who got lucky. We headed back to the campground and stopped at a store to pick up deli salads, as Craig didn't want to cook in the mo-ho in this heat. So it was pork steaks on the grill, and we ate inside.
Monday, after our coffee walk, we headed into Michigan City, and the Blue Chip casino, where after a couple of hours, I was ahead, and Craig behind, as usual. Then lunch at an outdoor cafe, and over to the outlet mall, where we got some shirts, socks, and egg cooking rings.
Back at the campground, we slowly took out time breaking down camp for an early morning departure.
We left the campground around 8am, arriving home around 1pm. We got there safe, arrived home safe, and everything functioned as expected. despite our change in itinerary, it was a good trip.  :-)