Driving to Indiana

 Tuesday we had an easy 4 hour drive from White's Landing, OH to Chesterton, IN. This meant that we were able to have an easy morning without too much of a rush. We had our breakfast, cleaned up the VRBO and were on our way without too much of a fuss. Now the big problem about this stretch of road is that I-90 is the most direct route. However, I-90 in Ohio is a toll road. This just wouldn't stand, so instead we took the back roads that more or less paralleled I-90, but it did add a good half hour to our trip. Well, it actually added a full hour to our trip. Because, less than an hour from our first stop we got trapped by Yoder Popcorn. As we got close to Shipshewana, IN we noticed that we had arrived in Amish country. There were very wide shoulders on the roads that frequently had Amish traveling on their horse and buggy. But then we got stopped by a large store featuring local popcorn. The girls had to stop, so we went in and got popcorn. Then I noticed there was a used bookstore in the same building, so I ended up getting lost in there.

With that out the way, it was on to South Bend, Indiana. We had planned a stop at the South Bend History Museum. This complex has three parts. The aforementioned History Museum, a Studebaker Museum, and the Oliver Mansion. We only had time to visit one, so the History Museum it was. This was an eclectic array of different features of Indiana history. The first part we saw was a discussion of all the ships that have sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan. It stressed that the lake is often treacherous, and very deep. So there are still shipwrecks that have not been found. The next room I didn't really understand, but it was the largest display of color-coordinated lamps i have ever seen. There was a blue display, a pink, a yellow, a clear one, and probably more that I am forgetting. It was quite impressive, even if the significance was lost on us.

The next section was Frontier days. It featured what life was life when Indiana was considered the American Frontier. There was a neat display that the girls liked where you had to pack your wagon with as many items as you could, and then see if you brought what you really needed for the dangerous trip out west. The next room was a kid's room with a bunch of hands-on exhibits, including Lincoln Logs, a canoe, a General Store, and a one room school house. Stacy couldn't wait to start teaching the kids once again.

 

Across the hall was a large collection of  "historic" items that were used during the 1900s. Yes, from 1900 to 1999. It was surreal seeing toys like a rubix cube being displayed in a museum. It was also very random, it didn't seem to flow from 1900 to 1990, but rather everything was thrown together. So that a doll from 1910 could be next to a Star Trek figure in 1960. I am sure that there was a reason for each item's placement. But I sure couldn't figure it out.

Finally, we went outside to see the gardens. Julia hurt her foot at this point so we didn't stay outside for very long. We got a picture of the outside of the Oliver Mansion, and started on the last leg of our journey, the short 1 hour drive to Chesterton, IN. On our way, we had the strangest thing happen.  It was now about 3:30pm, with check-in allowed at 4pm. This was one reason we stopped at the History Museum. But at about 3:30 we got a call from the owner. She said that there was a tornado recently that damaged the VRBO, that the inspector had come to the house today, and failed it. That meant that we could not stay there. Now we could be wrong, but the tornado appeared to have struck about a month previous. So there was plenty of time to contact us about it. Instead, we got contacted less than an hour before arrival time, that we couldn't stay there. Luckily, she just happened to have two other options for us. Now we had booked a three bedroom / two bath house. But instead we could stay in a two bedroom / 1 bath house. We were slightly peeved. Stacy called VRBO to make sure that it wasn't a scam, and after much back-and-forth, including VRBO customer service calling the owner multiple times (with no luck), they eventually decided that it wasn't a scam. But thankfully, Matthew wasn't with us, and with no other real option we took the smaller house. One other gripe, Indiana was experiencing a record high heat wave, and the house we now were stuck with did not have central air. Only, a wall unit in the living room. The bedrooms were a bit warm at night.

But at least we had a place to stay.