The rain today finally calmed down enough for me to venture outside the van with Sadie. She had been looking so forlorn and I wanted to take her on a decent hike. Prophetstown State Park, Indiana's newest state park, seemed like the perfect place. It was right off I-65 near Lafayette and would be an easy location.
But $8 ($5 for Hoosiers) for this little site seemed steep. If I were camping here this may be OK although the campsites were exposed. For my entry fee I got to see a 1920 farm and homestead (honestly, there are much older and better ones across the state!) and a reconstructed Woodland Indian settlement to honor Tecumseh and his brother who battled Whites nearby.
The Indian settlement is what interested me, but it was apparent that the park's main mission is to restore prairie fields. There were more prairie grasses here than anything else. The farm itself didn't interest me because there were two loose dogs, a border collie and a collie, that came after Sadie that no one was restraining or calling for. I had a hard time keeping Sadie calm and she nearly made me want to leave she was pulling so hard. It would have been nice if the park personnel had been courteous enough to keep the dogs restrained for the safety of the kids who were visiting.
Was I disappointed in this place? Yes. Will I go back? No. The park is still getting constructed in parts so perhaps in ten years the sites will be shadier and more trails will open up. But on a hot summer day this exposed park would be too much for most visitors. For Native American history there are other more genuine sites to visit.
The Woodland Indian settlement is a half-mile from the parking lot. A trolley takes visitors from the parking lot to this site although today there were no trolleys. We walked along a wide swath of cut grass through a tall prairie. Bike paths off the main road meandered for 3.5 miles. Two shorter hiking paths follow around camp sites further east, totalling just over four miles. But without water or a pond this state park would be too hot for most campers.
I didn't stay long enough to get my $8 worth. Instead, I drove into Lafayette for a beer at the Lafayette Brewing Company. I've been here there three times now (the first time was with Linda and Michael after our first hike together back in 2001) and today tried the flagship Common Ale that I found just a tad too hoppy and a little on the flat side. (B-)
Again I drank and ran after paying to walk Sadie around the streets of Lafayette now that the sun was truly out and the humidity rising. She barked at a few dog statues before realizing the dogs weren't real; on-lookers thought Sadie's behavior was "cute" but I thought she was over-reacting. (Could Sadie perhaps be partially blind in one eye which may affect her 3D vision? One eye does seem to reflect more light than the other).
I took her down Main Street, toward the remodeled train depot on the Wabash and walked back around the courthouse before resuming my drive on IN55, driving again through a windfarm and long straight-aways. Eric texted me to ask if we could drive down to Bloomington tomorrow to check out IU's School of Music. Guess I know what we're doing early in the morning, although once again as I write this the boomers are back.
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