Vinegar and Ben-Gay

I smell like vinegar and Ben-gay, loosely translated, “I’m sunburned and middle-aged, old, over the hill!” (Why do they call it “over the hill” when you can hardly get UP it in the first place? And have I read that on a shirt or mug somewhere?)

Tony has been wanting to go to the Indiana Dunes for about a year.  Yesterday, we finally did it.  We stopped in at the Visitor’s Center for direction. “We’ve never been here,” Tony told the little old lady behind the desk.  She laid out a map and eagerly pointed out some areas of interest.  “Your children will definitely want to see Mt. Baldy.  It’s the tallest dune in Indiana.  135 feet.”  Remembering back several years to our childhood, we asked how it compared to Silver Lake and Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes in Michigan.  We were quickly assured that the only difference was that Michigan’s dunes were higher because the sand was on rock (does this make a difference when climbing?).  Mt. Baldy was pure sand from top to bottom.

135 feet sounded doable.  Even when we drove up and prepared for our climb, it LOOKED doable.  But when our three young daughters were over halfway up and Tony and I had already stopped several times for breathers, we began to wonder.  Nevertheless, the feel of real sand beneath our feet, in contrast to the gravel they seem to have at the reservoirs around us, urged us to move on.

We arrived at the top out of breath, hearts pumping somewhat vigorously—okay quite vigorously!  The view from the top was gorgeous.  And Lake Michigan was stretched out before us, just waiting for us to walk the shore, to hear the waves crash and watch them roll in and play tag with our tired feet.

Four hours later, we were hungry and the girls were getting sleepy.  It was time to leave and the only way back was over Mt. Baldy again.  

We arrived home tired and sunburned.  And woke this morning with aching calves and knees.  Thus the smell of vinegar and Ben Gay (well, actually, Bio Freeze but how many of you know what that is?) emanating from my arms and legs.  Nope, we’re not as young as we once were.  But it was fun to pretend that we were.  We’re just paying for it now.

As Tony said yesterday afternoon, “Today was a nice memory.”  Loosely translated…“We won’t be climbing Mt. Baldy again in our lifetime!  In the future we’ll access Lake Michigan on an even-keel.”