Sunday, August 8, 2010

Vagabonds

Sparky and I left his parents house and began roaming northern Indiana. We ended up at the outlet mall in Michigan City for a little present shopping. As we left Michigan City we passed a sign for a sand dune. So we stopped.
We climbed up the path for Mt. Baldy and sat by Lake Michigan for a little while. The hike was okay, but many people were making the hike with huge full coolers, umbrellas, chairs, towels, etc. I cannot imagine doing that.
Looking at Lake Michigan is so cool. It looks like the ocean but not as sunny. We could see the Chicago skyline from our perch on the beach.
Can you see it? Off in the distance, through the haze, directly above the person in the red shirt. 
And here is Sparky on the beach:
From here we headed to Valparaiso for dinner with my friend Lauren. I hadn't had dinner with Lauren since my freshman year at Purdue, about 7 years ago. She lived across the hall from my roommate Kim and I. She helped me maintain my sanity while living with Kim, the oil heiress.
We ate at Gelsosomos so I could experience my first "pizza pie." It literally looks like a pie. You have to eat it with a fork because you cannot pick it up... like a pie. It was very delicious. But I am still not sure I understand Sparky's obsession with all food from Chicago.
Oh yeah, I also finally figured out why that area is called "the region." There really isn't anything differentiating between Valparaiso, Gary, and downtown Chicago. The buildings merely get closer together and taller the closer you get to the downtown area. For some reason I was under the impression that there were clear distinctions between each city, the suburbs, and Chicago. There really aren't.

From dinner we went to meet Sparky's friend, Chris. We watched him put together his car. Chris and his wife are nice, but they were busy working on the car so we didn't really get to visit much. I am sure we will next time!

I have to share this picture. This is what we came back to when we got home. The puppies have changed their allegiance and have a new pack leader: