I posted about the Indiana Dunes State Park last week and decided I wanted to share just how I decided I wanted to explore this area.
When I first moved to Chicago, I met someone who lived in Valparaiso, Indiana (which is about an hour and a half from Chicago). She told me she also moved here pretty recently, from Canada (about four months before me).
Another person who just moved here from a different place? YAY! We can connect and talk about how much we miss where we used to live and hate on the Chicago winters! (These are the first thoughts I had when meeting her…lol) Well, she is from Canada so the whole winter thing doesn’t really bother her as much.
Moving is something that I’ve done a lot and each time it’s not easier than the previous time. If anything, it gets harder. For some people, it isn’t the biggest deal in the world and I myself know it isn’t the worst thing that could happen. But for someone who gets attached to everything, in that moment, it feels that way. It’s hard to leave behind your routine, your friends who have become like family and pretty much your whole way of life that you’ve grown to love and appreciate.
Friends are the siblings God never gave us. –Mencius
For those wondering why I have moved a lot, it’s because my father is a missionary and his job requires him to move ever so often.
However, I do know, it’s not all bad. In all the moving, I have been blessed and fortunate enough to experience new places and meet awesome people, much like the girl I was talking about.
After meeting her, I went home that night and looked up her city and it turns out it’s a small town in Indiana. It seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere. But I noticed that it was near Lake Michigan and thought how bad could it really be? Being located next to a huge body of water seemed like a plus to me!
I immediately started Yelping and Googling places to see and things to do in and around Valparaiso, Indiana and came up with quite a few. One of which was the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk (along with the Indiana Dunes State Park which I came back to explore later). My next reaction was to look at the weather for the week. It was sunny and in the 50s which was a big deal at the time because last winter the sun hardly came out. Then, I texted her and asked if she was free (and lucky for me, she was).
We drove to this part of the lake and for that hour that we were there, I fell in love with winter. My eyes were amazed at the beauty they were seeing. The ice floating in the blue water and the green and white lighthouse against the blue sky was all just so mesmerizing. Then, to top it all off, a red boat floated by and I became obsessed with how beautiful all the colors looked together.
I think the pictures came out pretty decent but in all honesty, I feel like they aren’t doing justice to the view.
Overall, it was a beautiful day and I gained another good friend. Who, by the way, also has a blog which is very thought provoking and I think you should check it out!
