So we visited Wawaka, Indiana last week.  Per Wikipedia the Native American term means “big heron”, and we saw plenty of those.

GBH

GBH on pontoon boat

We also saw plenty of pontoon boats.  I do not know the native term for them.

My mother and step father bought 1/2 interest in a cottage on the Elkhart River.  There Al has a boat he refurbished, and we got to explore the river on it.

Al

Greg

Tom

Here is a view of the cottage from the water as well as other views of the river.

Cottage

Turtles

Bridge 9 over river

Tom and I drove into town for lunch one day.

Stromboli

Hydro Thunder

We also drove past Mexico on our way to Peru.  Near there we visited the McClure Orchard where they make great hard cider.  We passed on Mr. Weenie and went to the Boondocks which turns out to be a biker bar in Peru.  There we visited with our cousin Erik and his wife Susie over the loud music, cajun food and beer.

Mexico sign

Mr Weenie

Greg in Boondocks Peru

We also visited with our Indiana aunts and uncle at an Amish restaurant.  We were definitely in Amish country in northern Indiana.

Amish country

After leaving Indiana we visited Chicago.  There we encountered Chicago traffic, sports stadiums and deep dish pizza.  We attended a Cubs game, went to Buddy Guy’s Legends, went to Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven (formerly Chess Records), attended a Second City show (after they re-opened from the fire) and went to the Kingston Mines to see a great blues act.  Then we had a nice flight home where the animals greeted us warmly.  We had a great trip.

Soldier Field

Chicago traffic