Olsen Westward Expansion Day 2

Day 2: Canton, OH to Porter, IN

Total Distance: 346 Miles
Total Vomits: 0
Total "Dad Moments" where I lost my patience and became the Herm of my childhood: 3
Listened to: 

• Music: Watkins Family Hour
• Podcast: The Rabbit Hole

Day 2 Highlights:

We slowed our pace on Day 2 to take in some of America's National Parks. We woke up and drove just 30 miles north to Boston, Ohio, a small village that is actually located in the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We felt transported, somewhat, to another time and era. There was an old train depot, quaint cottages, and country roads and sprawling farms that belied the modern day rush of technology and information. People rode bikes on well groomed paths, and all around us were the rolling hills that made up the valley for which the park was named.

The highlights of the park were the Ledges hiking trail and Brandywine Falls, a beautiful 65-foot waterfall. Valencia was in heaven on the hike. She loves hiking generally, but she especially loves hikes that give her the opportunity to scramble atop rocks and practice her "rock climbing". Ledges and Valencia were a match made in heaven. She liked the waterfall, but noted that it was "too loud".

At one point, Valencia was in full rock climbing mode, and Celeste commented to me, "She is living her best life right now," with a chuckle. We both laughed because we knew how true it was. Valencia overheard the comment and decided to reinforce it: "I'm living my life right now!" That statement came out a few more times at random points on the trail.

Another cute moment was when Valencia, jumping from rock to root and back again, proclaimed without prompting, "I'm an adventurous kid!" with a sense of pride and accomplishment. We've failed on a lot of fronts as parents, but in teaching Valencia to love the outdoors, I think we've finally done something right.

Around lunch time, we hit the open road again, driving about 5 hours west to Indiana Dunes National Park, the newest National Park in the country (it was previously designated as a National Lakeshore, but just became a National Park in 2019). Indiana Dunes was nice, but the hiking was tough given that we were trudging on sand, not walking on packed dirt. We decided to tackle the "3-Dune Challenge", which was hiking to the top of the 3 tallest dunes in the park, one after another. Like I said, the hiking was tough, especially because the dune trails were deep with sand and the angles to the top varied between 38-43 degrees. We finally made it to the top of Mt. Jackson, Mt. Holden, and Mt. Tom. The tops offered beautiful views of Lake Michigan, and even the Chicago skyline from over 50 miles away.

We ended the day just a few miles outside of the park with a fancy dinner from Subway and laid our heads down at the 5-star Comfort Inn. We were happy to have a comfortable bed to lay our heads down on. We were happy to be off the road, ready to recharge and prepare for our longest day of driving yet. Our next stop is Sioux Falls, South Dakota.