The Yellow Hornet

Today we hiked several trails at the Indiana Dunes and had a great cookout. We had to answer the following questions:

What year was Indiana Dunes State Park established. Answer: 1925

What year did the Civilian Conservation Corp work in the park. Answer: 1933-1942.

We had to spell out our names in the sand using natural materials such as sticks, rocks, and pinecones.

While we hiked we had to pick up 10 pieces of litter (we picked up a whole plastic bag filled with garbage so don't litter!)

We took pictures of the local flowers and trees and had to learn what type of plant and it's Latin name. I found a New England Aster which is call Aster Novae-angliae in Latin. Also, check out the mushroom picture I've attached.

We took a picture of our finger on top of the beach pavilion which is a landmark at the Indiana State Dunes.

We learned that it is the only State Park in the nation that is completely surround by a National Park.

We learned that the oldest public park in the country is Plaza de la Constitutio in St. Augustine, Florida which was established in 1573.

discovered at friday loop lunch group

The Yellow Hornet joined me for a Social Event at the Indiana Dunes State Park. When we met the other geocachers we had a little ice breaker game of Minute to Win It game of Cookie Race. It's where you put a cookie on your forehead and without touching the cookie, you move your face muscles to get it to your mouth.

The Indiana Dunes State Park consists of 2,182 acres of primitive, beautiful, historical, and amazingly unique landscape and includes more than three miles of Lake Michigan's south shore, all of which provides a magnificent beach. It was established in 1925.

Large sand dunes have taken thousands of years to form, and tower nearly 200 feet above Lake Michigan.

It was a great place to camp, hike, and if it were a little warmer, to swim in Lake Michigan. It had a large nature center and home to lots of wildlife. We saw racoons, owls, muskrats, various birds, and lots of beautiful plant life. I'll share some pictures.

Monument with Standing Beast is a sculpture by Jean Dubuffet in front of the Helmut Jahn designed James R. Thompson Center in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Its location is across the street from Chicago City Hall to the South and diagonal across the street from the Daley Center to the southeast. It is at 29 feet (8.8 m) white fiberglass work of art. The piece is a 10 ton or 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) work. It was unveiled on November 28, 1984.

This is one of Dubuffet's three monumental sculpture commissions in the United States. It has been taken to represent a standing animal, a tree, a portal and an architectural form. The sculpture is based on Dubuffet's 1960 painting series Hourioupe. The sculpture and the series of figural and landscape designs it is a part of reflects his thoughts of earliest monumental commission, for the One Chase Manhattan Plaza.

The sculpture is one of 19 commissioned artworks funded under the State of Illinois Art-in-Architecture Program throughout the building. This was commissioned by the Illinois Capital Development Board.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_with_Standing_Beast

After taking TYH to this sculpture, I passed it on to two ladies who also attended the Friday Geocachers Lunch from Indiana. They were going to take it around Chicago and then to Indiana to the Sand Dunes.

This entry was edited by Hidden Immunity Idol on Thursday, 29 September 2011 at 16:42:33 UTC.

From EastlandDiaster.org

Early on the morning of Saturday, July 24, 1915, with a light rain falling and the air filled with much anticipation and excitement, thousands were gathering along the Chicago River for Western Electric's fifth annual employee picnic. In fact, over 7,000 tickets had been purchased.

The S.S. Eastland, known as the "speed queen of the Great Lakes," was part of a fleet of five excursion boats assigned to take Western Electric employees, their families and friends across Lake Michigan to Michigan City, Indiana, for the day's festivities.

But the Eastland, docked at the Clark Street Bridge, never left the Chicago River. It instead rolled into the river at the wharf's edge with over 2,500 passengers, including crew members, on board. Over 800 people lost their lives, including 22 entire families.

Writer Jack Woodford gave the following first-hand account in his autobiography:

"And then movement caught my eye. I looked across the river. As I watched in disoriented stupefaction a steamer large as an ocean liner slowly turned over on its side as though it were a whale going to take a nap. I didn't believe a huge steamer had done this before my eyes, lashed to a dock, in perfectly calm water, in excellent weather, with no explosion, no fire, nothing. I thought I had gone crazy."

This entry was edited by Hidden Immunity Idol on Thursday, 29 September 2011 at 16:36:12 UTC.