Last Resort Campground, Hanna, Indiana
Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”….. Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave…in the land of Canaan. So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site. ~ Genesis 23:1-20 Yes. I left out a lot. The intervening verses are about the transaction details, and while they’re important, especially as a way to understand the culture at the time, I decided not to get into that. Suffice it to say that the owner of the field (Ephron the Hittite) took advantage of Abraham during his time of grief, and most likely, Abraham was aware of it. But Abraham was acting on the Promise. It was important in the Hebrew culture at the time – and for a long time after – for them to be buried with their ‘fathers’. In other words, amongst their own people. The fact that Abraham not only buried his wife in this foreign land, but sought out a site sort of in the middle of it, shows his belief in The Promise that the land would eventually belong to his people. By the way, Hebron is where King David got his start as king.
The Three-Dune Challenge at Indiana Dunes State Park, is a mapped-out 1.5-mile loop trail that includes parts of several different trails. It’s almost all sand, and it includes a total elevation gain of over 500’. As you’ll see, the tallest dune in the challenge is only 192’. It’s the cumulative total and the fact that you have to hike up and down all three – mostly in deep sand – that makes it challenging. Since your feet slip in the sand, it’s very much like taking two steps forward and one step back! I think we should get extra points for hiking in sand . . . And then, of course, there’s the crowds. Fortunately, us being early birds, we didn’t see very many people, but later in the day as we crossed the starting point, there were a lot!
Since we’d only completed 1.5 miles, we thought to add more to our day by taking on an additional five miles, so off we went, incorporating Trails #9 and #10. By the time we got to our first intersection with #10 though, we’d had enough sun, sand and hot air; and from the views we’d had, it seemed as though it’d just be more of the same. We took a shortcut and turned it into a smaller loop. Thank goodness for gps and Park maps! 😊
It wasn’t quite 12:30pm when we drove out of the park. As we passed the entrance gate, we were shocked at how many people were waiting to get in! A minimum half-mile line of cars – and growing! We’re thinking they were all headed for the beach – or at least most of them. Crazy!
About 4:30pm, a downpour hit the campground that lasted quite a while and dumped tons of rain, but our new neighbors didn’t seem to mind. I would guess because there wasn’t wind involved. Their tiny dog didn’t seem very happy about sitting outside though.
I tried a new recipe for dinner – Crispy Crunchy Chicken. We thought it was very good! As usual, the recipe’s at the end of the post.
As we’re winding down for the evening, we suddenly heard sirens. Our first thought is that they’re wailing up or down Route 30, but the flashing lights and sirens are close and sustained. Second thought – an emergency here within the campground. And then we looked out and saw the source.
At 9:00pm, there’s a dozen-or-so-member golf cart parade making its way around the pond! Crazy! It was loud and bright and the carts were adorned – mostly patriotically – with flashing lights and sirens. One pass around the pond and they were done. Sorry I couldn’t get better pictures. ☹
But the party continued next door – which had nothing to do with the parade and everything to do with seemingly copious amounts of alcohol. At least all was quiet by eleven, which was good, because tomorrow we move on to Illinois.
CRISPY CRUNCHY CHICKEN
1/2 c butter, melted
1 tsp garlic salt
1 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
4 tsp garlic powder
2 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
2 c sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 c French’s french fried onions, crushed
1 c Panko bread crumbs
1 c crispy rice cereal
6 chicken breast halves, skinless and boneless
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13x9x2″ baking dish with 1/2 cup of melted butter.
Sprinkle garlic salt on chicken breast and set aside.
In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. In a second bowl, beat together the egg and milk. In a third bowl, mix the cheese, bread crumbs, fried onions, and cereal. Dredge chicken in the flour mixture on both sides, then dip in the egg mixture, then press in the breadcrumb mixture to coat both sides.
Arrange the chicken (do not overcrowd) in the prepared baking dish. Drizzle 4 tablespoons melted butter evenly over chicken. You can pour in any extra breadcrumb mixture if desired.
Bake 35-45 minutes or until coating is golden brown and chicken juices run clear.
HINT: Since there are only two of us, I only made two pieces of chicken, and cut the recipe into thirds. One change I’ll make next time is to cut back on the butter in the bottom of the baking dish.