The nearest campground I could find to Lake Forest was Illinois Beach State Park. As I remember, finding the correct entrance was a challenge. There is a day use area and a conference center, in addition to the campground. Even with the wrong turns and never-ending road construction, I eventually got to the office to check in.
It was kind of an oddly run place, but the worker was most accommodating. She said that she didn’t know if the site I had reserved was vacant, but that I could drive around and see what would work for me. She said that not all sites were created equal, and that some of the sites were narrow and far from level.
I took her advice. Truly, the sites were irregular.
There were lovely tree-shaded spots. They had electricity but no water at the sites.
If you were tent camping, these would have been great spots. I was not tent camping.
I decided that I didn’t want to try to dance Flo back between the trees, so I headed for what looked like a parking lot with electrical hook ups. It wasn’t as picturesque, but it would do.
I came across these Airstreams in another part of the park. I passed by several times, but no one was ever there.
The day after I met up with Mary, I set out to enjoy the lake.
I set off on the trail to the beach.
Ah! There’s Lake Michigan coming into view.
What a beautiful day!
Just the smallest amount of wave action. And all those pretty pebbles!
It’s time for a little “Catch and Release” rock collecting.
I enjoy this little hobby of mine.
Look at the remains of the bird footprints in the sand.
After I made a few arrangements and took my photos, it was time for one more look at the lake.
And I headed up toward what must have been a lovely bathhouse at one time.
I wonder how long it had been closed?
I love it when they have these places to get the sand off without taking a full shower.
Nowadays, it was just closed.
Really closed. It must have been a great facility. It really makes me angry when resources are lost because of a lack of maintenance.
Speaking of maintenance, one piece of advice I give full time RVers is to go through your stuff every six months and get rid of what you don’t need. It looks like I haven’t been taking my own advice. But I had the time, so I went through all my stuff and got rid of a bunch of junk.
There was time for one last sunset. In the morning, I would set out for Kalamazoo.