Pioneer Villiage: Spring Mill State Park

While visiting southern Indiana, my sister and I visited the Pioneer Village, located at Spring Mill State Park, located in Mitchell, Indiana.  Information about the park is at http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2968.htm.  I have been to many other historical parks, but this one is better than most.  The buildings are well preserved and well decorated with items from the early 1800s.   All of the buildings were constructed well before anyone lived in Grand Marais, and most of the U.P. for that matter. 

The state's website describes the park:

Spring Mill State Park offers a powerful illustration of the link between the natural and cultural worlds. The water flowing from several cave springs led to the founding of an industrial village in the early 1800s. Pioneer entrepreneurs took advantage of a constant water source that never froze, using it to power several gristmills, a wool mill, a saw mill, and a distillery. In turn, pioneer settlers shaped the landscape around the village, clearing land for agriculture and timber.

My sister, Diana, sitting next to the spring-fed river....

The first building's sign...

Cool and very different fence..

The grist mill....

Artifacts found on the property....

One of the gardens...

Hoosier National Forest -- Post 2

First of all I would like to let everyone know that yesterday I went to Marquette to pick up my hearing aids.  I have heard horror stories from lots of people who said that hearing aids did not work for them.  My situation is different since I have Carol Rose as my hearing advocate, plus a great audiologist.  You see, it is not just about the hearing aids -- it is about how they are adjusted as well as ancillary technology.  I purchased a streamer that allows the hearing aids to be automatically connected to phones, TVs, etc.  I can say that once I put the aids on, I started hearing sounds that I have not heard before.  You do not know what you don't hear until you hear them.  Life changing to be sure.  Now I can be a better agatelady and more effectively service customers at the museum and at shows.

Today I will post the second set of photos from the southern Indiana trip I took with my sister last week.  Today's pictures include those I took during a below ground boat tour of a young Karst formation cavern.  Bluesprings cavern is only a million years old, so there has not been enough time for lots of stalactites to form.  But it was still really awesome.  I enjoyed the tour!

To access the cavern there is a back door out of the visitor's center.  Below you can see the sidewalk that goes downhill to the cavern opening.

The photo below shows the overburden above the cavern.  The amount of ground above the cave reaches to almost 125 feet.

Pencil straw stalactites....

The river water temperature is 50 degrees F.

 

In the photo below you can see "the rock of Gibraltar."

The opening in the photo below connects with the sink hole cave I showed in the first Indiana adventure posting.

Flow stone....

 

Heading back to the dock....

"Skylight" in the top of the cave.

Fall Storm and Big Waves

Tomorrow I will resume posting photos from southern Indiana.  However, for today's post I would like to share pictures I took yesterday of Lake Superior kicking up her heals.  We did not get a lot of rain, but the strong winds from the northwest caused waves up to 15 feet in height.  I went down to the boardwalk at agate beach to capture a few photos.  Seagulls were "playing" and feeding, which added to the photos.