Hiking at Shades State Park
John and I went hiking with our friends Karen and Marc at Shades State Park here in Indiana last Saturday. Before we left we had to stop at Starbucks. They started fixing Marc's drink as soon as they saw him coming through the door. Marc is sort of the unofficial mayor of their neighborhood.
When we finally parked at Shades, Marc and then Karen stopped in at the little toilet hut to the side of the lot. I tried to go, but when I opened the door I decided I could wait. I draw the line at flies hovering over the toilet. Fortunately for me, 20 yards away was a sign that pointed to a "Modern Toilet." I think the only thing that made it modern was that the toilet flushed, but after what I'd just smelled a time machine wouldn't have struck me as any more impressive.
This is John in the bottom of the "Devils' Punchbowl." Why is it that all geographical features named in the 19th or early 20th centuries have the name "devil" attached them? Is it some man vs. nature thing? In Arkansas there is "Devil's Den", in Indiana, there is "Devil's Icebox" and "Devil's Backbone.' I liked the name "Devil's Punchbowl." I can just see satan futzing around looking for all of the little crystal cups that go with it. Made me wonder where the "Devil's Serving Tray" might be. John thought we should look for the "Devil's Chafing Dish."
This is moss on the side of the Devil's Punchbowl. Looks like the Devil's Dishwasher needs to be fired up.
As we passed people on their way to the trails Marc and Karen made a point of remarking to each other about the incredibly large snake we'd run into. We didn't see a snake (I don't even think they have snakes in Indiana). But striking fear into the hearts of innocent strangers is a nice way to end a hike.
(Note: Were it not for Karen you would not be seeing pictures from our trip. I took our camera and was snapping away, but about an hour in I realized that I'd left the memory card at home and our camera has no internal memory. Thanks Karen. You're the devil's meow).
posted by Troy at 1:08 PM
3 Comments:
This entry had me laughing out loud SEVERAL times. Especially the flies hovering over the toilet line...Wow.
Oh, some alarming news for you. I went to the grocery store today and found ZERO okra. I'm not sure if it's not hot enough yet or what, but I'm hoping they'll have some by next weekend! Nanny and Papaw will have a little, but probably not half a grocery sack. I'll do what I can - I want to let everyone experience fried okra at Fry Day!!
imagine if the devil had a dishwasher!
i've noticed lately that i breathe through my mouth whenever i walk into a public restroom....if i breathe at all. i generally try to avoid breathing when i get into close range of a public potty.
in my experience park potties rank lower than port-a-potties. now that's really saying something.
To me, the name "Devel's Punchbowl" pales in comparison to the name from which the park name was derived. Shades of Death. The area was supposed to have been known as that before the park was put there. Not sure I'd want to land on that airstrip known as "Shades of Death".Where did that come from?
Donna
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