Varied Skies

If the stores don’t put up Christmas decorations soon enough for you, just head to Santa Claus, IN.  We did just that on Tuesday, crossing over the Ohio River

and into

Wasting no time, we setup camp at Lake Rudolph Campground and headed out to celebrate M3’s 12th birthday at Frosty’s Fun Center.

There we had some tasty eats and enjoyed another round of mini golf.

Not far from Santa Claus is the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.  This park marks where Abraham Lincoln spent 14 years as a youth before moving to Illinois.  Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and his sister, Sarah, who died during child birth, are both buried here.  We arrived just before closing time and M3 and L began working on their Junior Ranger badge.

The park staff asked M3 to help fold the giant flag that flies atop a 120-foot flagpole over the site and he put his Scout skills to good use.
We toured the grave site of Lincoln’s mother as the kids sought information needed to complete their Junior Ranger booklets.  With shadows growing long and key parts of the park having closed for the day, we left and headed back to the campground.

This is probably a good time to mention that if you ever plan to come to Santa Claus, IN, you might want to pack in your own food as options outside of Holiday World amusement park are quite limited.  Fortunately, we did just that.  M3’s birthday dinner included smoked wings

and ice cream from the camp store.

Happy Birthday M3!

The Great State Debate Update:  You guys are tough task masters.  Looks like we will have some work to do in Mississippi if we follow the consensus.  I still don’t see how I can spend hours driving across a state and spend $200 while in the state and not get credit for being there.

Up next:  A couple of days at Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari.