Tobogganing at Pokagon

Happy New Year!

I headed north to Angola, Indiana the other day to play at Pokagon State Park with the kids.  As we left Pendleton that morning, there was just a small trace of snow.

We stopped just outside Angola and had lunch at Wendy's.

 

We've been going out to eat more than usual lately.  Luckily, Wendy's has really good salads, which is what I ate.

As we approached the entrance of the park, I was surrounded by a winter wonderland.

 I headed straight for the toboggan run; happy to see the line was short.  
 

We had to wait for our number on the ticket to be called for a toboggan.  And by the time that happened, the line grew.




In the meantime, Jean and I posed for a pic.

 We waited in the warming house.  Troy was already having second thoughts. 

 Gladys was talking a little smack and being brave.

 Then our number was called and we were ready.

Ummm, okay, I was looking forward to the thrill, but I had a few butterflies flying around in my belly too.

You see, as you climb up the stairs with your toboggan, you see the people fly past you and hear them screaming at the top of their lungs. 

 It does tend to give a scary impression to us first-timers.

Plus, once you get a look at this contraption that shoots your sled out, it can be rather intimidating.  Not to mention, you're like, 5 stories up.

 So, being scared is understandable.

But we all got on the toboggan and conquered those fears.  Our top speed was 35 mph, which may not seem like much, but it felt like we were really flying.  It was thrilling, to say the least.

 We stayed at the Pottawatomie Inn located inside Pokagon State Park.

I know it's not really clear from the pictures, but it snowed the entire time.  This was the view from our room:

After thawing out (The high was 17 degrees that day.) in the hot tub & sauna, we went for a swim in the indoor pool and then out to supper at the Inn's dining hall.

 Most of the sitting areas around the Inn had fireplaces to warm up too.

 When we weren't warming our tushes, we were freezing em off on the toboggan run.

The kids and I all had several layers of clothing on.  Most of the time we were nothing but eyeballs-- even those got cold and full on snow, so I wound up wearing my sunglasses most of the time.  Despite the cold weather, it was great fun!  A new year, and OH BOY, what a way to kick it off.  

On the way home, the highway was down to one lane due to the blowing snow.  It started to get better once we got south of Fort Wayne.  I was surprised to see how much snowfall Pendleton got.

 I stopped with this gangly crew at Cracker Barrel on the way home for supper. 

We were all starving.  After all, it's no easy task lugging around a big ole toboggan and hiking it up all those stairs time after time; it's a real work-out.  I ate chicken n dumplings, carrots, apples and cottage cheese; good food that totally hit the spot.

 I hope Ya'all had a wonderful New Year's too.

Keep Warm!