Shipshewana Retreat Part One--The drive up

 I started off Sunday morning, November 4, to meet up with Chris and two others for a Quilt retreat in Shipshewana, Indiana.  I stopped off at my youngest son's for lunch and to reimburse him for my new phone.  Then I headed even further east passing through the dreaded St Louis with it's confusing highways-I did not lose my way this time!  On the phone directions do help!  I spent that night in Collinsville, Illinois.  It seems even choosing my hotels by brand-Hilton, Marriot, and Holiday Inn-isn't perfect and I continue to be lousy at finding a good hotel even within the Marriot brand, sigh.  Being awakened at 5am by staff beginning prep for breakfast was only part of it.  After getting my debit card squared away, long story which I won't tell you. I went over to Cahokia State Park to see the mounds.  The park protects 2200 acres and 77 of the known 80 mounds.  I was only there for an hour or so but wished for more time (and that the Visitors Center wasn't undergoing renovation!)

The mounds once covered 7700 acres and had a large population in the area. No one knows why it was deserted or when.  If you are interested here are a couple of YouTube sites that cover 
Cahokia.  (Cahokia:Mississippian Mounds--this one is very good- and Cahokianmounds documentary or just search YouTube there were several others listed.)

Monks mound above

                                

 

The stairs to the top of Monks Mound.  It's a long way up!  

I did climb up to the top and the view was magnificent! That's St Louis in the distance.  Both the Arch (left of downtown)
 and the Stan Musial Bridge (right of downtown)  are visible

Woodhenge is a re-creation of a solar calendar much like Stonehenge in England.

It looks pretty unimpressive but interesting still.

After Woodhenge, being cold and nearly blown away, I headed east for the Second Day.

It's about 600 miles from my home to Shipshewana, north nearly to Michigan as well as east.  I fought with the GPS most of the day--It REALLY wanted me to go via Chicago, I REALLY did not want to do that!  Instead, I drove the outer edge of Indianapolis.  The drive was uneventful and I arrived in Shipshewana about 7pm for a tad of drama.  I had NO IDEA what hotel we were staying and my misguided thought that it was a small place (well, I was right about that) with only one hotel meant I had no idea where to go!  Finally, I found a place to park, dug out the paper work for the retreat (lucky that I printed it out.) and found the name so that I could check in to find Chris and company waiting for me!