Shades State Park (#5 out of 25)

This past weekend Bob and I went to Shades States Park. If I am being completely honest, it was one of the worst state parks I have ever been to. Its trails weren't very well kept up (at least the ones we were on); they were narrow and over grown which made them hard to locate. A couple of times I got nervous because I thought we had lost the trail.  It was easy to get stuck either going up or down stairs with people coming in the opposite direction because there were no places to pull over to let others pass.(Thankfully, this only happened a couple of times and I was able to turn my face and body away from the passing hikers. There definitely wasn't 6 feet of room between us which I wasn't a big fan of.)

We did bring Max with us which meant we were limited on the trails we could go on. I guess the two most popular hikes were those that had ladders going up and down on them, which of course we could not do with a dog. We were so unimpressed with what we did see that we aren't sure we are willing to make the 75 minute trip back there again to check out those trails. 

Despite all of this, it was nice to get out. I found the drive (and so did Bob) more enjoyable than the actual park itself. There is something special about driving through Midwest farmland. I always think about the farmer who owns each parcel and wonder what her day to day life is like. I wonder if she grows corn, wheat, and soy, or if she diversifies. I wonder if he treats his animals well. I wonder if she has always wanted to be a farmer or if farming runs in his family and it was just a given that that is what he would become. I wonder if the farmer rents her land from a huge corporation. I wonder what he thinks people like myself have no concept of what it means to grow food. 

I also think about how different America is. The farmer living in the middle of nowhere and the city slicker, what do they have in common? What can unite them? When I look out on that Midwest farmland I understand why we have such differences in our country - such different belief systems and wants/needs for the future of our country.