92 County Tour: Tippecanoe

For several weeks now, we've been excited to visit the Indiana Dunes, which are up by Lake Michigan. We thought about going earlier in the summer, but it was so hot, we were afraid it wouldn't be fun. So we decided to save it for cooler weather, and we intended to do it this weekend. And then: rain. Boo. We hated to drive so many hours just to get waterlogged or rained out entirely.

So at the very last minute {aka Friday night when we succumbed to the weather forecast} we decided to do a county tour instead. Not-so-fun fact: we had not been on a county tour in NINE MONTHS. Last one we did was last December when we did Allen County while staying in Fort Wayne for our anniversary. New rule: no more waiting nine months for counties. If you have to do that, you are too busy.

So we made plans to tour Tippecanoe County, which is about an hour's drive for us. The county was formed back in the 1800's and named the for Miami people, a Native American group. If you're not from Indiana and think you know nothing about this county...you actually do! Purdue University is located here!

The day did start out rainy and yucky, but it got much better as it went along. Unfortunately between the mist and the humidity, my hair began growing immediately, so I'm just sorry in advance. LOL!

Our first stop was at the Columbian Park Zoo, which is this most darling little zoo right there in the middle of Lafayette. The zoo is FREE, which is really great, and very much in our budget. It's not huge {just in full disclosure} but we had a great time walking around and seeing the animals up close!

These other things were not open when we were there, but I did see on the website where they have kiddie rides, a little train, and a water park {I believe you do have to pay for those things} that are open during the summer.

We had a blast and even though it's not a huge, all-day-event zoo, we would recommend visiting!

We decided to go to lunch next. Many months ago, a friend of mine had suggested going to the Sacred Grounds coffee shop, but their site said they're closed on Saturdays, so I kept hunting for a coffee shop. {Fortunately in a college town, there are options!} We picked the Literato Cafe and my goodness - am I ever glad we went there!

 This is both a restaurant and cafe, so we ate lunch there first. We each got a sandwich instead of pizza, but it was delicious. 

We also had a special treat for lunch: company! The same friend who recommended the other coffee shop had told me to let her know whenever we came to do this county. So last minute, on Saturday, I asked if they were around, and they were able to come meet us for lunch! They are actually very good friends of my parents and they all went to church together before I was born - and when I was little. We determined we hadn't seen each other in THIRTY YEARS! But we had a great time together!

They told us {and then I read more about it later} that this coffee shop is part of the ministry vision of Faith Ministries, a HUGE church on the edge of Lafayette. And the building that houses the coffee shop also has a fitness center, a preschool, and apartments for college students. They also have church services right there. A whole ministry center in one building. I LOVED IT!!!!!

Oh! And the coffee was superb. Ryan had fresh brew and a blueberry bread, and I had the three kings latte {hazelnut, caramel and vanilla}.

Before we moved on to our next activity, we also stopped to see our friend Shawn, who helped us move earlier this year. He just happened to be home, so we stopped by to say hi. That resulted in an impromptu ping pong tournament for the guys and Shawn's son. I just took pictures.

 Because I lost my friend Craig on a motorcycle, I cannot bring myself {or Ryan} to have anything to do with them, but he did enjoy a photo opp on Shawn's bike.

 These two. Good friends and probably a whole lotta trouble.

We ended the day at Prophetstown State Park, which is the newest state park in Indiana. It's very different from any other state park we've visited so far, because the bulk of it is not centered around lakes or woods. Many of the trails are right out in the open, though some do run through woods.

We started out on a trail and commented on how it was the EASIEST trail we had ever hiked...

Then some bikes passed us, and we realized: we were on the bike trail! WHOOPSIE!!! So we turned around and went in search of the hiking trails. Because the place is still newish, there is much construction happening, and not all trails are well marked.

We finally found walking trails and hopped on. It was HOT and SUNNY, and because we'd only been expecting rain, we had not brought sunscreen. Of course we also forgot the bug spray. Not our finest hiking moment.

But we had a blast, and the scenery was beautiful. At a fork in the road, we took the path into the woods to get some relief from the sun.  Definitely the NARROWEST trail I've ever hiked, but it was still much fun!

Despite the trails not being well-marked {which I presume will come with time as they work on the park}, it was a really nice park to visit. Their camping lot was full, the trails were wide and many were paved, and it looked like a good, safe place to visit and camp!!

We ended the day with dinner at Chick-fil-A {We don't have one here} and grocery shopping before we headed home. It was a superb day, and Tippecanoe County had much to enjoy!

Before I leave you...a little collage of the counties we've seen so far!