We hiked through the trees, towards a break in the canopy that told us Lake Michigan was just up ahead. My mom and I had been driving mere minutes before, pulling a U-turn when a brown sign told us that an Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore access point sat less than a mile away. Having never before seen one of the famous Great Lakes, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to view the ocean-like vista with my own two eyes.

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