usa: indiana: bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana is my hometown, and as long as I have family there I'll come back to visit. It's one of the best cities in Indiana, though I'm not sure I'd want to move back there to live now, for a number of reasons. There are heaps of opportunities, things to see and do; but it is also more expensive than the job market allows.

The past several times I've come home, I've been a tourist in my hometown, I made sure to do the same thing again during this visit. Over the course of two weeks I did a combination of day trips in Indiana, getting together with friends and family, as well as seeing different spots in and around Bloomington.

One evening I drove up to Lower Cascades Park, and walked the short trail to a waterfall. There hadn't been a lot of rain in the past few weeks, so there was very little water in the waterfall. The waterfall also faces the wrong way for taking photos in the evening, as it was backlit. Darnit.

Also in the park is a small Buddhist temple. I saw this temple everytime I drove from my high school to my house way back in the day, but I never got closer, nor did I go inside. I didn't go inside during this visit either, as it looked very closed and maybe even abandoned. 

The prayer flags in the front yard were tattered, which looked quite sad.

On an afternoon I walked through part of the Indiana University campus, making my way to the Lilly Library. In terms of size, it is quite small. In terms of reputation, it is huge. The Lilly is a rare books library, its collection includes books like one of the Gutenberg Bibles.

I was able to look through a few rooms, including seeing two temporary exhibits. One of the exhibits had a group of items and papers from the career of one of Indiana's former representative, Richard Lugar. 

This exhibit clicked with me because there were a few items from his trip to Kiev, Ukraine, (as it was spelled back then,) before the Soviet Union collapsed.

The other temporary exhibit was of tiny books. Really really small books, some of them only a couple inches big. They were in display cases to keep people from destroying them, but I really wished I could've looked through the pages of each book. One of the mini books was a Quaran, complete with a special holder.

Some day I want to come back to this library so I can see the more valuable, rare books.

One Sunday afternoon, after watching my sister preach in church, I drove out to Brown County State Park. It is the biggest state park in Indiana, at more than 15,000 acres.

In addition to being the biggest state park in Indiana, Brown County State Park is also the most visited, with more than a million visitors last year. I'm pretty sure I visited this park when I was a kid, but if I had, whateva hiking I did was short and flat. My parents were not into outdoor activities, unless I was playing an organized sport and they were watching. Girl Scouts was generally the extent of outdoor activities for me. 

This time I was determined to climb up and down some of the hills, and actually be tired at the end of the trails. I ended up following two trails, and at the end of the afternoon, I'd definitely accomplished my goal.

Another night Mom and I went to the Fine Arts Museum after dark. The front of the building is lit by coloured lights, and apparently it is now a thing to take your photo in front of the building at night. I have no idea how or when this started, as I don't remember it being a thing when I was a student.

One morning I went for a quick hike/walk through Leonard Springs Recreational Area, a place I'd never heard of before seeing a photo on social media. At the end of the trail (which seems to be out and back from a small parkplatz,) there was a sign describing how this used to be the official reservoir for Bloomington. At some point smart people realized a lake in limestone wasn't going to hold water very well, so the official reservoir was changed, and now Leonard Springs is just a pretty place to walk.

That morning hike wasn't enough, so I went for more hiking in the afternoon. 

I drove to the Hickory Ridge Fire Tower, one of the few fire observation towers that still stand in Indiana. The view from the top of the tower was great, I could see a long way. I bet the view is stunning in fall.

After coming back down from the tower I found a trail, and ended up going for at least three hours. Thank goodness I'd brought snacks and water with me.

There used to be people living in this area, before it became state owned land, one of the few remains of those times is a cemetery. It is small, and not many people are buried there, but it is well kept. 

I stopped by it my way out of Charles Dream Wilderness, which I think is the official name of that particular area.

Another day I spent several hours going through boxes of stuff in a storage locker. I didn't know I even had some of the stuff in those boxes, let alone where or when I got it. Why on earth did I have a carbon monoxide detector in storage? Plenty of books were taken elsewhere for donation, and clothes that were ancient/falling apart were tossed out. Maybe someday I'll have a permanent place to live, and actually want to have all of my possessions in one place.

That was my last full day in town. Later in the day I got one of my tattoos touched up, and got a couple ear piercings redone. They'd closed up a couple years ago, and I decided I wanted them again, so why not. Tattoo shops have some of the best customer service of any place I've ever been.

I love Bloomington.