Tuesday, September 30, 2014

JMShearer's Adventure Blog: Lake Alvin Swimming Beach On September 29, 2014

This is kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing, so it might not be my best work ever.

Anyway, this Monday afternoon turned out to be nicer than I had thought it would be, so I thought I'd go see what was going on at one of the state parks near where I live. This one was Lake Alvin. I wasn't especially well prepared for my trip, and since it's late in the season there's not much for things to do. So, I thought I'd at least have a look at the swimming beach.


Once I got there, I saw that I really did have the whole place to myself, but then again, this was on the last Monday in September, so it was a little late in the year for a swim, even if I'd had my stuff for that.


It was only 70 degrees out yesterday, so it was a little chilly, for one thing. Plus, I didn't trust the patch of nice, green moss I saw, either:


I figured I'd go on towards the picnic area and what I had thought was the changing area:


It's a nice swimming beach for southeast South Dakota, but I'd hardly call it a Mercedes-Benz beach:


Then again, I haven't thought much about buried treasure in the area since I was a little kid at Lief Ericson Day Camp way back when. But maybe there is some at Lake Alvin:


And of course, there has to be drainage from the parking lot and grass above the beach:


I suppose you're wondering where the water goes, right? Well, it makes me glad we don't have much trouble with acid rain and that we usually keep our vehicles in decent repair around here:


In spite of all the rain we had in early June, it's actually been kind of dry this summer. When I finally got to what I had thought was the changing area, I realized that this is one of those beaches where we're supposed to have our swimwear on under our clothes:


I know it looks like it might offer at least some shelter from all sides, but the official Radio Dead Air What The Fuck Is Wrong With You shower, on the right, is a clue that it really doesn't, so we're supposed to have that stuff on under our regular clothes. But at least it does make kind of a picnic shelter:


I think I prefer these ones that were actually put outside with wooden shades over them instead:


It gives a better view of the beach, if you're into that kind of thing:


I'm just surprised that we don't hear about creepy things happening at showers like this more often:


Now, if I'd planned this out better and actually brought beverages with me, I would have gone on this nice little hiking trail:


But that's going to have to be a story for later. Next year, perhaps. Sooner than that, if I can get to it. Until then, it's back to our regularly scheduled programming here on the Passing Thoughts blog. See you soon, friends. And please, feel free to consider becoming a patron on my Patreon page!

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