This Is Not Stonehenge

Instead it's Stone Head. And this is not me, either. I was the one taking the picture. I blame the fading sunlight for the badness of this picture. And the fact that I took it really fast. But this is one memory I will never forget of my time in Bloomington, so I thought I'd share the story behind it.

Last September, a friend of mine invited a group of friends to come with her to find "Indiana's Stonehenge," an interesting rock formation that was apparently less than an hour out of town. The excursion even involved a little hiking. True to my Jane Austen-loving roots, I decided to go looking for some rocks and mountains.

On the day of the trip, eight of us showed up.  We piled into two cars; my friend drove her car, and I followed in mine.  I didn't know where we were going, so she gave me rough directions to Stone Head, and said that if we got separated she would wait there so we could follow her the rest of the way.  Twenty minutes later, the above photo opportunity occurred.  Then we all piled back in the cars, and drove off into the fading sunset.  

We drove and drove and drove.  All through the winding roads of backwoods Indiana.  The roads were so windy I even pulled over to the side of the road for a while because we were all getting extremely carsick.  One thing was clear: we were lost.

After about two hours of driving we had finally backtracked our way through Indiana and found the trail.  Indiana's Stonehenge was a mere fifteen minute hike away.  But the light was almost gone by then, and there were only three flashlights between us.  We headed doggedly up the trail anyway.  When people started saying things like, "Hey someone shine a flashlight on this bush so we can memorize it and find our way back to our cars," we realized it was time to give up.  We went back down the trail, and decided on a consolation prize: pizza in the next town we came across.

On our way to the restaurant, we stopped and pulled over for a look at an old monument.  As you can see, there used to be a little town called Elkinsville, but it was relocated so a dam could be built.  I guess I got a little taste of Indiana history after all.

I still want to go see Indiana's Stonehenge, but this memory was fun on its own. Even though we never got to our intended destination, it was nice to be with friends and learn a little more about this place I've called home for the past two years.  Plus, now I've got a great picture of a stone head.