There’s still lots of exploring to do

It’s not exactly a bucket list.

Those do-before-you-die compilations strike me as inherently morbid. But, just the same, you want to make the most of things. And if there are opportunities in front of you, well you ought to make the most of them.

It doesn’t have to be crazy, ie. skydiving. And it doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive, ie. an around-the-world cruise.

Sometimes, these opportunities are in our own backyards.

I’m talking about state parks.

My wife and I have no specific plans, but we’re conscious of trying to visit as many state parks as we can, while we can.

So, what can we check off our not-a-bucket list?

•Ouabache, for starters. The Wells County site didn’t qualify for state park status when I was a Cub Scout, but it does today. We’ve hiked its trails on a Sunday afternoon.

•Whitewater. I think we’ve visited this one separately. Connie when she was a college student, me when I was in ninth grade. We may actually have camped there together, but my memory’s a little fuzzy.

•Clifty Falls. A gorgeous spot. We were there for an Associated Press Managing Editors confab years ago and would like to go back.

•Turkey Run. What a delight. We spent a weekend there a year or two ago. Both of us had been there as kids, but that was a lifetime ago.

•Dunes. We didn’t camp there but rented a cottage right on the lake, next to the state park, and hiked the park’s trails. As a kid, I’d always wanted to go there; but for some reason, it was never on the agenda.

•Brown County. With a daughter in Bloomington, this was sure to be on the list. We rented a cabin through a local agency and spent a couple of days hiking the park’s trails.

•McCormick’s Creek. This one was a day trip when we were staying in Brown County. Another delight.

•Spring Mill. On the map, it looks like a long drive. But it’s great for weekend camping.

•White River. That’s the downtown Indy state park we visited just a few weeks back with the grandsons.

•Pokagon. That’s one I’ve visited, but I don’t think Connie has ever been there. We camped there at various times when I was a kid, including one memorable visit when my mother got into it with park rangers and we left prematurely.

That seems like a pretty good list for a Hoosier.

But we’ve only scratched the surface.

Among those we’ve never visited are:

•Chain O’ Lakes, up near Albion.

•Charlestown, one I’d never heard of in Clark County.

•Falls of the Ohio, also down in Clark County. Maybe we can hit it and Charlestown at the same time.

•Fort Harrison, just outside of Indy.

•Harmonie, down near Evansville at New Harmony. It’s likely to make our list since I-69 has been extended south from Bloomington.

•Lincoln, down in Spencer County.

•Mounds. Now this is embarrassing. Next to Ouabache, it’s the closest state park to us. No excuse for not stopping by.

•O’Bannon Woods, down near Corydon. Worth a visit simply because Frank and Judy O’Bannon were two of the finest people we’ve ever met.

•Potato Creek. This one has me drawing a blank.

•Prophetstown. We ought to be able to work this one in when we’re over near West Lafayette.

•Shades and Shakamak, both in southern Indiana. I have vague memories of a family trip in that area when I was a kid, before the parks were ready to open to the public.

•Summit Lake, another embarrassing omission right in our own backyard.

•Tippecanoe River, a mystery to me.

•Versailles, a big, big park down in Ripley County.

So what’s our score? We’ve been to 9.5 (if you count Pokagon as a half since my wife hasn’t yet been there).

That leaves 15 to go. Looks like there’s some exploring to be done.