Okay, Mark, when you come to the dinosaur Museum, you might not be ready for a hike, but there is an opportunity to hike, right?

Oh, yeah.

We have about five miles of trails, and this one is where you start.

Your adventure begins, and you make a hike up to the Continental Divide.

It's 840ft above sea level, and you get to go through a prairie.

And we have buffalo and we just have some new babies, which is amazing because there aren't a lot of buffalo in Indiana.

Are they all?

There used to be.

You know, it's on our state symbol and our our state, our flag.

And we've forgotten that the prairies began here.

I think Indiana is kind of bad at telling its story.

The prairies actually began right in South Bend and extended out west.

Really?

Yeah.

There were Patch Perry's prairies here and the early explorers LaSalle and Charlevoix and all these guys mentioned the beauty of it.

So.

And you're bringing it back here?

Well, we're trying to bring it back.

You know, we drained a lot of the swamps, and this is our little way of developing in harmony with nature instead of the way we've traditionally developed and talk about that, because there's a lot that you're doing that is focused in the nature realm.

Well, not, I don't know, nature.

You know, we're going to continue to develop.

And I don't know why we can't develop a model where we give a leave a home for nature.

Yeah.

It's a very sustainable.

Like there's fox and deers and everything out here.

And we're connected now to the lighting bog.

And the governor has given us money to build the Continental Divide Trail.

And hopefully it goes all the way to to Potato Creek State Park.

And why is it important to focus on the continent?

Well, I don't know.

It's a tourist attraction.

It's it's something that's an asset that's, you know, undiscovered.

Yeah.

It's always been here.

And we just want to tell that story and do a little good for nature, too.

Now for the trail itself.

Is it all paved?

It's not all paved.

There are different surfaces.

So what kind of accessibility do we need to know of for?

Well, we have some accessibility but not complete okay.

So and we're and eventually pave it all.

But there's there's a little stretch of gravel.

Good for people to know.

All right.

We're going to head up towards it.

All right.

Let's do it.

Okay.

We are up the hill.

Move it into the Continental divide.

This is it.

Like, do I walk right here?

You're right on it right now.

And I'm, frankly, out of breath.

It's not too bad of a path for those folks who are coming up here.

This is doable.

It's manageable.

And mostly, at least as far as we've gotten here, it's easy to access to.

So, I mean, we're right here.

How many continental divides are there in North America?

Well, there are five.

And so we're just having a little informational, just like a national park.

There are five.

And we're here now in case you get lost.

Good to know.

And see this is worn down because everybody's going.

Everybody touches that.

They take their picture there.

You know this has been amazingly successful.

No one thinks of Indiana and thinks of the Continental divide.

It was just here.

And also, you know, our history in the city is tied to to all the glacial erratics that you see around here, the boulders, the Plymouth Rock was the grotto at Notre Dame, Tippecanoe Place, all of our famous buildings.

We have one of our big rocks at our home is one of them as well too.

And then we moved it from another space and and so many people.

So there's a, you know, history from ten, 13,000 years ago is told right here.

And we have a very neat puddingstone there, very rare today.

This comes from near Sault Ste.

Marie in Canada at a cliff.

And it was brought all the way to South Bend, Indiana, 352 miles.

Oh my gosh.

And it contains semi-precious stones.

And it tells the story of the glaciers coming from that Canadian shield.

Yeah.

So, I mean, this is an important space, especially for folks who are interested in science.

Yes.

Said that.

Wondered why the state didn't buy the property.

Well, I told him they could if they wanted.

If the price is right now, it's yours.

And it's for everyone to experience that, too.

All right, let's keep walking.

Oh, now I hike this in high heels so I'm sure anybody can make it up here.

But we're standing over the buffalo pasture, and I want to point out there are some new friends out here.

We have five new baby buffalo.

That's amazing.

It's part of a breeding program.

Yeah.

I think, you know, we want to we want to expand and really have a buffalo preserve.

Indiana Buffalo preserve here.

And this is just the modest beginning.

I love it.

Well, I want people to come see it for themselves.

Okay.

But I'm starting to get a little bit hungry.

So can we start heading towards the chocolate that I know you for?

There's a lot.

Yes.

Okay, let's do that.