Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Monthly Archives: September 2019


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Three cities in one week has to be a record

We’ve been away – yes again. In the space of one week we were busy in Baltimore, MD, Washington DC, and St. Louis, MO. Not long enough at any of them, but all together too long to be away so soon after getting home from our Canadian adventure.

Katie says no more trips until she gets to do something fun.

Winging our way to Baltimore on Southwest very early Monday morning.

I didn’t take my laptop or my camera, and most of the time that was fine. We were too busy to do much in the evenings anyway, except collapse and try to rest up for the next day. But there were probably five or ten or a thousand times during the week that I wished I had my big camera with me.

Oh well, the photos in this blog were all taken with my phone which does an OK job, and in some situations even a better job, than the big camera would have.

Baltimore street in evening light.

So let me catch you up on our travels!

We flew last Monday into Baltimore where we stayed with a friend who, along with a journalist, has written a book about the horrendous experience of losing his wife in a truck crash. His two sons, also with her in the car, were injured, one of them permanently.

A little corner of the library caught my eye.

The book release was last Tuesday and we attended the author event at a huge, beautiful public library in downtown Baltimore. It was fun and we enjoyed supporting our truck safety family member Ed as he spreads the word about unsafe trucks and the extraordinary costs regular families pay so that goods can get to all of us faster and cheaper. And why that has to change.

The next morning we took a train from Baltimore to Washington DC, were we spent the next three days in meetings, educating our lawmakers about four bills we’re supporting.

The DC public transportation system is amazing. Locals there don’t appreciate it as much as those of us who only visit.

It’s a different sort of feeling being proactive rather than reactive. For once we’re asking for support on safety related bills instead of protesting unsafe trucking provisions attached to pending legislation.

One evening we spent the golden hours up near the Capital…

The sun sets on another day of work trying to make our roads safer for everyone.

…and noticed the sun shining off of the Supreme Court building. They were letting people climb the court’s steps, not something that’s always allowed. So of course we ventured up too.

Sitting on the steps of justice.

And just as we were moving on, heading to the train station for our trip back to our hotel, the sun made the building glow.

Like a painting.

Evening back at the hotel was nice too. Our view of the Rosslyn area was stunning, though I was usually too tired to appreciate it.

The phone camera does night shots really well.

Another evening we went to see a baseball game.

Going to the game.

It’s the end of the season, and the local Washington Nationals have already clinched their playoff spot. But the crowd was still excited to be there.

Getting the fans excited.

And as the sun set and the sky went dark the game began. It was perfect out at the ball park, balmy weather, a bit of a breeze…

Play ball!

…and the Nationals won!

It was a good game, lots of scoring, lots of organ music and lots of people watching.

After the game we dawdled on our way back to the hotel, waiting for the crowds on the Metro to thin out. We sat by a fountain at the DOT and watched the water change colors and height.

Blue and pink and green and red lights made this a fun fountain to watch.

Lots of people stood among the trailing water. I just took pictures. No sense heading back to the hotel with wet shoes. Or worse.

Soon our time in DC ended. Saturday morning we headed back to the airport to fly to St. Louis.

Southwest flies out of an older, sort of retro part of National airport. This is the center post and I thought it was cool.

Why St. Louise you ask? Well, this has gotten long enough so I guess you’ll have to wait and see. Plus we pick up you know who tomorrow morning so I need to get my sleep tonight. She’s going to be in a fine fit and I’ll be occupied for some time trying to placate the princess.

You never know how that will go. Well. I guess you do know how that will go, and if you don’t I’m sure she’ll tell you.

Stay tuned.

Oh, she’s going to make us pay for having fun without her. Guaranteed.


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Oh Canada!

What’s on Canada’s Lake Superior shore you may wonder. Well, I can’t show you everything, it’s a big lake, and a long shore after all, but I can show you a few of the things that caught my attention.

First of all, there are a lot of waterfalls, most of them huge. I liked the big vistas…

Kakabeka Falls, near Thunder Bay

…but I really enjoyed trying to capture some of the smaller details, like these shelves of rock with water pouring over.

Water cascading.

Some people enjoy seeing the water smoothed, other people like seeing the droplets.

Another view of cascading water.

I like waterfalls both ways.

Also near Thunder Bay is a memorial park honoring Terry Fox, the young man who was running a marathon a day, across Canada, to raise money for cancer research.

Looking out over Thunder Bay. Forever young.

The park marks the spot he had to stop, back in 1980 when his cancer returned.

One day we were driving through Thunder Bay when I noticed the sun on a red ship moored out in the bay.

Wondering if the sun will wake the gentle sleeping giant.

Only later, looking through images, did I realize that in the background I had accidentally captured the sleeping giant. Do you see him? I almost cut off his head!

Here’s another view of the sleeping giant. Way up there is where we watched the sun set one evening, you saw those images in an earlier post.

The giant sleeps on.

Not far from Thunder Bay we stopped at another fur trading post, Fort William, and learned more about how the fur trading business worked.

There was another huge information center.

Notice the porch pillar is a tree sitting on a rock.

With lots of beautiful art inside.

Wood carvings inside.

And then you could take the shuttle or walk through a beautiful woods to get to the fort.

A beautiful walk, though we took the bus back to our car after our long tour of the fort.

Once there we were taken on a guided tour.

Trading modern goods for valuable furs.

There was a hierarchy in the business, among the owners or stockholders, and those that went into the wild to trade pots and pans for furs, and those that worked in the post.

The dining room. Depending on your rank you got to sit in different areas of the room.

It was interesting to realize that, in the end, it was the fashion industry that drove all this activity. The furs were sent back East to be made into felted hats, to edge beautiful gowns, or to be made into coats for the wealthy and powerful.

After our official tour we were allowed to wander through the rest of the buildings inside the fort.

Canoe maintenance building.

Lots of interesting places to explore, all labeled in three languages, English, French and the Native American language of the Ojibwa.

Three ways to say the same thing.

After we left the Thunder Bay area we stopped at an amethyst mine. Apparently there’s a relatively small area of Canada that has amethyst.

Explaining how the stones grown in fissures in granite.

This family has owned the land for several decades and gives short tours to explain how amethyst grows. It was pretty.

Pretty in purple.

But I was just as attracted to the old trucks parked on the land.

These guys have paid their dues.

We still had a long way to go, so we moved on…back along the shore of Lake Superior, with it’s beautiful blue water and rocky or sandy beaches.

Miles of beach, endless water and sky.

Some of it is hilly, small mountains really, and along the way we came around a curve to see this:

It looked like a toy, the bright colors of the train against the green of the mountain and the brilliant blue of Lake Superior.

It looked like a toy train going around the mountain. Luckily there was a scenic overlook right there so I got to capture the sun glinting off all those cars of containers.

Oh, I can’t forget to show you the giant Canada goose…

Located at an information center. Make sure you stop in when you go by.

… and Sandy Beach where a group of seven artists used to paint.

A lovely spot to paint.

And the wild blueberry farm we drove through, the berry plants already turning red in preparation for fall.

The colors were gorgeous.

And of course I can’t forget to tell you about the pictographs in Lake Superior Provincial Park.

We figured a short walk down to the shore would be easy. We were wrong.

400 meters. A piece of cake. Unfortunately no one told us we’d start looking like the dog and return looking like the pictograph.

It was a very rocky, uneven trail. One way down went between these huge granite cliffs. It was sort of like walking down a natural stone staircase in a grand home.

Going down.

Once we finally got down to the shore, covered in huge slabs of slippery granite, we found a few pictographs.

Ancient images.

There were more, and some larger, further along the ledge, but we didn’t want to risk sliding into the cold lake, especially with no easy way of getting back out!

Not going any further than this!

Then we started the long trek back to the car, following the other path which was strewn with boulders.

It was a long, difficult climb back up to the car.

Maybe if the lake level is down this would be a fun thing to do again. Or not.

After that adventure we were ready to stop, but we kept driving until we got to Sault St. Marie, Onterio where we finally rested for our last night in Canada. We loved our trip around Lake Superior. Who knew that was a thing?

I’m sure I missed telling you about some of the sights, but that just means you’ll have to come on up and do it for yourself. I’m sure you’ll find even more delightful things on your adventure.

If nothing else, there will always be the waterfalls!

September is the perfect time to explore Ontario!

If I were you I’d put Ontario on your bucket list.


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Almost to Canada

Well, on my last travel post I thought we were ready to cross the border into Canada, but as I sorted through photos I realized there was still plenty to see in Minnesota.

Enjoying Lake Superior on a warm summer afternoon.

Unless this post gets really long there’s no way I can get you through Minnesota and all the way across the northern shore of Lake Superior and back to the border at Michigan.

Everywhere there are ships loading and unloading.

Let’s just see how far we get.

I didn’t want to move on without telling you about Gooseberry Falls, north of Duluth.

I was fascinated by the exposed tree roots as much as by the falling water.

There are a couple of sets of waterfalls, all of them were beautiful when we were there. You could walk on the rocks very near the falls if you wanted, or stay on the trail. The trail took you further down the river where you could get a view of all the falls at once.

Most waterfalls we saw have upper and lower falls.

And even further north is Grand Portage National Monument. We stopped there because we were expecting an historical monument. Maybe a marker.

Pretty impressive.

But there’s a beautiful information center…

One of the interior murals.

…and guided tours of the restored trading post.

Explaining the birch bark Indian shelters.

We explored the interiors of several buildings…

The kitchen and the dining room.

…and then the lake shore itself.

The gate down to the dock where boats full of goods would land.

I could have stayed out on the dock for the rest of the evening.

Such a beautiful evening. The clouds were perfect.

It was getting late and we were almost to the border, so reluctantly we moved on.

But wait! There was another set of waterfalls, on the Pigeon River, in the Grand Portage State Park. The river makes up the border between Minnesota in the United States and Ontario Canada. Should we stop? It was chilly and starting to rain. It was late in the evening and getting dark.

Of course we stopped.

There weren’t many people out there, but the walk was relatively short, maybe only half a mile back to the falls. We hurried as the rain came down harder.

The High Falls on the Pigeon River.

We could hear it before we saw it. The falls were magnificent, and we were glad we made the trek. The walk was on a paved path most of the way, not difficult at all, which made it easier for us to sprint back to the car.

Now we’re ready to head into Canada! But that will have to wait until the next post. I think that blogging while sleepy could be a problem.

And you know I’m all about safety. Stay tuned.

Surprise, there are more waterfalls in Canada!


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Weekly smile

Too much travel lately made me lose track of the weekly smile. It definitely wasn’t intentional, because I truly believe the world can use more smiles.

Just a little bit of pretty.

So today, when I remembered I hadn’t officially smiled in a couple weeks, I headed out to find you something to smile about.

I’d like some of these in my garden.

Sure I could have just given you the Canadian images, but those weren’t from this week. And even though looking at travel photos always makes me smile I figured I should find something new.

The place was abuzz.

Just about a mile up our country road is a corner filled with pyramid shaped goldenrod and dark purple asters. If I happen to go by when the sun is low I can’t help but be mesmerized.

There were tiny white asters too.

So I smiled a lot as I wandered in this little patch of pretty, even though my target for today’s smile was another place a few miles up the freeway.

A garden further up the road.

Yep, just a couple exits north of here is a swanky subdivision that I drove by yesterday on my way to buy birdseed.

A pretty fancy entrance.

I hadn’t been up there most of the summer, so I was amazed to see the entrance, full of huge canna lilies and tall dahlias heavy with blossoms.

Such amazing colors!

Somebody in this subdivision has a green thumb and a whole lot of money.

An end of summer burst of energy.

Still, it was stunning in an entirely different way than the little yellow and purple field near my home.

Every year, at the end of summer the annual gardens just glow. We could have a frost any time now, and all of this will be gone.

The tallest cannas I’ve ever seen.

So I was happy to capture a bit of it so that I can remember it during our long winter months.

I hope the colors made you smile too. What else made you smile this week? Write a post and link to Trent’s blog so we can all share smiles together!


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Ashland Wisconsin and Duluth Minnesota

Katie has released the blog back to me so that I can get back to the travelogue…we circled Lake Superior in late August and early September. There was lots to see.

Sturgeon at the Duluth aquarium.

I could do a separate blog about each town we visited, but in the interest of saving some time, here are just a few images from a couple towns before we headed into Canada.

The side of the co-op was covered in a beautiful mosaic. This is only about a third of it.

Ashland was a town in Wisconsin that we were just driving through on our way to Duluth. We weren’t planning on stopping there, in fact the road moved north of downtown, following Lake Superior’s shore.

But we saw a sign that referenced ‘public art’ with an arrow pointing toward downtown, a block away, so we turned toward town. And we were astounded by our first glimpse of huge murals painted on the sides of many of the retails buildings.

The flowers complimented the beautiful mural.

At first we were just going to take a couple of pictures and move on. But then we realized how outstanding these pieces of art were and we parked and walked from one end of town to the other.

These women were real people who worked at the local diner back in the day.

I’m only showing you a fraction, they were all worthy of photos and I took pictures of all of them on the main street. I think there were a couple more further away.

Sometimes the murals melted right into the afternoon sky.

If you ever get the chance to visit Ashland I recommend giving yourself an hour or more. Plus there was an absolutely wonderful burger place right downtown. I had a really good bean burger.

Mural reflections.

I recommend visiting there too.

Then we got back on the road, heading to Duluth.

The bridge into Duluth.

Duluth is a working town, lots of ships coming and going. While we were at the aquarium we saw a big ore boat come into port. And no matter where we went ships were loading or unloading.

I liked the grey ship with the grey sand against the blue sky and water.

You saw the post about the mansion in town. There’s also Pattison State Park, named after the family that built the large house.

Upper falls. It’s hard to see just how big these falls are.

Lots of waterfalls there, and I was still figuring out settings to make the water smooth. Sometimes I got it right.

Working on my fluid water technique on the lower falls.

The first night we stayed on the top floor of a hotel with a view of the city.

Lake Superior, a ship, the iconic Duluth lift bridge and a cloud front. Perfect.

At night it was so pretty. I could show you that…but you can imagine it. I sort of liked this shot from our window.

Lots of color at night.

Just because it’s fun.

OK, OK…here’s the real night shot.

Took this one with my phone. Phones cameras are amazing.

The second night we stayed at a hotel down near the marina with a lovely view of the bridge and boats.

Early morning light on the marina.

Plus we got to drive across the famous lift bridge!

Crossing the bridge.

After two days of sightseeing in Duluth, visiting mansions, lighthouses, waterfalls, the aquarium and Lake Superior we moved on, heading north into Canada.

Pretty and peaceful at the Duluth aquarium.

I guess I’ll have to post at least one more travel related blog or I’ll have abandoned you at the border.

Roses in full bloom at the Leif Erikson Park at the edge of Duluth as we left town.

And there’s plenty to see in Canada.

Stay tuned.

Building on a building in Ashland.


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Exploring

Katie here. I know, I know, you’re expecting more photos of mama and daddy’s latest trip. Trust me, there are definitely more in mama’s files.

But geeze! Have you all forgotten about me?

Come walk with me in my backyard!

I’ve spent an awful lot of time at camp this summer. Don’t get me wrong, they treat me great there, but it’s not the same as being under mama’s feet. So since I’ve been home I’ve become something of a Velcro dog, never further than a foot or two from mama.

I kind of love my backyard!

Today I asked her if we could please take a tour around my yard, so I could make sure that everything was still copacetic out there, given I haven’t been around much, and mama said “OK baby girl! Let’s go explore the yard!”

Mama’s abstract of my fur.

We stopped at my zinnia garden which replaced my tomato garden of years past. I have to say I like tomatoes much better than silly flowers. I may be a Princess, but flowers don’t do a thing for me. Give me a ripe cherry tomato any time. Especially one I can pick off the vine for myself.

I ask you – how are these flowers better than tomatoes?

I’ve put in an Executive Order for tomatoes next year.

Way in the back of the yard daddy has been trimming trees. Do you see me in there?

I’m in there, hiding from mama!

How about now?

I’m right here mama!

Mama took so many pictures that I finally just laid down in the nice cool grass. No sense trying to rush her when she’s got that camera in her hand.

Yep, might as well take a break.

Mama also says to tell you her finger is healing. The bruising is all gone but the doctor says the bone hasn’t healed completely yet. It’s only been three weeks but mama says it feels like she’s been injured forever. She went to her first physical therapy session today.

She says it’s going to be a long fall.

I told mama that Fall is my favorite season!

Anyway, I enjoyed my wander around my yard. Things look OK, so I feel justified in taking a nap now. Never used to be that the backyard was equated with an adventure, but hey, I’m a senior, adventures can happen anywhere!

Yep, everything is good over here.

Talk later, mama says more travel photos are on deck next.

Zzzzzzzzzz…


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Michigan sights

I’m sifting through images from our recent road trip around Lake Superior.
There are so many places I didn’t show you, that didn’t happen to fit into the particular story I was sharing on the blog.

How about I show you a few of the pretty things we saw on the first part of the trip, in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan – I’ll show you Wisconsin, Minnesota and Canada soon!

There’s a town in the UP called Christmas. When I lived in the UP in the early 80s there wasn’t much in Christmas except a post office that was busy during the end of year holiday season as people wanted their cards postmarked from Christmas, Michigan.

Santa stands under stormy skies hawking his casino.

In August when we drove through Christmas on our way to somewhere else we were amazed to see that apparently Santa has sold out.

We stopped in Munising for a night. You saw the waterfalls we saw there, but you didn’t get to see the sunset over Munising Bay. It started out kind of slow.

Lots of clouds but not much color action.

I got bored with the clouds and started messing with camera settings, not paying attention to the sky. But a quacking duck flew by and I glanced up. And gasped, as the sun was touching the top of the hills across the bay.

Those hills are on fire!

Eventually the sun died and the sky turned pink. We didn’t leave until the sky was black.

It turned into a colorful evening after all.

And on another evening we watched the sun set over Lake Superior. It didn’t turn out to be much, but it was fun to watch people playing in the waves.

A warm summer day at the beach comes to an end.

There’s a ‘covered road’ near where I used to live. I’d forgotten all about it, but while we were exploring I saw a sign pointing the way, so we turned right and I’m so glad we did. I remember this being stunning in the fall.

Miles of tree lined road with sun filtering down.

When we came out the other side of the covered road my husband caught, out of the corner of his eye, a huge metal dam. Well of course we had to stop and explore.

Lots of metal angles made for photography fun.

And speaking of exploring, when I lived in Hancock I often passed the Quincy Mine buildings, abandoned and falling apart. Now they’ve been restored and the site offers tours.

I always thought this building was beautiful.

Of course we went.

This huge hoist has been sitting inside the building for more than a century.

I’m so glad we did, it was fascinating and nostalgic, all at the same time.

So much history here.

We were driving across the UP one morning when I noticed a commotion up ahead in the ditch. Several large birds lifted off as we approached, and I caught the spread of a huge white tail. They were all bald eagles!

They were just amazing.

They flew up into the trees there, and we turned around to see what was happening. While I was changing to the long lens most of them flew away. The light was bad, my settings, in my haste, were wrong, but I got a few shots, mostly bad, from which I could crop a few images.

He was looking at me, I swear!

And just before we left Michigan we stopped at Lake of the Clouds in the western part of the UP.

You can see the scale by the size of the people in the upper left part of this image.

This lake never fails to delight, no matter the season.

You can click on any of the images to make them larger and to see more detail. Of course on those eagle crops the detail is already lost, but I couldn’t help but share that experience regardless of the quality of the pictures.

Soon I’ll show you a little of Ashland Wisconsin and Duluth Minnesota and Thunder Bay Canada. And maybe more!

More history awaits.


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Hotel carpet recap

A family friend travels often for work and began posting what she called her “ugly hotel carpet” pictures a few years ago. I caught the bug and have posted on Facebook my version of ugly hotel carpets during some of my travels. This past two weeks several people mentioned that the carpet images might make a great collage.

So let’s see what WordPress will produce if I provide the images.