Tag Archives: fun stuff
My mama owed me
Katie here! I think it’s been a bazillion years since mama has let me write on her blog! That’s because she went away for a hundred million days and I had to go to doggie camp. She thinks it’s a doggie camp but it’s not like real camping and I should know! We don’t get to sleep in tents or sit around the campfire singing Kumbaya. Mama is just fooling herself.
Peep’s mom, Peep and me!
But I digress. Mama owed me big time for that long camp stay and so she set up a play date for me and Peep!
Meet my friend Peep!
You remember Peep, right? She’s a Swedish Vallhund and she and I like to go on long walks in the woods. We let our mamas come along too. Mostly because they drive better than us. And because they have treats.
Did someone say treats?
So anyway, we went to the park that Peep’s mom showed us last fall! My mama and I have been going there a lot, and we wanted to show Peep the trail we’ve been walking on. It is really pretty right now with all the fallen leaves!
Strolling along enjoying the fall colors.
We had a beautiful day, sunny and pretty warm, but not too warm, you know what I mean? Too warm is not good, because a princess (like me) doesn’t want to sweat in front of her subjects. If I, the princess, get too warm then everyone is going to have to deal with me, and it’s not pretty I tell you!
Mama kept trying to get a picture of the two of us together but we weren’t very interested in sitting nicely beside each other. We like each other and all, but it seemed like a waste of a good day in the woods to sit there quietly when there was so much stuff to smell!
This is silly.
But finally we sat sort of near each other. Then my mama called “COME!” and I took off running toward her.
Coming mama!
Notice how good Peep is? She didn’t move a muscle because it wasn’t HER mom that called!
You’ve got cheese…right?
I just kept going toward my mama cause I knew I’d get a treat (and I had seen her cut up that cheese before we left, I haven’t had cheese in a really long time and I wanted to get to her before Peep found out she had anything good!).
TREATS!!!
Then Peep’s mom called and Peep got to run over there for a treat too! We are both very good girls, and nobody tries to grab anyone’s treat.
Got anything good mom?
We had a really awesome time and we got to walk a very long way. I personally think our mamas were lost, but they’ll never admit it. We didn’t care, that just meant we got more time in the woods. We had fun running around.
Running off some extra treats.
I’m pretty sure Peep is sleeping now….I know I’m going to take a little nap myself. When we got home I had to get brushed some more…I guess I had a few hundred burs in my fur. I was good about that too, even when my mama said stuff like “oh dear” and “I’m getting the sissors” I didn’t worry too much. It’s all worth it just to have time in the woods with my mama and Peep and her mom.
Stylin
I hope we get to do it again, but it’s probably not going to be until next spring cause it’s hunting season around here now. I look a lot like a deer don’t you know. A very fashionable deer, but a deer none the less. So we’ll probably stick to my little park for awhile.
I think I should invite Peep over to do my park, don’t you?
Peep ….a very good girlfriend!
Lighthouses and waterfalls Part II
I know you’ve all been waiting with bated breath for the last installment of vacation photos. Those of you on Facebook have already seen where we were on Monday, our last day of vacation, but to keep my blog complete I’ll show you again!
Monday we were still in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so we stopped by Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We were only going to take a quick look, but it was so beautiful we couldn’t keep our visit brief.
Early in the morning there was still a mist over the water down by the lower falls.
Misty morning.
Of course we had to stop and enjoy that view…then we wandered down the boardwalk to get up close and personal with the river. If any of you have been here in the summer you know that people row boats over to the island in the middle of the river and play on the big flat rocks. Last Monday the roar of the water made even the thought of playing in the river impossible.
No playing on these rocks!
Like every waterfall we saw last week the water flow was much more than normal for this time of year. We stood there mesmerized for a long time.
Eventually we headed over to the upper falls, where you can stand on a platform right at the edge and watch the water rush by your feet.
Falling into fall.
Isn’t it beautiful? You can also go down 116 steps to the river…
Start counting!
…and get another stunning view.
Incredible!
Now we were really behind schedule, but we wanted to see one more lighthouse in the UP…and it wasn’t that far away, so after we climbed back up the stairs we popped over to the Point Iroquis lighthouse. Meet the man lucky enough to live in this one…
Telling us the history.
…and his cat Ziggy.
Ziggy the mouser!
It’s a beautiful lighthouse sitting right on the shore of Lake Superior, built in 1870. Part of it is a private residence, and part of it is a museum.
It’s a wonderful location.
You can go up in the tower for free; here’s one of the many beautiful views:
Commercial fisherman out there.
Then, reluctantly, we headed south for home. That included a foggy trip across the Mackinac Bridge, always a thrill regardless of the weather….
5 miles of bridge.
…and a stop in Mackinaw City which has the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse…
Lighthouse and bridge combo.
…and believe it or not, just two miles up the road the McGullpin lighthouse, built in 1868 and privately owned from 1913 to 2008.
Another gem.
It’s a beautiful little lighthouse with a view from the tower of the bridge. Don’t miss this one if you’re ever up in the tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula! I didn’t know it was there, and it’s only been open for a few years. They take donations, but you can go up in the tower for free.
By now it was late in the day and we still had hours of drive ahead of us to get home. No more dawdling, I had to be at work in the morning. So we headed for the freeway and hurried home. We’ve been home all week and I’m still missing ‘up north.’
Till the next trip I’ll just have to enjoy the memories.
Wordless Wednesday
WordPress Photo Challenge: Dreamy
You can see other interpretations of the challenge “Dreamy” at the original post here.
Or go here, here, and here for a few of my favorites. Or here.
Enjoy
Lighthouses and Waterfalls: Part I
I know you just can’t get enough lighthouses and waterfalls are always a favorite, so here’s how we spent Sunday in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, along Lake Superior’s shore. Sit down…this might take a bit of time.
On our way out of the Copper Country we stopped in Marquette, one of the largest towns in the UP. There we saw the Marquette lighthouse.
Pretty in pink.
It was built in 1866 and is the oldest building in Marquette. There’s a tour available, but we had so much to see that day we decided not to wait. We’ll be through Marquette again, and it’s now on our list of things to do on the next trip.
The museum there has a few retired Coast Guard boats out front, and I’m putting this photo in just for friend Michelle who is retired from the Coast Guard.
The stories they could tell!
These guys have seen better days, but still, they’re being recognized for their work keeping the waterways safe, so it’s all good.
Then as we were passing through Munising we stopped for a quick visit to Miners Falls.
Falling water in the fall.
We and about 30 of our closest friends walked the short walkway back to the falls and shot the obligatory picture. Then husband and I climbed stairs and shot one that was more interesting. There is a lot of water falling over the cliff, unusual for this time of year, which made it especially pretty.
Onward we went, heading east across the top of the UP to the Au Sable Light Station, located way out on an isolated point of land near Grand Marais. This is, perhaps, my favorite lighthouse, both because it’s beautiful and because it’s so isolated. As early as 1622 this bit of land was called the most dangerous place for ships during storms because of reefs just offshore. To get to the lighthouse, after you drive miles through beautiful countryside, you walk down a 1.5 mile path along the shore of Lake Superior.
Walking…walking…walking.
We had a beautiful day and enjoyed listening to the quiet little waves roll against the shore just feet from our path and the golden light streaming in through the fall colors. But still, the 1.5 miles seemed like more. And then finally, finally you could just catch a glimpse. Do you see it?
Almost there!
It’s a window and a bit of the tower. And as you move closer, and then explore the grounds you see what a wonderful building it is.
One light keeper and 2 assistants lived here.
And inside the rooms were huge, painted as they would have been in 1910, with wonderful views of the lake outside the many windows.
Interesting angles.
We stayed there a long time, and not just because we were resting up from the 1.5 mile hike in and the 94 stairs up to the top of the tower (where you could see views like this!)…or the thought of the 1.5 mile hike back to the car.
View toward Grand Marais. They used to walk there for groceries.
Really. It was just that it was so beautiful there.
We eventually had to move on…we wanted to get to Whitefish Point for sunset…many miles to the east. But first we stopped at Sable Falls, a waterfall quite close to the lighthouse. The information we had said the walk to the falls was only 500 yards from the parking lot. We knew we could do that, though we were stiffening up on the drive over there.
It is an absolutely beautiful waterfall!
Once again, lots of water for October.
They apparently didn’t think it was important to mention the 166 steps you needed to climb down in order to see this wonderful waterfall. Or the 166 steps you had to drag yourself back up after.
101…102…103….
But we made it, and lived to laugh all 500 yards back to the car.
Now we had to really hurry to get out to Whitefish Point, along the eastern edge of the UP, up at the top, it’s near where the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a November storm in 1975.
We arrived as the sun was sinking, the evening was warm, the light was pink.
Beach walking.
Sunday night the lake was deceptively calm and as we waited for the sunset we watched another freighter pass silently by.
Huge.
We walked maybe a half a mile or more down the beach, clambering over logs tossed to shore during past storms and slipping on smooth Superior polished stones as we chased the sun. We must have taken hundreds of pictures of the sky filled with peach and pink and then orange light. I’ll share just one. You can imagine the rest.
Sigh…
After the sun went down and the freighter slipped over the horizon we picked our way through the growing darkness to the car.
And we smiled.
Lighthouse Tuesday, UP Thursday
Original lens, Cana Island Lighthouse
Some of you remember when we traveled to Maine last July and took you along to see some of the lighthouses there. Well, this past Tuesday we explored Door County, that long peninsula that sticks out into Lake Michigan off the eastern edge of Wisconsin. There are several lighthouses along the coast and we found a few of them. Want to see a couple?
Below is Bailey’s Harbor lights. Ship captains lined up the red marker with the lights behind it (see the third structure way in the back?) to know they were in the deepest water of the harbor.
Bailey’s Harbor Range Lights
And here’s Cana Island Lighthouse, built in 1869.
Cana Island
You can go up to the top of this one and enjoy the beautiful view of the lake.
Lighthouse keeper (aka lighthouse docent)
That’s always the best part of lighthouses, at least for me. Going up the stairs and out into the fresh air with a stunning view. I like to imagine what it was like to live there every day.
Window on the world
Of course I imagine the beautiful sunny days like the day we were there, and don’t think too much about those long days in January and February. And March.
Then there’s Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, built in 1868. This one has a tour, but we had to be back in Green Bay for meetings and didn’t have time.
Eagle Bluff
It’s a stunning lighthouse, brick just glowing in the late afternoon sun, beautiful colors, the red roof, green shutters and golden walls. It looked like the quintessential lighthouse, sitting high above the lake, and it just glowed.
Windows watching
We spent the day Wednesday in important meetings surrounding truck safety, then Thursday morning we headed north, through stunning farm country in northern Wisconsin…
We saw these cement silos everywhere
…and on into the western Upper Peninsula where we stopped at an iron mine tourist attraction. Do you think this giant mining guy…
Miner guy
….looks a lot like the giant lobster guy we saw in Maine?
Lobster guy
Me too.
Tomorrow we’re going to explore a little bit of the Porcupine Mountains. It’s just past peak color here, still very beautiful. I’m hoping for sunny weather. Maybe with puffy clouds just for good measure.
Beautiful
I have a more serious, more contemplative blog to write about our meetings. It’s churning around in my mind and will spew out sooner or later. Tonight’s not the night. Tonight just enjoy the beautiful scenery.
We sure did.
Adventures!
Wordless Wednesday -last bit of summer.
On the road again…
As the last post hinted we’re on the road. Want to come along?
First stop was meant to be just a quick break, a little walk after a few hours of driving, a check of one of our favorite lakes.
Beautiful!
Lake Michigan. With a stiff wind from the west we got to see some pretty nice waves. I kept my camera hidden inside my winter coat most of the time; the sand was blowing with the wind.
Amazing!
There were huge waves being blown into the channel at South Haven. Pretty cool to watch. Someone I was with got his feet drenched.
Huge!
I did not. Just saying.
Then on past Chicago. I love Chicago…really I do, but we had places we needed to be, so we just waved at the city as we went by.
Chicago!
Milwaukee was really pretty from the freeway too. But I didn’t have the camera out and it passed in a flash.
By late afternoon we were near Port Washington Wisconsin. There were only two hotels advertised on the freeway, a Super 8 that we could see from the highway exit, and a Holiday Inn that was in the other direction. We headed toward town and the lake. And this was our view for the evening from our hotel room.
The other side of Lake Michigan.
This morning we are going to explore what appears to be a cute little town in search of breakfast a bit more satisfying than the buffet scrambled eggs and orange juice offered by the hotel for $6 each.
And so the adventure begins.
Good Morning!
Company!
Here we all are together.
Katie here. Guess what, guess what, Guess What!?!?! We had company this weekend! And Cole brought his Mom too! They were only here for a little while, just one evening and overnight, but I sure enjoyed visiting with them.
OK. I’ll be honest. I really enjoyed the canned pheasant that Cole’s Mom Jamie let me taste. After all I have always liked the finer things in life. Not that I ever get the chance to enjoy delicacies like pheasant with my mama, but I sure did like it right away!
Yummmmmmy!
Cole and I were OK with each other. I was a little bit more curious about him than he was comfortable with. Give me a break, how often do I get to sniff a boy’s, well, you know? I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by. But my mama and daddy were having none of it and I had to go on my leash after I wouldn’t leave Cole alone. Darn.
We sat out in the living room and talked for a long time. Cole had hurt his foot during the day on his trip north, and his Mom was trying to put ice on it, but he wasn’t having any of it. Still, he did get a nice tummy rub out of it, so I guess he felt pretty good.
Tickle tickle!
And then you know what he did? He took himself off down the hall and went to bed! All by himself! I guess he’d had a busy day and was tired. I know how that feels. I went off in the corner and went to sleep myself. But Cole went all the way to bed!
Nite nite Cole!
It sure was cool to have them visit us! My mama says she thinks this is the fifth blogger friend she’s met in person now! She and I went to visit Ricky’s Mom and Dad last year, and we went up to see Gerry and Sadie and Cowboy this summer, and mama’s been to see PJ and her dog Sarah, as well as Ellen and her dogs Tika and Boost without me (unfair!!)… and she says everyone is just as nice and fun as they seem to be in their blogs! Now she’s met Jamie and Cole!
Isn’t it cool that we get to meet people we’d never know without the internet? I think so. (Mama says she hopes she didn’t miss someone in her list above…if she did, let her know!) I think I need to make a list of all the people I can get mama to take me to visit…or you guys could all come up here – – right mama?
Well maybe not all at once…but we’d be pleased to have you!
Me and the flowers Cole’s Mom brought us! Aren’t they pretty!!
