Katie did a good job describing our latest camping trip. But she left out some of the pretty shots, probably because they didn’t highlight her. You know how she is. So here’s a few of the other pretty things we saw up there. Well. She didn’t see all of it, because she napped a lot.
Hope you enjoy!
This is my campsite!
Katie here. What? You thought mama likes camping in the rain? I guess she’s not opposed, as long as it’s a nice gentle rain that stops by morning and then the sun comes up and dries everything out before we have to pack it into the car. That kind of rain.
But of course that’s not what happened.
I’m getting ahead of myself though, let me start at the beginning. Last Monday we drove all the way over to Leelanau State Park; it’s way up at the tip of the little finger of Michigan, just north of Northport, one of mama’s favorite towns.
We went there so that we could visit a bunch of people, some of whom had never met me! The first person we hung out with was Karen, a friend of mama’s from years ago. They used to work together in the Upper Peninsula in the 80s. We had dinner at her house and mama and I ran up and down the 46 stairs to the beach a bunch of times while mama took pictures of the sunset that night.
I’m not scared of these stairs mama!
Mama has figured out that I’m not exactly telling the truth when I say I don’t do stairs. I ran down those 46 stairs no problem each time. And the first time back I forgot, and ran up halfway before I asked to be picked up! Bummer! Mama’s on to me now!
Sunset light makes me extra beautiful in my beach chair.
That night her friend came up and camped with us at our site. It was fun to have her hanging out with mama, though I have to admit I went to bed as soon as we got back to camp while mama and her friend drank wine and talked.
The next day mama and I went into town and visited Dog Ears Books in Northport. I didn’t get to meet the resident dog Sarah, because she wasn’t in that day, but I got to meet Sarah’s person Pamela, and I got to wander all over the store with my mama as she picked out a few books.
I like this store! Support your independent book seller!
We visited the marina too. I enjoy walking out on the docks and looking at all the beautiful boats. I imagine what it would be like out on the big lake on a sunny afternoon.
This one’s for sale mama, want to buy it for me?
It would be perfect as long as my mama remembered to bring the treats. Which she forgot a lot on our walks during this camping trip. Just saying.
Back at our campsite mama noticed a big beautiful cloud out over the lake. This park doesn’t have a beach, just a lot of bushes that grow in the water. So mama hiked out through those bushes and into the water to get a picture of the beautiful cloud and some sailboats.
The ‘path’ back to camp.
She figured her feet would get wet, but that was OK. When she finally came back to camp I had to say “I told you so mama!” because of course she got more wet than she expected. Mama never pays attention when she’s trying to get a good picture. Silly silly mama.
Really mama? You couldn’t keep your shorts dry?
She changed her shoes and her shorts and spent the rest of the day moving the wet things around the campsite, following the shifting sun. When we went to bed they were still pretty damp.
That night the whole campground was full! Most every single site had one or more tents in it. We had lots of crazy screaming little kids on one side of us and a whole big group of teenagers on the other side. It was a lot more noisy than before. But I was tired from all our exploring so I went right to sleep.
Peterson Park has a giant tree!
Mama had hoped she could try some star photography, so she set her alarm for 1:00 a.m. so she could go out and check the sky. Of course she got me up then too, to go do my jobs. She thought that by doing that I might let her sleep later than 6 a.m. It’s always good to have hope.
So at 1:00 we were outside, mama checking the sky, me checking for pee-mail. She said the sky wasn’t good for star shooting; to the west it was totally dark and there were clouds and stars just above us. Out over Lake Michigan it looked dark…like fog. Or something.
We walked about three campsites down the road so I could pee, and then mama felt weird being out there alone so late, and she tugged me back to our site. I didn’t want to go back into the tent but she insisted. And as she turned around inside to zip the door shut she noticed that the young tree on the other side of the road suddenly bent over in strong wind! That seemed odd because it hadn’t been windy when we were out there. And it wasn’t windy where our tent was only a few feet away.
So she watched. The tree whipped around, over and over, the waves began to crash, but the wind was louder than the waves. Mom was worried. Then the rain hit.
It came down in sheets, hard against the tent. Mama hoped the weight of us inside would hold the tent down. She worried about what she might have left outside. Like her shoes. And the tent bag. And who knows what else. I slept through the whole thing.
It rained hard from 1:10 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. Mama stayed awake through most of it worrying. But at 6:00 it seemed to stop, and she had to go to the bathroom (I guess listening to all that water will do it to some people!) so she woke me up and we crept outside. Things seemed to be OK. Her shoes were soaked, but other than that we were good. So we headed to the toilet. We were halfway there when the rains came back. Mama debated what to do. Go back to the tent? Or keep going? She decided what the heck…we were going to get wet either way, so we kept going. By the time we got to the toilet it was just pouring. We got soaked!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
Back at our site she gave up trying to keep anything inside dry, we just dove back into the tent. I was a mess. Mama was a mess. She dried me off with our last dry towel. Turns out I thought that was fun, almost like a game, so I made mama laugh even though she was dripping wet too. We went back to sleep. Well. I went back to sleep. Mama lay there worrying about how she was going to pack up the campsite in this pouring rain. She had to be out by 11:00 a.m.
Then guess what? The rain stopped at 8 a.m.! Really! It just stopped! Mama had already decided that she was going to pack up at 8, regardless. So she got up and got moving fast. I got put in my crate just to keep me from tracking more mud into the tent. I was not happy.
Not fair.
I am never happy when she packs up our tent. It’s my tent and I want to stay longer! Even if everything is soaked! It’s not fair that she put my in my crate in the car where I couldn’t see anything. But she says it’s just faster without me running around after her barking and getting under her feet.
I don’t want you to pack up mama!
I guess she’s right, because she got everything packed in an hour. We stopped on our way out to toss the garbage in the bin. It was about 9:10 when she popped out of the car to toss the garbage. The rain began again in earnest at 9:11. I swear, we were soooo lucky to get it all packed up in that one hour.
Through the rain we drove south around Traverse Bay, and then north along the other side. We were going to visit Gerry up near Eastport. I met Gerry a couple of years ago, along with her dogs the Cowboy and Miss Sadie. She lives near the water too and has a lot of stairs up to her house.
I’m not walking up all these steps mama!
Once again I had no trouble going down the steps but I made my mama carry me up every.single.time. After all, I am a princess.
Once inside her house I noticed immediately that there was a sofa! And I spent most of the evening napping on it, or Gerry’s chair. And mama and I got to sleep in a real bed! Gerry was very nice to offer us her spare room, especially since everything we had was wet!
Hey mama! A sofa!
I had a great time at Gerry’s house. We went for walks through the woods and we visited her neighbor and I got to nap while they were talking. I napped a lot on this trip. I think that’s one of the best parts about camping, all the naps.
What? I was just resting my eyes!
The next day we went for one more walk and then it was time to head home. I don’t know about mama, but I was exhausted!
Sure is pretty ‘up north!’
We stopped at my favorite park in Greyling, and a couple of rest stops, but most of the way home I was asleep. Don’t tell mama, she thinks I’m vigilant all the time.
At the little park in Greyling. It’s not raining!
It took mama two days to get everything totally dried out once we were home. I’m already asking her when we’re going again, but she says she’s tired. She slept a lot yesterday. Even more than me! I suppose I should let her rest for at least a couple more days before I bug her about our next adventure. Maybe we could stay in a hotel. I have to admit I did like sleeping on the bed that last night. We’ll see. I can always count on my mama to come up with something fun.
She says she has lots of pretty photos to show you and she’ll do that sometime if I ever finish this blog which she says has gotten way too long. Obviously she forgets I’m the princess of the house.
My mama. Secretly I think she likes camping a lot too.
Even when it rains.
Traverse Lighthouse!
Katie and I are just back from our latest camping adventure. So I have lots of images of fun. And Katie or I will be sharing them soon.
Meanwhile, as we were exploring Northport’s marina we noticed these two kids having fun climbing the giant limbs of a huge tree.
You can check out other interpretations of fun by going to the link above and looking through all the comments. Or you can check out a few of my favorites, here, here and here.
And stay tuned for the stories of our latest fun adventure. Coming to a blog near you very soon.
Katie here.
I suppose you’ve all been enjoying my mama’s photos from her trip way up north. Might I remind you that she was gone for two weeks and she left me and my daddy behind! I don’t know what she was thinking.
This is my back yard!
And do you know what is worse? When she came home she smelled like another animal! Not me! Something smaller and…dare I say it…more like a….a…squirrel! Whatever it was it had been all over her!
When she first came home I was all excited. I couldn’t control my wriggle-butt, it just kept moving! Then I smelled the evil on her. I still couldn’t keep my tail from wagging…and I had to give her a couple of kisses. But then it hit me….she had cheated on me!
This is my park!
Well, I backed right up and sat down and barked at her! And you know what she did then? She laughed at me! How could she!?
I thought about it long and hard, (OK…for about 3 minutes) and decided I was going to have to be the bigger doggie and forgive her. After all, she took me to my park the very next day.
And she’s been giving me tummy and ear rubs. And she feeds me. And gets up in the middle of the night to take me outside if I ask.
I couldn’t stop smiling!
So I guess I should let it go, right? I shouldn’t feel all jealous and cranky. I mean she did come home to me and daddy. I don’t know where she went or who she hung out with, but she came home to me. And that’s what matters.
That and treats. Of course.
Sun sets on another magical day.
What is it about a place? What is it that imprints a place on your heart? What makes a place feel like home whenever you’re there, even if it isn’t?
Sand ripples in rose light.
Are there places that put a magic spell over you? That cling to you when it’s time to leave, begging you not to go?
Wide expanse of beautiful.
Can you only have one special place like this? Or can a person have these feelings in more than one? Does everyone have such a place, perhaps hidden in their heart?
Happy little wave.
And who among us is lucky enough to live in that place that tugs at their heart? For a few months or even full time?
Orchards resting until spring.
I’ve spent two weeks in one of my special places, way up in the tip of Michigan’s little finger.
Used to be a working farm.
But I feel the same sense of belonging, the same tug on my heart when I’m in the Keweenaw Peninsula way way up north. So I know I can love more than one place at a time.
Maybe it’s the peninsula thing. Being on a spit of land surrounded by huge bodies of water. Maybe it’s being far away from a city and city lights.
Celebrating magical places.
Maybe it’s the crisp air, the huge vistas, the wind in the trees and the splash of waves on the beach.
In the shadow of Sleeping Bear.
Maybe it’s just magic. Maybe it doesn’t have to be understood.
Mountains of fun.
Maybe it just is.
The magic begins in nature.
Heather’s photography always makes me smile. Sometimes gasp. And I’ve been especially intrigued by her night photography. Some of you have seen her work. If you haven’t hop over to her website. I think you will be amazed.
I don’t know anything about pointing my camera into the night sky. But I’ve been up north for awhile, away from the city lights, and I’ve been waiting to experiment. Two weeks I’ve been waiting.
Monday night, my last night here, I took the garbage can out to the road and glanced up. I stopped in my tracks. There were stars up there. Finally a clear night!
Low dunes, clouds on the horizon and maybe a plane. Oh..and stars.
I read a few articles while I was at the lake, sorting out manual settings on the camera, though I still have a lot of things to learn about how to choose shutter speed, ISO and apertures. Monday evening, once I realized I had one night to try this, I watched a short video about camera settings and star shooting. Sitting in the warm living room I adjusted the settings on my camera and then took it and the tripod down the dark snow covered stairs to the beach.
I left the lights on in the house, hoping I could play around with a house shot, stars above. I haven’t figured it all out yet, and there was too much light. I got an odd sort of image, but in the process I learned a lot. I especially learned I should have brought a flashlight down with me. Using my cell phone to light up buttons on a camera works, but it’s not great.
I messed around with trying to do the house for awhile. Then I pointed the camera straight up at the night sky. Another thing I learned is it would have been a lot warmer to practice what all the tripod levers and knobs did while I was in the house rather than out on the beach. Live and learn. Right?
I think this is the milky way. It was obvious to me looking up at the sky…not so obvious in the shot.
Maybe the milky way. Maybe just a bunch of stars.
I had the ISO up as high as it would go, and the aperture open as far as it would go, and the shutter speed at 30 seconds. I think that’s as wide open as I can get this camera. But I’ll read more and see.
These shots aren’t anything that I really like, but I learned a ton. Now I have to learn how to get rid of the red cast. And oh so much more.
And even though it was only 9 degrees out there I was never cold, protected as I was behind a low dune, with no wind, and the sound of gentle waves lapping at the beach below me. In fact it was sort of pleasant.
Two chairs on the beach. One of my favorite subjects to shoot.
Maybe I wasn’t cold because I was busy doing something that fascinates me, something that I love, something that I plan on learning a whole lot more about.
Next time you’re somewhere in the dark take a venture outside, regardless of the temperature. It’s pretty amazing. Even if you don’t end up with fine art, it’s pretty amazing.
Orion’s belt is caught in the tree branches.
Up out of the warm darkness that is sleep you reluctantly emerge. One eye cracked open you see the triangle of an ear on the other side of a pile of pillows. It’s slowly moving toward you. The music of “Jaws” begins to waft through your sleep deprived brain.
The soft weight of the resident shark settles on your chest and then sneezes into your face.
Feed me.
Good morning Lydia.
It was a wonderful day today, one of my last in northern Michigan. I had lunch with friends down in Traverse City and then I came back through a beautiful gentle snowfall and fell asleep on the sofa with the cat. Perfect.
Since I didn’t take photos (well only a few) I thought I’d take you back to the Clay Cliffs Natural Area where I walked Saturday afternoon. I’d been there a few days before, and I almost didn’t go back Saturday but the sun came out and the sky turned blue and I figured why not take advantage of beautiful weather to make it all the way around the trails there. (If you remember I walked there before but got nervous about becoming lost because I hadn’t studied the map before I started walking, so I turned around and didn’t finish.)
Last time I was here there were 10 or 11 inches of fresh snow and only a couple people had walked the trails ahead of me. Each step was through deep snow and while it was beautiful, it was also taxing. This time multitudes of people had tromped through the woods prior to me. The path was wide and definite and easy to maneuver. I set off at a good pace.
An obvious path makes the walk easier.
I was more confident, knew where I was going, and the shortest way to get there. No meandering for me! Plus I wanted to get ahead of these guys who were getting all geared up with snowshoes and poles and stuff. I ran into them again on my way back out of the woods.
You really didn’t need snowshoes.
Pretty soon I was all the way at the back of the preserve; I could hear the lake’s chop distinctly. Around another curve and there was the viewing platform.
Wonder what I’ll see?
I had hoped there would be stairs leading down to the beach so that I could actually see the clay cliffs, but there wasn’t any way to get down there. The lake sure was pretty though.
Very windy up here. And cold too.
I started this adventure pretty late in the day, so I didn’t stay long on the viewing platform. I headed back into the woods to complete the loop. Pretty soon the path headed back into the field, the field I had tromped across last time, coming from the other direction.
I was so close last time and didn’t realize it.
It was a pretty walk, not at all intimidating, mostly because I knew I wasn’t lost. Amazing how a little doubt can override a good time. I’m glad I went back. Now I can say I’ve walked all of it. I think I should come back up here in the fall and walk the same trails again. It would be fun to see how they look in a different season.
Just a walk in the woods.
Now wasn’t that a nice walk? I’m glad you came along. It’s always nice to have company.
See you next time!
Late afternoon light.
I went for another walk in a nature preserve today and I planned on sharing that with you. While I was there the sun came out! Blue sky, shadows on snow in the woods, turquoise lake. It was all beautiful.
But do you know what was even more beautiful?
Tonight’s sunset! It’s the only sunset I’ve seen during the almost two weeks I’ve been here. Mostly the sky has been dark and ominous. Yesterday the clouds were almost purple – beautiful in their own way. But no sunsets.
Turning grass into gold.
So I decided to show you that instead. Sit down and relax. You’ll get to enjoy it from the comfort (and warmth) of your home. I, however, couldn’t help myself, I ran right out there into the wind. It was magical.
And then the sun began to set.
I’d already been out to the lake earlier in the late afternoon when I noticed the light had turned gold.
The light turned the waves to gold too. It was sort of mesmerizing. While I was trying to get the color recorded I’d notice myself watching through the viewfinder but not taking the shot. Just watching. Silly photographer.
Liquid gold.
Eventually I got cold and went back up the 40-something steps into the house. Where I almost immediately noticed that the sky was beginning to turn pink.
Turning pink.
I didn’t even take my coat off; just got better gloves and ran back down the stairs into the pink air. I was actually saying out loud “Oh my God, oh my God” as the light warmed and the world began to glow.
Sun is going down faster now.
The tops of waves were being blown by the increasingly blustery winds and they began to glow pinkish gold – like little tiny volcanoes.
Tinged with pink.
Wonderful.
Orange crush.
The sky to the south was turning more and more orange.
Orange sherbet.
The sky to the north was pink and purple.
Raspberry sorbet.
I was all alone, standing on a sandy snowy bluff and the entire sky had turned into art. It was indescribable. I turned my back to the wind, protecting the camera, and just watched.
Front row seats.
Bursting from my head and my heart deep thanks began to float on the wind. Thanks for being allowed to stay in this beautiful place. Thanks for one sunset during my stay. Thanks for being able to capture some of it to share with all of you.
Amazing doesn’t begin to describe the moment.
Overwhelming.
I guess you had to be here.
Thank goodness I was.
Gratitude.
Many of you have retreated to warm beaches, beaches with palm trees and lounge chairs, beaches that require sunglasses and sunscreen. Where you can dip your toes in the waves. I’m at a beach too, though it’s a bit different. Just a tad cooler and windier.
Since the windstorm Christmas Eve I haven’t been able to walk on the beach right here at the house. The big waves dug away the bluff and now it’s more like a cliff. Sure, I could hop, jump or maybe roll down to the beach. But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to get back up. And it’s way too cold to take that risk. So I’ve been looking longingly at the beach and staying up on the bluff in the wind.
Windy lake glows turquoise under a purple sky.
Today some neighbors stopped by to say “Happy New Year!” and I mentioned how I’d like to walk on the beach. They reminded me of a long staircase down in the next group of homes. They said it was covered in snow…but once maneuvered would lead me to a wide beach only a half mile or so away.
Well! This afternoon I bundled up, took the camera and headed up the street, down the stairs and out onto the beach. It was beautiful. And cold.
I’m teaching myself how to use manual camera settings.
Oh so cold. I shot a short video and thought my fingers would actually fall off. It’s posted on Facebook if you’d like to see it.
I found a very nice Petosky stone which was partially frozen into the sand. I got it chippped out and put the whole thing, frozen sand chunk and all in my pocket. I found another beautiful Petosky stone, but couldn’t get it chipped out of the ice. Most of the stones were frozen solid to the sand. Ah well.
Waves just keep on coming.
There were big boulders that had waves of ice and sand covering them from earlier in the day when the waves were higher. It was all beautiful.
All the photos in this post were from my walk on the beach. Notice how striking the sky was too. Every day the lake looks different. The sky changes. Wind and waves and light carve out a new view for me.
Giant ice cubes.
It’s going to be hard to leave this place, but soon I’ll be headed back to my husband and my Katie-girl. It will be good to be home, but it was very good to be here too.
Love my Lake Michigan.
Brrrrrrrr!
Change Is Hard 