Photography | Change Is Hard

October 12, 2014
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

Porcupine Mountains

So much to show you, so little time! Friday we spent in the Porcupine Mountains. I’ll wait while you go check a map to figure out where that is. (Elevator music now playing.)

Foot bridge over the Presque Isle River

OK. So now you know they are on the very western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, over by the Wisconsin border, but up along the coast of Lake Superior. What? You didn’t know Michigan had an Upper Peninsula? That’s another blog; for now I’ll leave it to you to do your research.

Patiently waiting…

The Porcupine Mountains are truly beautiful and desolate all at the same time. We spent a long time wandering the trails beside the Presque Isle River. It flows from the mountains and into Lake Superior….

The river meets the lake.

…over a series of waterfalls.

A man and his dog enjoy the view.

We hiked way up to the third in that series, through deep woods, over hill and across crevices …

In the woods.

…and through swamps.

Walking the plank.

It was wonderful. Not all of the trails were as strenuous. There’s something for everyone at the Porkies.

Just a walk in the park.

Thirty-three miles away but still in the park is Lake of the Clouds. Can you tell how it gets it’s name?

Clouds reflected.

The road climbs up and up and up and finally there you are, high above a beautiful reflective lake.

We were there in the morning so we had to wait for the sun to come up and out from behind some clouds…

And then the sun came out.

…but when it did the trees were spectacular even though it’s past peak leaf watching season.

Fantastic views.

There are many trails in the Porcupine Mountains. In fact you can hike from the Presque Isle River all the way over to the Lake of the Clouds along the edge of Lake Superior if you like.

Grazing.

That would take us about 15 weeks, but you could probably do it in less time if you train. It’s getting to be late fall now, you’ve got all winter to get in shape for a spring hike. Up here spring should arrive sometime the end of June.

Yep lots of time.

You get ready. I’ll wait here.

October 9, 2014
by dawnkinster 9 Comments

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!

October 8, 2014
by dawnkinster 18 Comments

Wordless Wednesday -last bit of summer.

October 6, 2014
by dawnkinster 13 Comments

It’s all about the water here.

We’ve been traveling up the coast of Wisconsin, along Lake Michigan. We didn’t get much further north today than where we stayed in Port Washington last night.

Morning fishing.

That’s because we slept in and then spent a few hours this morning exploring the pretty little town. We walked way out on the breakwater; it’s all huge rough stones that you have to climb up and down. When I was a kid this would have been a breeze. Now? Not so easy.

Walking the wall.

It’s harder than it looks!

Then on our way back from that adventure we came across a fisherman landing a salmon! Huge fish! I felt sorry for her (he said it was a female)…but it was still interesting to watch. It took two guys, one with the pole and one with the net to bring her in.

Almost as big as him!

After that adventure we wandered into town to find breakfast. As we walked up the main street we saw this beautiful church high on the hill.

Cute town.

Of course we had to go up there and see. Saint Mary’s Catholic Church is stunning, built around 1870, the stonework is beautiful. It’s beautiful inside as well, though we didn’t take any photos inside. It has an absolutely huge pipe organ up in the choir balcony.

St. Mary’s

Then we accidentally found the old lighthouse, built in 1860 while we were trying to find another way down the hill. Sometimes you find the prettiest, most interesting things when you just wander around! Too bad it’s only open on Sundays.

Old light house.

Finally we had breakfast which was actually lunch and then we headed north, mostly along the lake. What a beautiful afternoon we had, watching the lake, the birds, and seeing other lighthouses along the way.

Love this lake, from both sides.

Oh! I almost forgot! We also stopped in Manitowoc at a maritime museum and got a tour of a WWII submarine!

Submarine!

During the war the country didn’t have enough capacity to build all the subs that were needed, so they tapped a shipbuilding company here in Wisconsin to build more. They towed them down the Mississippi to get them to the ocean. This one, like the one we toured out in LA, was really interesting inside.

Forward torpedo bays

So that was our day. Now we’ve settled in for the night. We’ll see a bit more in Door County Wisconsin tomorrow, then head over to Green Bay for meetings tomorrow night and Wednesday. We’ll share more when we’re able.

Meanwhile, hope you enjoyed the scenery as much as we did! (Some photo credit goes to the husband.)

Evening sun + red lighthouse = magic

October 6, 2014
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

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!

October 3, 2014
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

WordPress Photo challenge: Signs

Many years ago, seven to be exact, I spent a week in New York City as an intern at the Queens Public Library. It was part of my graduate school experience, and it was wonderful. Not the internship so much, but the New York City experience. It was my first time there, and I negotiated the subway from down near Chinatown out to Queens every day and just soaked in the…well…the New Yorkness…of it all.

This week I’m very busy in a different part of the country and I don’t know if I’ll find a new shot that I find interesting. So for this photo challenge I’ll give you one from that week in March of 2007.

Signs of a commercial shopping center reflected in the windows of the Queens Library. It made me smile then, it still makes me smile today.

I hope you smile too.

To see other examples of signs go here to the original post and check out the comments. Or here and here and here are a few of my favorites so far. There’s still a whole week to post so there will be lots more of wonderful interpretations I’m sure.

If I were you I’d check back at that original post again in a few days!

September 19, 2014
by dawnkinster 10 Comments

WordPress photo challenge: Endurance

Endurance..is the power to withstand something challenging… according to Vocabulary.com. For this week’s photo challenge I could have gone in a dozen directions. But I decided to honor family farms; my mom grew up on one and it’s an honorable, though difficult lifestyle. So for this week’s challenge I give you — a soybean farm:

Because it’s beautiful. And because it endures.

You can see other interpretations of endurance here, here, here and here.

Or go to this link and see many more.

Enjoy.

September 17, 2014
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Wordless Wednesday – or why we have no tomatoes.

September 3, 2014
by dawnkinster 6 Comments

WordPress photo challenge – dialogue

Two photos that relate to each other is called a photo dialogue. We didn’t get to Smith Mountain tower this trip, but here’s my photo dialogue from last February when we climbed the mountain.

You can see other interpretations of photo dialogues at this WordPress blog. Or you can find a few of my favorites here, here and here. And this one too.

August 27, 2014
by dawnkinster 5 Comments

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Photography