travel | Change Is Hard

June 4, 2015
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

WordPress Photo Challenge: On the Way

If you’ve ever taken a train across a state or a country you know you’ll see a lot of small towns on the way. Specifically you get to see the backs of a lot of small towns.

And that’s what I thought of immediately when I read the WordPress Photo challenge for this week which tasked us to find a photo of something ‘on the way.’ So here’s the back of my own small town. You’ll have to imagine that I’m on a train.

You can see all the interpretations at the original post. Or see a few of my favorites, here, here and here.

And this one made me go ‘oooooooh!”

Take a moment and go enjoy their work, leave a comment or two here and there to let them know you enjoyed their choices. One of the best things (other than going out on the hunt) is seeing photos from all over the world, seeing things you’d never get to see without everyone’s contribution.

What do you notice on your way to somewhere else?

May 18, 2015
by dawnkinster 16 Comments

Five photos, five days #4

Once upon a time there was a little girl who watched the planes overhead and wondered where everyone was going. She imagined them landing in some exotic place like California or Arizona or Florida or Hawaii. Places away from here.

Turns out that little girl grew up to be an adult who watches planes overhead and wonders where everyone is going. And she still imagines them landing in exotic places like Paris and Rome – – or less exotic but away from here places like Kansas or South Dakota.

And even though she’s been lucky enough to see all of these places she still wishes she was on the plane or the train or just the road going somewhere away from here.

Today’s post is part of Carol’s challenge – Five photos, five days, where you post a photo and tell a story, fiction or not, maybe even poetry. And each day you nominate someone to play along. Today I nominate Lassie and Benji…sort of a two for one. Because their mom takes fun photos and I’m sure she will have some stories to tell. Not on Lassie or Benji, of course, just about Lassie and Benji!

January 15, 2015
by dawnkinster 25 Comments

Planning our escape

Pretty light

This is that in between time here in the Midwest. After the warm holidays filled with lights and family and good food and days off work but before the seed catalogs filled with lush green images of plants and blossoms and the LL Bean catalogs filled with swimsuits and walking shorts fill our mailboxes with hope. For many of us it’s an empty time of year filled with cold windy gray afternoons sandwiched by cold dark mornings and early dark evenings. Some of us can only see endless days of shoveling snow and scraping windshields.

We think it will go on forever.

And so we dream. We dream of warm sandy beaches and blue skies. Palm trees or dessert cacti. Maybe both. And we plan. We look at maps and brochures, scout destinations online. We huddle around our fireplaces or over warm drinks and talk about exotic sights, intoxicating music, crowded markets. Heat. Laughter. Fun.

Sometimes we get to go on those dream vacations. Sometimes it’s not possible. But here’s the thing. While we are dreaming and planning, researching and reading, we experience the fun and sun in a different way. We get to explore the possibilities and the impossibilities. And it is fun. Our souls warm while we dream and plan. The days get lighter, we notice the sun more often.

The weight of winter slips just a bit.

In these last weeks of January take some time to dream, even to plan. Find warmth and fun wherever you can, but be observant. The days are getting longer; soon it will be February and those seed catalogs will be in our mailboxes.

And we will once again shed the gray and move toward the sun.

I’m counting on it.

Pretty bird

November 2, 2014
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

WordPress photo challenge – Descent

You can see other interpretations of ‘descent’ in the comments at the original WordPress post. Or if you like, check out a few of my favorites (so far) here, here, here and here. As the week goes on there will be more to see, so be sure to check back at the original post again!.

Oh. I liked this one too!

October 18, 2014
by dawnkinster 4 Comments

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.

October 17, 2014
by dawnkinster 8 Comments

WordPress photo challenge: Refraction

Photography is all about light and this week’s challenge speaks directly to that. Here’s a definition of refraction that seemed to gel with my choice of photographs: “The fact or phenomenon of light, radio waves, etc., being deflected in passing obliquely through the interface between one medium and another or through a medium of varying density.”

$Flying through refracted light.$

Flying through refracted light.

I took this during our recent trip through Wisconsin, looking out over Lake Michigan early in the morning on our first day of vacation.

You can see other interpretations of refraction by going to the original post. Or stop by here, here, here, and here for a few of my favorites. I’m pretty early posting for this challenge…so if you stop by the original post later in the week I bet you’ll see even more wonderful examples.

In fact you might have something perfect for this challenge yourself! You have all week (until next Friday when there will be a new challenge) to post something! I look forward to seeing what you have!

Enjoy the light!

October 15, 2014
by dawnkinster 17 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

October 13, 2014
by dawnkinster 13 Comments

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.

October 12, 2014
by dawnkinster 22 Comments

Keweenaw Peninsula

Today’s adventure begins.

All you map lovers out there know the Keweenaw Peninsula is that finger of land that juts out into Lake Superior from the northwestern edges of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Right? Of course right!

I used to live there way back in the early 80’s and I’ve only been back a couple of times in all the years since. So it was wonderful to spend a day exploring a few of my favorite places Saturday. Want to see some? I have so many photos, but I’ll try to keep myself reigned in.

Houghton/Hancock lift bridge.

It won’t be easy.

Quincy mine at sunset.

For starters the area was once a copper mining mecca. In fact more than 100 years ago the state of Michigan considered making a town in the Keweenaw the state capital! Today most of the mines are at best turned into tours and at worse abandoned. Friday night we had dinner with friends from the olden days, on the top floor of a hotel with a beautiful view across the canal of some of the old mine buildings.

Restored historic buildings.

Saturday morning we headed north, up the peninsula. First stop was the snow thermometer. What is a snow thermometer you ask?

HOW much snow??

The winter of 1978/79 the area had record snowfall…390.4 inches! (that’s 991.6 centimeters). The thermometer shows you how high the snow would have been had it all fallen at once. You can also see the arrow up near the top that shows what last year’s snowfall was. It didn’t beat the record, but it was a lot of snow!

We continued north all the way to the tip of the Keweenaw and visited Fort Wilkins, an historic site with beautifully restored buildings and displays.

Fort Wilkins..I snowshoed through here 30 years ago.

Then we headed back down the western coast of the peninsula and saw the Copper Harbor Lighthouse…

Copper Harbor Lighthouse.

…and the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse…

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse.

…where we got to go inside and imagine what life would be like as a light keeper.

What a view!

Then we drove up Brockway Mountain for a view of the fall color, the blue of Lake Superior and interior lakes.

You can see forever.

Lots of beautiful color everywhere up there!

Taking pictures.

It’s really indescribable. You’ll have to make the trip for yourselves someday…my pick for you would be a perfect October day, just like we had.

Copper Harbor from Brockway Mountain.

Three magical things happened on Saturday while we were in the “Copper Country.” We saw three bald eagles; one in a tree, one flying over Eagle Harbor, and one from the kitchen window of the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse. We had dinner with a friend I’ve known for more than 35 years, and her husband. And on our way back to the hotel Saturday we saw a beautiful shooting star.

I love the Keweenaw Peninsula. Yes I do.

I left my heart in the Copper Country.

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.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: travel