Tag Archives: trip
Epic, windy, wet adventure
Our beautiful campsite!
Katie here. Mama says I’m monopolizing her blog but what’s she got to talk about anyway now that she’s retired? Right? Of course I’m right. I’m a princess.
So anyway, last January mama reserved a campsite for this weekend right on the shore of Lake Michigan! It’s about five hours from home and I have to say I was an excellent traveler. I didn’t bark at her once the whole way up there!
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First there was the planning and the packing and the loading of the car. I was afraid she might forget to take me so I stuck really close to her.
Don’t forget me mama!
She didn’t forget me but she did forget my bed! GEEZE mama! She must be getting old. That’s OK…I figured I’d just sleep on hers.
This is for me – – right?
Our campsite was really beautiful, right on the shore. Friday afternoon mama took me for a walk along the sand by the waves. I did not like it. Not one bit.
Not getting any closer than this mama!
The only water I want anything to do with is the water in my bowl and it doesn’t make scarey noises like those waves did!
Since all mama’s romantic notions of walking me on the beach were dashed we went into town. This was more like it! I went up and down the steps of the marina no problem. (Mama is beginning to realize I’m scamming her about not doing steps at home.)
Buy me one of these mama!
I even went out on the floating docks at the marina, and the boats were rocking and squeaking and the docks were moving and I was OK with it. Mostly.
I guess I’m more of a city kid than a beach bum. But I did like my tent! Every night my mama made a campfire and settled in to read her book next to it and every night I went over and pawed at the tent door. Cause I wanted to go to bed already. Mama just sighed and we went to bed.
Mama made me a bed out of her pillows.
Because a princess always gets what she wants. Don’t you know. And every morning I got my mama up around 5:00, because even though we were on vacation I didn’t shirk my responsibilities.
Time to get up mama!
Do you know that people in campgrounds don’t get up that early? That was cool, we had the whole place to ourselves. We tiptoed down the road and I did my jobs and then we tiptoed back and went back to bed. It worked out great
We had two evenings of beautiful sunsets. Mama made me go back out on the beach to see those. It was OK, I was sort of getting used to the waves.
Friday night
And in the end whatever makes mama happy makes me happy.
We were supposed to be there three nights, but there were thunderstorms coming. The clouds were low and heavy on Sunday morning. Mama began to worry.
Mama used the ‘dramatic’ button on the camera to show you the clouds better.
She talked to dad on the phone and decided we’d leave early. Of course we had to go into town to use the phone and by the time we got back it was raining. Mama packed up the car as fast as she could.
Hurry up mama!
Everything was soggy. Even me!
Can’t we stay mama?
We were sad to leave a day early, but we are very happy that we got to go at all!
On the way home we stopped at a little park and I got to walk on a bridge over the Au Sable River.
Still raining.
Mama says she used to canoe on this river when she was a little girl. It made her smile. And I found her a beautiful flower along the river too! Cause I love my mama.
Along the river.
We had a wonderful time, but I’m glad to be home. I missed my dad a lot. Plus it was cold, and I don’t like cold so much. And then there were those waves. And the sand. And the mud. I got wet. I wasn’t that thrilled about the campfire either. Hmmmm…..maybe camping in the back yard isn’t all that bad!
Anyway…I guess that’s all for now from your friend Katie – camper extraordinaire.
Kind of.
Don’t like sand in my fur mama!
Major adventure
Afternoon light.
Katie here. You all know how my mama works too much and is tired all the time and ignores me right? When she should be focused on me all the time, as due a princess of my standing. Right. So anyway, my mama and I haven’t done anything fun in a long time – I think maybe ten thousand dog years. Well Friday night after work she told me that we were going to go on a big adventure and I was so excited I jumped on her and kissed her face and ran to the door and then she said “Not TONIGHT silly girl!” and I got all sad and depressed and stuff.
But I remembered.
And Saturday morning when my mama said she had to run some errands I jumped all around and cried and wiggled my cute butt and as she was going out the door I yipped at her and made sad puppy eyes and she finally said “Really? You want to go on errands? Well OK.” And I got to GO with my mama! I was so happy! This was the adventure I’d been dreaming of!
Or not.
We went and mailed a box, and then we went to the car wash (I’d never been through a car wash before and I was sort of scared, but I didn’t let her know because I was afraid she wouldn’t take me on rides again if I acted like a scared baby) and then we went to the bank, but I was in my crate in the back so I didn’t even get a biscuit, and then finally we went to the store and I got to go inside and we bought two bags of my Blue Buffalo food! That was fun! But she seemed to be in a hurry and I didn’t get to walk around the store much, it was in, get the food, and then I’m back in my crate in the car! Geeze. Pretty cheesy adventure mama!
But guess what? That wasn’t really the adventure at all! That was just stuff mama had to do to get ready to go on the real adventure! She started packing the car when we got home and pretty soon we were off!
We went up north! And we got to visit every single rest stop along the way. I made sure to whine just as we were approaching a rest stop, so she’d stop and I’d get to get out and walk around and read all the pee-mail left by other dogs. It’s so much fun. That would have been enough of an adventure all by itself, but it wasn’t the best part!
A tiny bit of sun came out!
The best part was we went to Hartwick Pines, the state park we camped in last summer. We got to walk on some of the trails that the mosquitoes ran us out of last summer! No mosquitoes this weekend, no siree! I even got to see some cross county skiers! I’d never seen them before. They thought I was cute. Well of course.
What are these people DOING?
We walked quite a ways on the trails, but then the sun started to go down and we were both hungry so we went to our hotel! A hotel! I’ve never been to one before! I was so excited! Except for the stairs. The lady put us on the second floor and, as most of you know, I don’t do stairs. Being a princess and all. So mama huffed and puffed and carried me and all my paraphernalia up the stairs. I think she packed more for me than she did for her! She brought a sheet to put over the bedspread, but I mostly slept on the other bed. Or the floor. I like my space, don’t you know.
I’ll take this bed mama, you sleep over there.
She brought my water dish and my food dish and a pillow and my supper and my breakfast. I think she only packed clean underwear and some socks for herself. I guess that’s because she’s not a princess.
I made her get lots of steps and stairs in each day as I asked to go out several times once we were in our room. Most notably at 4:30 in the morning. And again at 6 a.m. It was really cold out, so once I got out there I wasn’t sure exactly why we were there, which caused me to have to sniff everything in the giant parking lot just to make sure it was safe before I anointed it. A princess has to be careful you know.
When we left the hotel in the morning, a couple of hours earlier than my mama planned because I was impatient and tired of hanging around, it was zero degrees outside (that’s -17.7 C) and the snow crunched a lot. Mama wanted to go back to the park and walk on some more trails. It was going to be a sunny day and she was hoping for blue skies to go with the perfect white snow. But it was so cold.
Morning light.
We walked a little bit and of course my feet were cold, so I held up my paw and asked to be picked up. My mama picked me up and hugged me and we stood still in the deep woods. We were the only ones there and there wasn’t another sound at all. It was totally silent. So wonderful. My mama got a bit weepy then. She said it was just because it was so beautiful and so quiet and she doesn’t have a lot of quiet in her life, and she didn’t want to leave the woods. I thought maybe she was weepy thinking about carrying me back to the car, so I asked to get down and I pranced all the way back. Some of the time we were running and laughing. People would have thought we were crazy, but there was no one there so it didn’t matter. Besides, they would have been right.
Mama wanted to keep driving north, but she knew we had to come back home. We couldn’t wait for it to get warmer, and we weren’t sure it would anyway, so we headed back to the freeway. As soon as we were on the road I fell asleep. At least mama says I did. I think I was just resting my eyes. Shelties never let their guard down you know. Anyway, I woke up as soon as we were near a rest stop, so I got to stop and explore it, but it was the only one I made her stop at.
Just as I thought, no pee-mail for me.
I can be good when I want to be.
And now we’re home and I’m going to go take a serious nap. This was just the best adventure I’ve had with my mama since we went camping! She says she’s already got a camp site reserved on the shores of Lake Michigan for next summer. She takes me to the best places!
My mama. Adventure planner extraordinaire!
I think I’ll keep her.
Where are we going next mama?
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.
The truth behind the trip
We enjoyed sharing our trip around Lake Michigan with you through photos here on this blog and on Facebook. It was a lot of fun exploring new places, revisiting places we used to work and live, spending a tiny bit of time with friends from long ago. Mostly it was good to get away and explore.
But that’s not the reason we went.
As most of you know I volunteer for the Truck Safety Coalition (TSC), a nonprofit group that works on safety issues surrounding commercial trucks. We work through Congress and the agencies of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Most of us have family members that were killed or injured in crashes with commercial trucks and those experiences inspire us to work hard to make our roads safer.
Last week members of my family and I, along with the Executive Director of TSC and a member of another family who has also been forever changed by a truck crash, spent the day at a huge trucking company learning about their safety procedures, their plans for future safety enhancements and their feelings about the issues we’ve been working on. They invited us to come visit their facilities and talk, to see which issues we agree on and what we might be able to work on together for the good of everyone – to make our roads safer.
Imagine that.
A giant in the industry invited us, a group of hurting, stubborn, sometimes angry individuals who have no ties to trucking except through tragedy, to sit at their table and talk with them. They listened to us, expressed concern and empathy, and then told us how they are approaching safety and answered our questions as we tried to familiarize ourselves with their side of the issues.
Unprecedented.
We won’t be able to agree on everything. These are complicated issues; electronic monitoring, rules about hours of service, minimum liability insurance increases, maximum size and weight challenges, even how drivers are paid. But the more we talk the better the odds are for positive change.
TSC has worked with Congress and made some advances. We’ve worked with the DOT and made some advances. And now we’re working with a part of the trucking industry. Maybe this is another front, an untapped resource. We’ve not anti-trucking as some would like to portray us. We remind people that truck drivers die too. We’re working for safer trucking, for the good of everyone.
As a group we need to explore every avenue to safety. I am glad we got the invitation, and I’m glad I went. I learned a lot. I saw compassion and humanity on the ‘other side’ and realized once again that we’re all in this together. I know that no one individual, no one group, no one truck company can make it all right.
But together we can make it better.
We do it one day, one rule, one law, one truck company at a time. We do it in honor of those we loved and lost, in honor of the hundreds of thousands of injured. In honor of all of them we work for change. This time change began in a meeting room of a large truck company and this change is good.
And that’s why we went. Miss you Dad.
Wordless Wednesday
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.
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.
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!
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!
Change Is Hard 