Happy Fall ~ and some more of the UP

~~~ Which means.
Winter is coming.
The Brothers Odd are getting prepared.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last stop of the first day of our whirlwind Tour was a place called Brunette Park, Michigan. At first glance it didn't look very special at all. Sandy beach, winds, waves, blowing sand, beautiful skies, and sunshine.

We walked east along the shoreline towards the trees and something began to change. There were Rock outcroppings to walk on instead of sand.

I decided this was a brilliant spot to break out my Infrared once more and use the Chrome Filter.

When we got to the rocky shore, I photographed the rocks we were walking on. To me, they were nature's works of art. If I didn't know they were rocks that I was walking on, I'd have thought they were abstract art.

I commented to Em that I'd love to have the shot below in large print on my wall. 

What looks like raised veins of white is sand that had been deposited on the rocks by waves.

We spent a lot of time here just sitting and watching the waves. The sounds of the water were so calming to me.

If allowed, I would have found a dry spot and just fallen asleep.

I did look up and my son was out playing in the water. It looked as if he was literally walking on water which I mentioned when he came back.

To which he quipped, "Oh of course! You doubted me?"

We all laughed. 

Just before we headed back to the car, I looked behind me at the pines. They were covered in some of the most intriguing Lichen I'd ever seen.

They were so beautiful and intricate.

Yeah, the kids thought I was a little funny getting excited over something like this.

But there I was, touching it and  admiring it with a beautiful lake and red rocks behind me.

Well, that is me. I like the odd things. I'd go back just to take more photos of the Lichen.

And this Lichen had a common name:

Old Man's Beard!

How cool is that?

We all slapped as much sand as we could off our feet and Jer announced that this ended our first Tour Day.

We had to go to Houghton and grab something to eat and head to the Hotel 3 hours away and get some rest before the next big day.

I'd planned on finding a spot at night along the lake shore and filming the Milky Way.

Guess who was too exhausted to think about getting up and going hiking in the middle of the night???

Yup. We all slept until just before dawn.

And we had quite the adventure come Sunday morning.

Yeah. I'm gonna leave you hanging.

Dawn of Autumn, Pink Foggy Sunrise

I grabbed a to go cup of coffee, slung the camera bag over my shoulder and grabbed my FujiFilm point and shoot camera.  It does so well in a pinch and can offer up some incredible shots.

The sky and the fog was pink!  And the fog was heavy even in places on the ridge.

I drove down to Black Bottom Creek to see if the fog indeed shrouded the valleys.

I found ducks in pink fog.

I didn't want to miss day break so I drove back up on top of the ridge to try and find a great spot to 'catch' the first day of Autumn.

Indeed it was worth waiting for.  I leaned up against the Subaru and kept thinking...'Wow, Wow...Wow!'

Time literally flew by and by 7am, the sun made its appearance.

Welcome fall.  I look forward to your cooler temperatures and wild brilliant colors.
I think someone equated Fall as Spring in reverse.

We ended the day by going out to Jersey Valley to do some fishing.  Well hubby fished, I took some photos and then sat on the bank with him while he fished.

It was a beautiful way to end the first day of Autumn.