Returned.

 

I went on a whirlwind tour of the Michigan Upper Peninsula.  No tour bus. Just my youngest son, his wife, and my 5 yr old grand daughter. 

We arrived predawn at Brockway Mountain after driving through the night. We packed the 4 of us into my Cross trek Subaru. After all, the car is newer and a much safer vehicle than what my son owns. It also tends to sip gas.

I made rules of course. No eating in THE car. I'm a stickler for keeping the inside clean.

Gas prices? Anywhere from 3.98/gallon to 4.29/gallon. 

That aside....

We drove all night to get to Brockway mountain to see the sun come up. 

The wind on the 'mountain' was so wicked we retreated to the 'Nose' Lookout to watch the sunrise over Copper Harbor.

We found a couple from Colorado who were standing quietly waiting for the sunrise. The clouds moved in and the sun started to try to peak through.

The couple left, their opinion was that the sunrise would not be worth watcing.  We waited patiently and moved around as the sky began to change.

We kept moving, and I went back to the 'scenic' lookout overlook and took this shot of Copper Harbor.

And as things kept changing my son kept waving me below the overlook to check out different views of this point. 

The old adage. Patience. 

Things will keep things changing and sometimes a person will be surprised and sometimes they will be disappointed.

We were NOT disappointed.

We explored the trails under the look out point and found more exotic views of Copper Harbor.

First Mission Accomplished.

I wanted to go back to another spot. I don't recall what it it is called, but it was the first spot we looked at for my son's impromptu April wedding.

I wanted to go back to this spot --taken in April with a wicked wind at predawn. [Cell phone shot in April]

This spot had so much potential with a bit more light. The rocks, the waves, the winds, the harsh environment was absolutely perfect. The tree on the right in the photo above was uprooted and gone.

However the stormy looking clouds and wicked winds still made for a great shot in B&W Infrared.

 

I handed my IR camera to Em and she took a couple of shots. Below is my son Jeremie.

Here is Mari. How she was not cold, was a mystery to me. We spent quite a bit of time here in this spot.

We explored this area thanks to a 5:30AM breakfast and strong coffee. This particular spot has so many interesting facets to it. Lichen, rocks, waves, winds, trees, plants, and clean toilets!

Here is Mari trotting down a trail next Lake Superior.

Oh to be a child again!

We noticed an elderly fella out by the shore and I grabbed a shot of him...

He was as obviously as intrigued as we were by the variety of interesting rocks we found along the shore.

This little 'wayside' intrigued me the most in the morning. Well, that was before we explored further.

Jer later asked me which part of the whirlwind tour was the 'best'. I started by naming each place we visited.

I don't really know. I need a lifetime of exploration of these places.

This is a somewhat close shot of the same place with my cellphone in April.

 

It is a worthy spot to explore more.

I guess I'll be spending some time sorting through the shots I took and trying to make sense of all the beauty I've seen.

I should be a wander-er.

I hope I can be! Pic by Jeremie. He is pretty good at catching me off guard.

We took the whirlwind tour, to see what I liked best. When asked...I said all of it.

We put 1,200 miles on the car from Saturday morning to Monday morning.

No regrets.

Just a feeling that I have to go back and explore more.

Carpe Diem.

My intentions with epic trips like this, is to take small portions of Rich's Ashes with me and let him explore amazing places that we had planned to see together. 

And maybe some not too epic spots! The town IS named Gay, and it is a tiny town worth exploring. --- It involves mining and not the what you might think. 

I think this is a very interesting part of the lake shore history. I will visit again.

So the name will throw you.

But it happens to be one of the best places I've visited in Michigan. 

Just not necessarily for the play on words.

But for the interesting history and scenery of Gay Michigan.

More to come.......

stay tuned.

My idea is to travel to places that Rich would have loved to explore and to drop a tiny amount of his ashes in each place we would have loved.

Yes.

I did that.

And it feels perfect.

 

 

Wild 36 hours

I'm not even sure how to explain this.

Friday morning I left with Hannah to drive 3+ hours to my son and his fiance's place in Wausau. We were going to drive north to the UP in Michigan that afternoon after the kids were gathered from school.

The first leg was peaceful and quiet. I decided to take Hannah and not both dogs. Charlie has always been a bit nervous in the car and does quite a bit of 'talking' and complaining. I left him at home where a neighbor was going to let him out and later, my grandson Dennis would come and stay at our house. Dennis offered to watch over the place, do chores, and keep Charlie company.

I thought that this would be great socialization for Hannah as well as seeing how well she travelled distances.

Hannah proved to be an easy traveler. It seems the car vibrations put her into a sound sleep. I took periodic stops for leg stretching and peeing. 

I'd seen the weather and apparently we were in for more wild weather at some point on Friday afternoon. I'd have avoided travel any other time, but this was a trip for a small informal wedding to be held at dawn in the U.P. It was crazy enough for me to be curious and not to back out on Jer and Em's wedding. 

As we left Wausau under blue skies, tornado warnings erupted just a few miles south of us in a town called Ringle. We found out just a bit later that 75 homes had been severely damaged.

We headed north as the weather caught up to us and by the time we hit Michigan we were driving in a wild rainstorm through snow country. The rains came down, the fog from the snowpack was intense. If I had been driving I would have quit and looked for a place to stay. 
We made Houghton, MI in the dark and the fog lifted.

At 3am WI time, we were up and the bride to be was getting her hair done.

It was an honor to be asked to be a witness but so far things had been a bit insane.

We piled in two cars and headed out to the proposed site.

The temperature was around 19 F with a fairly fierce wind. This is Esrey Park. Pre-dawn. I climbed the rocks with my head lamp and loved the view. It was the first choice for the 'wedding'. 

[sorry for the poor shots, it was dark!]

After scoping out two other places, we stopped at Hunter's Point Park and sought shelter from the weather while the vows were read.

The 'I do's' were said, the bride was kissed, and we piled back into the heated vehicles.

Jer and Em wanted me to see at least one of the fantastic waterfalls in the area. The rest of the parks and trails were deep in snow so we stopped at Copper Falls Park in Eagle Harbor and walked out on the footbridge to admire the roaring water.

We drove 4.5 hours back to Wausau were I picked up my vehicle and I drove 3 hours back home.

Wild and slightly insane is the best way to describe this adventure. However, it did peak my interest in the Michigan area and the beautiful shoreline of Superior. I can see taking this trip in the future at my own pace and exploring the copper mine museums and the sights of the Upper Peninsula. 

Sunday was spent with my grandson Dennis who helped me finish two fencing projects. He had come up Friday night after the storms went through and cared for Charlie and the animals.

I think Monday should be a day of rest for the dogs and I!