Posts Tagged ‘lakes’

Made it to Michigan

Tuesday, October 6th, 2015

I am caught somewhere between way to busy and being too tired to reflect to put my thoughts on the page, or, in this case, on the internet. I know I have neglected my blog the last couple of days, so here is the update: I made it. I had one last final day of driving after I finished my time in Madison. But I had to have one last breakfast in this wonderful city (which is somewhat of a foodie heaven, especially for the midwest!) and stopped just outside of the captial building grounds for a great chai latte and a dark chocolate, caramel sea salt crepe from Bradbury’s. IMG_9855

Driving away from my amazing aunt who was gracious enough to host me for my time in Madison and with the gorgeous capital building in my rearview mirror, I hit the road one last time.

I drove through Wisconsin up into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I will be staying for the next month. I saw a couple of really amazing places on my way up like Minocqua, Wisconsin. This little town surrounded by a series of wonderful lakes, crisscrossed by trestles and interwoven by a state hiking trail. How amazing is that? I totally stumbled upon it on accident while trying to take a picture of a trestle. IMG_9858

The trail was a long and winding stretch of covered pathway, framed by trees and surrounded by lakes. I felt like I was weaving my way through a wonderland of lakes. IMG_9861

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The trail took my breath away between the aqua green waters and the fall colored leaves. It was a great accidental side trip before I crossed over the state line into home territory, Michigan. Processed with VSCOcam with kk1 preset

I also took a few random side breaks to campgrounds, lakes, and boat launches just to sneak off the main road and find some water or fall forests to explore. IMG_9894

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The fall colors from Minocqua upwards were unbelievable. Colorado was a land of golden trees but here were so many shades of oranges and reds, trees the color of wine and cinnamon. I couldn’t help but laugh at the rush of exhilaration I felt every time I turned around the next corner because each view was more amazing than the last.

My final stop was at Bond Falls, a great stop that I always make on my way in or out of the UP (Upper Peninsula for all you non-midwesterners). The cascading waterfalls at Bond Falls compounded with the fall colors was the last step in total and uncontrollable excitement about being back in Michigan. IMG_9899

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I had made it, driving in along the rainbow of fall colors I rolled down my windows, blasted my music, and felt the cold crisp air of impending winter, knowing all the while that my heart had come home again. There is no home to me quite like going up North to the Keweenaw Peninsula. No brighter colors or stiller lake, no calmer heart to be had than when I sit on the dock next to the gentle lapping waters of the place I call home. And of course, there are no sunsets quite like the sunsets in Bootjack because every day is a beautiful day out here. There are many beautiful days to come and hopefully I can post more now that life is beginning to settle down a touch more, but for now I am staying put. No more open road for a little while but there is still adventure to be had in this quiet land. And I have every intention of not wasting a single second of my precious time up here in my home away from home.

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Travel Update: North Dakota

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Today was the first day of our road trip back home to Santa Cruz and we stopped for the night in Bismarck, North Dakota. Along the way during our 15 hour-long day we saw a lot of interesting things. We started out with Amnicon Falls State Park in Wisconsin which was really beautiful. The falls were really running and the water looked like a mixture of coffee and cream.

It was a really nice way to start off a long day. We spent a long time in Minnesota passing from lake to lake and we got a really good feel for the land of ten thousand lakes. After that was a long stretch of nothing in North Dakota. We did get to see the world’s largest buffalo in the middle of nowhere.

We also learned that at this place there were three white buffaloes in the prairie near by so we staked out the spot and tried to find them. We spent a long time trying to find them but they were nowhere to be seen. Just as we were giving up and leaving I spotted one of them coming out of a little ravine. Naturally I flung myself from the car like a mad woman to try to get the photo. Sadly by the time I ran down the hill he had moved behind a big tree. So I paced frantically for a short time as mosquitoes gnawed me to pieces. (yes even as I write I itch like you can’t even imagine). So we drove to the other side and lo and behold there was the white buffalo.

Sadly he was far away but still, I GOT A PICTURE OF A WHITE BUFFALO. If I had the time I would have waited all day to get a better shot but we had to move on to Bismarck. So here we are, tired and still have a long way to go. We are going to Silver Gate outside of Yellowstone tomorrow and we can’t wait to get some awesome photos. Stay tuned for more 😀

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