Travel

Summer UP Trip 2018 — Day Two
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Summer UP Trip 2018 — Day Two

Day two of our summer family adventure began with a sunrise over Little Bay de Noc that looked much like the previous night’s sunset.  The haze in the sky made for a bright red ball of light for a long time before it finally diffused into more natural looking sunlight.

After the sunrise and breakfast, we were on our way across the western UP as we made our way back and forth along the Michigan and Wisconsin border.  This section of the trip began a waterfall focus as we eventually found some twenty to twenty-five named waterfalls to photograph during our entire trip (I guess I’ll figure that number out as I work through the days. 🙂 ).  Our first stop was a Long Slide Falls County Park in Wisconsin where we not only found Long Slide Falls but a bonus of Smalley Falls!

Our next destination was LaSalle Falls near Florence, Wisconsin.  In the process, we ended up exploring (accidentally) Spread Eagle Barrens State Natural Area — a well named region, by the way. 🙂  We eventually found a map posted that gave better directions to the falls, and also listed another falls nearby.  While they were better directions than what I started with, they were still rather vague and we ended up on some ATV trails that served as roads whether they were supposed to or not.  In the process we ended up at Washburn Falls first and from there was able to easily find LaSalle Falls.

From there it was time to finish our drive to Hurley, Wisconsin where we would stay for four nights as we explored the western UP and northern Wisconsin.  Our lodging was in a restored farmhouse situated on eighty acres of beautiful rolling pasture and woodlands.  We arrived in time to walk the property before calling it a day.

Summer UP Trip 2018 — Day One
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Summer UP Trip 2018 — Day One

We took a mid-August trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, covering 2,887.3 miles in nine days time!  Over the course of the trip I took about 2700 photos which I discovered are too many to try to deal with all at once. 🙂  So, for starters, I will work on a blog post for each day of our trip to both describe and show some of the incredible beauty of God’s creation that we were able to experience.

Day one began at home with a lot of road time before our first stop at JW Wells State Park near Stephenson, Michigan on the west shore of Lake Michigan.  This was a quick stop to stretch our legs and take a few photos before continuing our journey.

Our next stop for the day was at Portage Point south of Escanaba, Michigan.  This was another chance to stretch our legs as we walked a trail between Portage Bay and Lake Michigan.  Frogs were plentiful as were butterflies and a great view of the lake at the end of the trail.

From there we headed just up the road to the Sand Point Lighthouse in Escanaba, Michigan.

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After a quick stop to drop our luggage off at the hotel we would stay at in Gladstone, we were on our way to Peninsula Point Lighthouse across the bay from Escanaba.  It was a beautiful drive down the peninsula and the lighthouse was open to climb to the top.  All that remains of the original lighthouse buildings is the tower itself, but being a somewhat shorter tower than many of them, we all climbed the stairs to the top.

While at Peninsula Point, we were told about Fayette Historic State Park that was across the bay to the east.  There was still daylight so we made our way back up the peninsula and down the next one to visit the park.  It was a great combination of historic buildings and rock-faced cliffs that were extra beautiful in the evening sun.  As we were leaving, a deer came out to enjoy an evening snack from an apple tree.

From there, we made our way back to the shoreline of Peninsula Point where we found a boat ramp to photograph the sunset from.  Along our drive we drove passed a field of sunflowers so we stopped to take a few photos of them as well.  The sun was a brilliant red ball because of smoke in the atmosphere from wildfires to the north and west.

And thus ended day one of our family adventure as we headed back to the hotel for a night of sleep along the lakefront.

Counting Days or Days That Count?
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Counting Days or Days That Count?

Because I post and share a lot of photos on social media, I often get asked how I find the time to photograph the things that I do.  The answer is not all that complicated to give, but it can be pretty difficult to put into practice.  It has a lot to do with priorities and what I call making days count rather than living life counting days.

It is far too easy to go through life counting days until whatever the next thing we are looking forward to will take place.  And if we’re not doing that, we are counting the days until whatever we are in the midst of is over.  While keeping track of when things will happen or when they will end is not necessarily a bad thing, the problem comes when our focus of counting days keeps us from living days that count.

It is not an easy journey, and for most people the step from counting days to days that count is precipitated by an event, or series of events, that cause them to see the uncertainty of life.  And it’s not a decision that is made once and life is different from that point forward . . . no, for me at least, I have to decide often if I’m going to do something today that makes the day count.  Because it’s a daily decision, and often multiple times in a day, it is not an easy path to walk.  Many times the decision really rests on whether my choice for the day is about me or about someone else.  I’ve found, that while it may not always look like a decision that would make the day count, basing the day’s choices on what helps others or makes them happy is much more likely to end up being a day that counts.

The photo below is from one of those days that count — it counts because it was spent with my family and brought joy to all of us.  It’s also a good example of what it might take to make your days count.  It was a last-minute, beautiful day opportunity and it required some sacrifices of time in getting work done that needed to be completed.  But the point is that we didn’t focus on counting the hours of what needed to be done, but rather we focused on making the day count and dealing with the hours as needed.  Yes, the climb up the dune to this overlook was difficult and the trip meant I would have to wake up very early the next morning to get work done, but the scene was spectacular and created a moment that helped to make the day count.

I pray that you would consider the people who are important to you, and even those that aren’t but maybe should be, and find ways to make your days together count rather than just spending your time counting days.

In prayer,
Tom Lemler

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2017: Page 315

Page 315 was a good day of rest following the long workday yesterday.  I was able to sleep in and catch up on some rest before we decided to head to the outlet mall and see what other stops we could find to make while we were out.  After picking up a few items that we needed from the outlet mall, we stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch then walked through the Bass Pro Shops store where we found nothing that we needed — at least not for the prices they were charging.  From there, the rest of the day was a series of stops along the Lake Michigan shoreline as we made our way toward home.

Without a lot to write, and the primary lesson from the day that comes to mind being the value of rest and family, I think I will let a series of photos from the journey home tell today’s story.

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A glimpse of the Chicago skyline from the Indiana Dunes State Park.

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Indiana Dunes State Park looking like fall, feeling like winter.

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A peaceful spot along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

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The sun trying to break through the clouds along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

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Michigan City lighthouse seen from Central Beach in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

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2017: Page 295

Page 295 was the end of our fall break family adventure, so it meant it was time for the unwelcomed drive home.  Our adventure had eventually taken us about 8 hours from home, but rather than drive straight back we decided to take a detour on the way back that would add over an hour of drive time plus whatever additional stops we might make.  One of those stops was at a Perkin’s restaurant where they had a build-you-own trio combo so I chose soup, sandwich, and chocolate pie! 🙂 

We did eventually make it to the area our detour was planned to take us to only to have the one wanting to go there deciding there was nothing they wanted to see.  I still managed to find a few small waterfalls and fall scenes to photograph before we were back on the road to continue our journey home.  We drove toward a beautiful setting sun flanked by a sun dog on each side before it eventually dropped out of sight.  It was replaced by a sliver of moon, so we eventually stopped at a toll road service plaza for a bathroom break and I took a few photos of the moon while we were there.  After arriving home, I took a little time to upload photos to my computer then headed to bed as Monday would come very early with our scheduled pest control visit.

Here are a few more “thousand words” from page 295:

 

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2017: Page 294

Page 294 continued our fall break family adventure.  Today’s adventure locations included Letchworth State Park and Stony Brook State Park in the state of New York.  So much beauty to take in and the scope of it becomes difficult to photograph, but we took our best shots.  😏  Here are several “thousand words” from today’s adventure.

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2017: Page 293

Day two of our fall break family adventure began in a working lighthouse we had stayed overnight in.  We were up early to catch, and photograph, the sunrise over Lake Ontario.  Eventually it was time to continue our adventure, so we packed up and drove away from the lake in search of adventure and waterfalls.  We managed to find both before finishing our day at a small town restaurant, “Chat-a-Whyle”, before settling in for the night.  Instead of writing much, I’ll again add a “few thousand words” as photos.  😎

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2017: Page 292

Page 292 was a good family day with very little internet access . . . which helped make it a good day. 😀 But, that means I’m writing it at the end of Page 293 which I’ll have to post later. Anyway, in keeping with my family adventure days routine, this will mostly be some photos from the day as we made our way from Erie, Pennsylvania to Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse on Lake Ontario in New York.