Black Friday Shopping Anyone?

I didn't. We ended up going on lovely walk up and down the sand dunes to end up along Lake Michigan. From there we took a drive up the lake shore to drop off middle son's Thanksgiving food as he had to work on the day. After that we visited the lighthouse as he lives pretty close to it. A lovely day out. Not a frenzied crowd in sight. Well, except at a place near the lighthouse where there were live reindeer that children could pet.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Back to Normal

We're back from our mini-break, so it's a matter of trying to get back into normal. It will be the last weekend away for a little while. We have to replenish our holiday fund - ha, ha. It was a lovely weekend of sunrises, sunsets, waterfalls, two great lakes and lighthouses. Phew! It was quite a packed weekend - lots of driving and looking. Wonderful. I really enjoyed it.

I'll have to do a lighthouse post as some point. We got to see two more we've never seen and one was a repeat though we'd only seen it at a distance. We know there are places we want to go see - lots more lighthouses and beautiful nature places. I LOVE the U.P of Michigan. It is so peaceful up there - so many places where you won't bump into a soul.

I've got some checking up to do on blogs, washing to do and general catching up. Still, nothing that won't go away unless I do it lol. Hope everyone is enjoying their Tuesday.

Monday, Monday - sleepy

Well, daughter is home but not without incident. About four hours away from here her engine light came on in her jeep. From here we managed to google a mechanic shop about an hour away from her. This is a Sunday evening so not a lot is open and they all close early! Luckily, she made it to the car place before the car stopped. It's a good thing she did as when she tried to start it again it wouldn't start! Her alternator on the jeep went out.

We were worried that she would have to try and find somewhere to stay for the night. Not so easy with the dog in tow. Thankfully, the car place was able to fix her car - they stayed late - and she went on her way. I couldn't go to sleep until I knew she was safely home. No way I was going to be able to sleep! She made it back at about 1.50am (12.50am her time).

Today I've spent the day catching up on the wash, sorting things out and cleaning. I've got a few things she forgot to take so I'll have to either send or she can take when she comes in December.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday!

Sunset by the lighthouse - we went there one night last week to watch. Very pretty!

Weekend

Skyped with Mum yesterday. She seems in good spirits, just taking things as they come. It will only be three weeks until I'll be there and we'll be able to have a good old natter in person.

In the morning hubby and I decided to go check out a couple of lighthouses that we couldn't get to last weekend because the beaches were so packed and there was no parking. They are about an hour away. The first we stopped at was South Haven. It seems it is not in the cards for us to take a walk along the pier. It was closed off as was part of the beach as it was thought someone had fell off the pier the night before. Divers were in the water looking for a body. I heard later they had called off the search.

The waves were a bit wild. They were coming over the pier. The side of the channel that wasn't closed (not a walk out to the pier) was open and there were still people walking out there! I think sometimes because this is a lake people don't respect it as much as the open sea. The photo shows how wavy it can get!

Even at the second lighthouse St. Joe the waves were choppy. I suppose it would make nice background photos for the two weddings that were getting ready to be staged on the beach. A little windy though!

The water looked quite wild coming over the barriers. We couldn't walk all the way out (not that crazy!).

We had a nice walk in the woods today (Sunday). It is now time to get back into the swing of things - hubby is back to work tomorrow where they are really busy and I have to clean things up for daughter who will be here late Thursday night.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Enjoyable Tuesday - feels off because it's a holiday!

We did go walking this morning. We decided on a state park that is along Lake Michigan but there is about a half mile uphill walk to the beach. The park is named Saugatuck Dunes State Park - the dunes in there telling you it's all hills. We did get there early enough that it wasn't too busy. We got a nice walk in over the dunes (one of the harder trails) and along the beach. By the time we got back to the car park it was getting packed. People were carrying LOADS of stuff up the hills! Crazy!

A little piece of paradise - at least for a little while! Pretty sure that later in the day it was as packed as every beach in west Michigan seems to be. At least we got out for a walk for a bit. It was beautiful along the lakeshore. I love seeing small structures like the one in the top photo. Interesting. I always wonder who built them and why.

Back at home hubby did do some sausages on the grill. I didn't eat any but I did have some yummy corn that he grilled. He has got that down to a fine art. I'm not much good on the grill and I'm happy to leave it to him. In truth I don't even know how to use the thing!

Good news in the garden. Despite seeing a deer sniffing around them the other evening I have flowers on the plants my friend gave me. I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to show them to her. I killed the last lot she gave me.

I love the way they look when they first start blooming. Hope everyone is enjoying their Tuesday!

Lake of the Clouds

One of my favourite views on our recent camping trip was Lake of the Clouds, up in the Porcupine Mountains of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was a truly beautiful place. There is a lovely viewing area high above the trees and looking down into the forests below. There are walking trails down there too that we hope to do next year when we visit. It's a touristy area and was quite busy during the day but we went back at night and we were the only ones there! Beautiful!

I LOVED this place! When we were there by ourselves it felt like we were on top of the world and all alone. 

This was our sunset view. The trees in the distance looked almost yellow but it was only the sun as it was beginning to set. I can imagine this would be a gorgeous view in the autumn with all the wonderful colours to see.

Son and I couldn't resist getting up early one morning to see the sunrise - again we were all alone. We sat for a couple of hours and just enjoyed the view. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy first thing so not too much colour.

 I really need to get moving now - back into the daily business - and stop looking through photos.  Got a house to tidy up and dusting to be done. Happy Monday!

Saturday Doings

There isn't really a lot of 'doing' to report. I have put some of the washing in the machine. There is a pile of it to do - lots of muddy trousers and sweaty tops from our trip. It sounds strange (and I admit I never thought I'd enjoy it) but a vacation filled with walking and being sweaty and muddy was a lot of fun. I was so glad of my hiking sticks as they helped me across some of the muddiest areas while walking.

Highlight in hiking - we did the walk between the Lower and Upper Falls at Tahquamenon! We actually walked there and back. They have a shuttle that you can ride if you end up walking one way and don't want to walk back BUT we decided to do the whole thing!! It is supposedly 8 miles from one sign to the next but in reality from car park to actual falls and back again hubby clocked 10.88miles. WOW! There were lots of tree roots, hills and mosquitoes!

It was interesting to see this along the banks of the river. Such a colourful delight!

And (admittedly) a little more creepy quite a few of these

Lots of beautiful trees

It was a truly beautiful walk. I'm so glad we did it. We started out fairly early and didn't see many people around but on our way back there were quite a few people heading up from the lower falls. We saw a group of four who actually ended up turning back. It was well worth the tightness in the back of my legs the next day to accomplish our goal!

Hubby was tired out but later that evening son and I went back to see if we could catch anything of the sunset over the falls. The sun was in the wrong place (silly sun) but there was some colour.

More of our adventure tomorrow!

Sunday Walk

This seems to be a regular occurrence lately - another Sunday another walk. This one wasn't by the lakeshore but at one of the many beautiful state parks in Michigan. We went to this one last year with daughter and her dog, Shasta. This time it was just hubby and myself. The day was bright but still quite chilly when we started out. My foot was hurting a little - I had surgery on my ankle after spraining it a few years ago and it just hasn't been 'right' since - but didn't seem too bad. On the walk I did fine - up and down hills. Got home and OUCH! It is killing me. I am okay if I don't bend it. If I bend it pain shoots along my foot. Painful.

Anyway enough whinging. Hopefully it's just a pulled muscle or something. It doesn't hurt where I usually have the pain.

Here are a few of the photos I took today. I am wishing it was a little sunnier and that things were actually growing! I am so jealous of the photos I am seeing in places where spring is abound and everything is blooming and colourful.

There was still a little ice left around the edges of the water - not much though!

I like looking for those odd little patterns where the ice has melted as temperatures warm and then frozen again when they dip down.

This is also the place where we saw the cairns - funny little rock formations that people place a rock upon to let you know they have travelled through. We've seen them a lot up in Mackinac Island but unusual to see in the woods in rural Michigan!

We decided to leave well alone and not put a stone on this one! It was so delicately balanced.

I liked this little heart-shaped cut out in the trunk of a tree. Can you imagine a little door here to a house where a magical woodland creature might live?

A beautiful walk but the only things I saw growing was this fungus and (?) not quite sure what the other is!

Thanks for coming along on our walk!

Ugh. Got a case of the blues today. Sad for some reason. Don't have a lot of energy. Might have something to do with the fact that it's dreary and rainy. I did get up in my craft room and do a little crafting. Cheered me up a bit.

Today I'm sharing some photos from Sunday. These are from the lighthouse at St. Joseph in Michigan. It's a little lake town about 45minutes away from us. My son moved there about a year and a half ago when he got a job at the newspaper. Not a lot to do in the town. It's definitely an area that's a little more lively in the summer. We decided to stop there to see the lighthouse.

There was still some ice around.

Walked beneath the supports you see as the water on one side was quite choppy and was coming up over the path.

Quite a view from beneath the icicles.

This post looks like it's wrapped in plastic but it's actually covered in ice.

This one draped in ice mixed with sand.

 The top photo is of the light behind the lighthouse. The water was quite choppy. I couldn't look at it for long. It made my stomach churn and I felt quite sea sick! There are no barriers between the walkway and the water, just a drop. I clung onto hubby's hand and didn't let go! I felt quite brave walking along there. I made sure I kept closer to the other side where the water was a lot calmer!

Sunday Walk - Warren Dunes State Park

Another dry, sunny but chilly Sunday morning so we pottered off on another walk. We took a drive about an hour away to Warren Dunes State Park for a walk along the beach. Luckily I had bundled up in my long undies - they were needed! The wind was quite brisk. There weren't many people out and about.

I took photos with my camera - practising what I've learned - and with my phone. The one above is from my phone. It 'created' a panoramic view which I thought was quite nice.

The seagulls were out in force. Luckily these ones aren't the vicious kind. I almost got my sandwich pinched out of my hands last summer on my trip to England! These were a lot calmer - scared of people as they tended to fly away as soon as I got close.

Still some ice around though not as much as there was the last time we were there. 

You can see where it had chipped away at the sand.

A big piece of wood uncovered - made me giggle.

Look at those waves!

All in all a beautiful, yet chilly walk. From there we drove down to another lighthouse - I'll share those photos tomorrow.