Japanese Garden area in Beautiful Mejeir Gardens near Grand Rapids was our first stop taking Mom on a mini-vacation.The Zen garden with wonderful raked patternsThere are a lot of sculptures that are a permanent collection.Appreciating all the colors on a warm autumn day.Mom with Deborah Butterfield’s Cabin Creek bronze horse looking very natural in the tall grasses.Sunset from our suite at Shoreline Inn in Muskegon. Mom had lots of reward points that were expiring so we stayed in style. Thanks Mom!Mother and Daughter at Holland State Park.We had a great day-trip to Holland and enjoyed many of the waterfront areas.Sunset on Lake Michigan before returning to the hotel.A day-trip to Grand Haven to enjoy another light house along Lake Michigan.Artistic angle as we walked under the catwalk to the end of the pier.Picnic lunch along Grand Haven River before it empties into Lake Michigan.The restaurant patio at the hotel looked very inviting so we went down for an early dinner.Look at the whitefish dinner. WOW. Gorgeous and Yummy. Enough for leftovers the next night.Another sunset at Pierre Marquette city park in Muskegon.Our next day trip was heading a bit north to the White River Light Station.Picnic lunch at the Muskegon River with the submarine museum floating in the back ground.Forth beautiful sunset melting into Lake Michigan – such a treat for all of us.
Taking a break: How many miles have we driven?A pleasant campsite at Cass Lake near the headwaters of the Mississippi River — along our route.We had a proper sunset view from CG in Apostle Islands NLS.Marquette’s Ore loading dock – we got a take out pizza and enjoyed this View!The coveted photo: Miners Castle at Pictured Rocks NLS. We last visited in 2016.Hiked in to see this beautiful waterfall at Pictured Rocks NLS.More water falls to enjoy.Long sand beaches for our morning walks. Spectacular to be here.We walked about 2 miles along the shoreline to reach Au Sable Light Station.Time for a bit of maintenance – replacing the headlight bulb — took watching YouTube video on phone, buying bulb, and lots of patience using improvised tools.Whitefish Point Lighthouse is the oldest operating lighthouse on Lake Superior, protecting part of this notorious 80-mile stretch.The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975 with her entire crew of 29 lies just 15 miles northwest of Whitefish Point.The many moods of Lake Superior have caught many ships unaware.We hung out for the day and spent the night at this boat launch as all nearby campgrounds were full on a Saturday night.Water in this bay was warm and calm enough for a swim.Sault Ste Marie Soo Locks had an outdoor viewing platform to watch the freighters rise or fall to the proper level of lake Superior or Lake Huron.Freighter coming out of Soo locks at a nearby park where we had a picnic lunch.Front row seat to continue watching the freighters during Wine o’clock and dinner at Bay Mills CG.The Mackinaw Bridge! 3,000 miles in 3 weeks since we have left home. Ready to visit Mom!
Holiday season begins!Thanksgiving in Michigan.We return to the fox prints on the lake.Scrumptious soup dinner at the cabin with a yoga demonstration…All the better to be limber to try out those new skis.Lots of sunshine and great views.Finally enough snow to shoe on the lake.Many fabulous winter sunsets to enjoy with a glass of wine.Cabin Fever Celebration with friends…The bonfire is lit but it is still cold out here…Now there is a little heat!Even better is the heat in Phoenix – combining both friends and family!Lots of great meals: a little biking, a little walking, some tennis and some shopping might have worn off a calorie or two.Back to the Arizona Biltmore for our third year in a row – a new brunch tradition. Delicious!Enjoying the beautiful gardens with flowers in January.Another wonderful evening with Thai soup and German chocolate cake. And a big bottle of wine to celebrate a big birthday!Our little Florida cutie is also celebrating.We had more great food and fun family time.
Happy faces – good to enjoy the family.What is more fun than taking a three year old to the zoo!Maybe driving your own sports car in the yard – with your favorite play mate to push you?Or a walk to the store with undivided attention?Another beautiful family face in a selfie with his aunt.Brothers enjoying having additional play mates to make a foursome for Monopoly.The little sister is a bit camera shy – or maybe just busy with her other cousins.It is make your own pizza night. We have coordinated our visit to be with my parents from Michigan.We enjoyed some time in Evergreen – You never know when your last time to be with someone might be. This will be my memory.Very fun taking pictures of Evergreen Lake, the shore and the reflections.And lots of elk to get some close up photos. My Dad, the photographer, was especially thrilled. Pictures from enjoying time with them in Summit County earlier this year http://tealsky.com/2017/06/17/more-adventures-in-summit-county-colorado/We went to Miami to visit another Mom and her care giver – a celebration lunch.Three generations of beautiful women! The little one is getting strong and preparing those legs to walk! She has grown a lot! http://tealsky.com/2017/04/04/back-to-miami/An unexpected trip to Michigan. Dad fell off a ladder while working on his beautiful home. He was having a regular day, doing his chores, on the property he loved.A family reunion – the day after the memorial service.Thank you Dad for all the wonderful memories, for providing the family with your love and guidance, and for being with us for so many years. I will miss you.
This is the second time we have traveled together to the UP so we have some different things to see.We found a little lake (Brevort) with a put in site to make our stop for the nightReally peaceful sunsetLunch on Lake Michigan – does it look much different?Hugoboom Lake was our site for three nights. It is in Hiawatha National Forest. We swam in the lake, walked around the lake , chatted with fishermen and others that stopped by.The color of the lake at sunset was amazing – it go so still and reflective.Early morning mist was also very interesting.Chef is making pancakes…with fresh raspberries!Another peaceful eveningThese are the best photos and you know we took many more!We went up Christmas lighthouse for our first glimpse of lake Superior.We walked a local nature trail to find this fun waterfall.Miners Rock in Pictured Rock National Lake shore. The color is superb and the kayakers added a nice sense of scale.Beautiful day!In both directions!Another waterfallA really pretty sunset even though we were not on the water.Early morning on Lake Superior.We can’t believe how calm the water is.In Marquette along the shore, where we had a picnic lunch.Shaken, not Stirred: The name is Bond. Bond Falls.Bond Falls camp site on the reservoir created by the power company – really a nice spot to hang out. There was also a lot of firewood so we polished off a few s’mores!
Manistee National Forest coastlineSummer doesn’t get much better than this!Relaxing until sunset – well worth the wait!We found a quiet cool dispersed site in the woods – stayed for 4 nights. The solar panels struggled to keep the battery charged but we slept so well. Nice to have a break from the heat.Nordic Dunes Wilderness – we enjoyed a day hike along the shore.And hung out for another gorgeous sunset!Michigan Recreation Area beach.Dunes protect all the shoreline.Can’t get tired of this!Manistee Light House where we hung out for lunch – along with many others.This is a nice looking sunset but looks like the sun won’t melt into the lake.Ohhh – looks like we might have some delayed color…This is an “end of the world” sky! Unbelievable!A viewpoint of the coast – an easy hike just up some stairs!Another lighthouse.Do I look like I am captain of the ship? My grandfather was a cook on the freighters….not sure I could get used to that lifestyle.A life saving demonstration where Raggedy Ann got saved first while Andy clung on a bit longer.All the helpers pulled them to shore – good fun.Another sunset at Sleeping Bear Sand Dune area – our final on Lake Michigan. People had bonfires on the beach and I remember doing that as a kid. I would be cold and dripping wet from swimming while roasting a hot dog. We also did the dune climb every summer – before it was a National Lake ShoreLunch at the Mighty Mac bridge watching the Edmund Fitzgerald go underneath.
Visitng family and friends – and a class reunion. It is very hot!The architectsThe new Frederick Meyer Japanese gardens with fun sculpturesBeautiful reflections…Not a selfie!How far did we walk to see this Caulder sculpture? How many times has Mom done the walk? Ha! At least we got to relax for a nice water front lunch. Also we toured the recently renovated Gerald Ford Museum…did not see any mention of Vail.Some 1950 Fords – what fun colors!More fun reflections…Cherries and blueberries and sweet corn. Yum! We are eating well 😉High School friend took us around Crystal lake – fun to relax there and hang out!A wonderful 101 year old friend of the family and his daughter – how fun it was to visit and give a hug.
