Finally We Meet

Okay, Kim beat me to it, but here's my post about finally getting to meet my second blogger!  After months and months of making plans only to have last minute disruptions we finally made it a priority to meet, even if only for a few hours.  I had the day off work but had a doctor appointment in the morning so suggested we just meet in Deerfield, Illinois for some lunch and a walk.  Kim doesn't live far from the neighborhood I suggested but had never had lunch at The Italian Kitchen before so it was a date.  If you live in the area and haven't eaten there before you've got to stop in.  Everything on the menu is delicious, the staff is friendly and they serve a killer lunch buffet during the week too.  Oh, and Whole Foods is just across the street - score!  If you're really looking to sin, you just have to cross the parking lot behind The Italian Kitchen to get to Deerfield Bakery.  Be prepared to go for a run afterward to work off those calories.

Kim and her daughter Chablis

Kim's daughter Chablis joined us and we had lots to talk about.   She went to the Smokies not long after Wayne and I were there in the fall so there was that, and we ended up discussing how economical house renting was compared to the hotels as well as the never-ending choices for hiking in the area.  Chablis and Kim both work in the family business, but Chablis is trying to figure out how to get going as a photographer.  I gave her a few tips to help her get some more answers, but since I'm just an avid hobbyist didn't have much in the way of advice about how to make money doing it.  I have seen how some others are doing it and passed it along.  Hopefully she'll get there, luckily she's young and has plenty of time to figure it out.

I'm a thief, I stole this from Kim

Can you believe I didn't bring my camera?  Seriously.  Looked at my big orange backpack that morning and said to myself, "need to put that in the car".  Then I promptly forgot.  It's hell getting older.  Luckily I had my new iPhone with me.  Got it this weekend, and when I was so excited about being able to check my email my son said, "Welcome to 2003, Mom".  I picked the iPhone model due to everyone's great pictures I keep seeing from their phones, it's all about the pictures for me and my plan to always have a backup worked.

Even though it was the hottest day of the year in our area, we braved the heat and humidity to go check out Ryerson Conservation Area.  The property and the trails were beautiful.  There was a surprising variety of wildflowers and critters for a spot just minutes from I-94. 

Chablis at work

Unfortunately the critter that was the most plentiful was the mosquito, a pest that those of us in the Midwest are getting a little too familiar with this year.  How about a swarm of cicadas instead?  Anything else, please!

"Magicada" by Don Rambadt, 2007

We strolled and talked a bit in the less pest-infested prairie area and vowed to come back in the fall when we'd be able to take advantage of those tempting trails.  Next time I'm bringing my camera.  Kim and Chablis were snapping away while I was weirded out not to be the one glued to the viewfinder. The time went quickly, they were great fun and I hope I see them again soon!

 Kim posted about the meet-up on her blog already, and they got some nice snaps of the flowers.  They were so pretty that day that I came home and braved the heat and humidity for another short walk on the McHenry County Prairie Trail.  The section I walk is just a toe over the Wisconsin-Illinois border and is a short 5 minute drive from my house.  Folks living in Crystal Lake can hop on the old railway bed and bike 26 miles to my neck of the woods if they like, or they can see the photos of the flowers in my post tomorrow.

Daytrip to the Dunes

After spotting the Dune Thistle up in Door County I thought I'd try Kohler-Andrae State Park in Sheboygan to try to catch it in bloom.  I left work by 1:00 on a Thursday a few weeks ago, breezed through Milwaukee and was in Sheboygan before 4:00.

Hopping down the bunny trail?

I didn't see a single Dune Thistle plant, much less one in bloom, but I enjoyed trekking back and forth across the dunes anyway.  They have a great cordwalk that stretches for just under 2 miles.  I figure I walked at least 5 miles that evening between the dunes and the beach.

A sign at the trailhead says stay off the dunes and on the cordwalk, but not only were people all over the dunes, they had their dogs with them too.  No wonder there's no Dune Thistle left, the habitat is getting trampled and perhaps well-meaning people are pulling them thinking they are weeds.  Wouldn't that be awful?  Though I noticed the dunes are becoming less sandy than they've been in years past so perhaps the habitat is just not "dune-y" enough anymore.  Wisconsin's dunes are fast becoming a thing of the past.

Walking on the beach is allowed, and I went from end to end, in some areas jumping from spot to spot trying not to get wet.  Don't worry, if you want to go to hang on a beach, there actually is plenty of beach further south from the spot I photographed.

I'm happy I did because I got this nice angle of some Beach Pea.  It was going strong all over the dunes, along with Wormwood and other plants.

Once my search was over I bunked down at nearby Harrington Beach State Park because Kohler-Andrae was full, even on a Thursday night.  There were plenty of open sites for that night at Harrington, but only one left for the weekend.  I contemplated staying longer but eventually decided one night was enough to recharge my batteries after the trauma of having to go back to work upon our return from Door County.

Sites at Harrington Beach State Park are well away from the beach itself and the park actually has a shuttle that goes to the beach on the weekends.  I had my section of the park all to myself and slept soundly.  When I got up in the morning I took a drive down to Lake Michigan but it was all socked in with fog so I packed up and headed home.  Of course I stopped at Trader Joe's in Milwaukee which made the trip even more worthwhile!

Busy day today, I have a doctor's appointment this morning and then I'm heading out to finally meet Kim. I have a lot of questions for her about Kentucky since they have a lake home there.  We've been trying to do this for so long and we're finally making it happen.  I'm also meeting another blogger next Tuesday, but I'll keep their identity secret a little longer.

Broken Landscape

What does this mural say to you?  It makes me think of the divide between today's culture and the land our current society is so busy destroying.  Perhaps that was the artist's intent, maybe not.  Shot in Midtown Reno back in February, contributing to Monday Mural as usual.

Kayaking Again!

Though we are in the Manitowoc area camping this weekend we do not have wifi at Scheffel's Hideaway Campground so I will continue trying to catch up on old posts instead of showing you what we're up to right now.  Wayne's work laptop has a Verizon aircard but it's just not as "zippy" to do the blog using his setup.  Luckily I have posts that are already mostly ready and easy to put the final touches to on such occasions!

As you may or may not remember, last summer I was recovering from surgery to repair some minor tearing on the labrum in my shoulder joint.  It's been a long time since I was in a kayak.  Wayne's been working a lot of overtime this past month, so I've been out on our lake twice without him.

Now, just so you don't go feeling bad for Wayne, we did get out together one time last week.  I left the camera behind so I could spend my time looking at him.  I haven't seen him much lately, after all.

I like to head down to the south end of Lake Elizabeth with my camera when I'm by myself.  It doesn't take but 10 minutes for me to pass all the boaters and have the place to myself.  Except for the wildlife, that is.

Don't know what kind of bird this guy is so suggestions are welcome! The first time I went out in the kayak I spotted it along with a ton of the Yellow Water Lilies and the Fragrant White Water Lilies.

I also spied three different large turtles, I think they were Spiny Softshell.  Females can live up to 50 years, which means there might be turtles in our lake as old as I am!

Last week when I went out for the second time alone I didn't spot any more of the large softshell turtles, just a handful of the smaller Painted Turtles with their heads poked up above the surface.

When Wayne and I were out together we spotted an abandoned nest.  I went back to it to get a shot, hoping someone out there might know what the eggs were.  They were fairly large but still would've rested easily in the palm of my hand.  Wayne thought they might have been abandoned because the water rose high enough to flood the nest.  I know they're not turtle eggs.  I learned from the DNR website that most likely the reason we saw that turtle crossing the road in Door County was to lay eggs, they tend to do that in May and June.  Glad we helped out!

The turtles may have been my big discovery the first time out, but my second time out alone it was all about the Great Blue Heron.  He tried to play hide and seek with me, but I wasn't fooled.

I was ready when it took to the air.

As you can see in the pictures, they curl their long neck into an "S" shape which makes for a more aerodynamic flight profile.  Believe it or not, these large birds only weigh 5 to 6 pounds due to their hollow bones.

It didn't go very far, and within a few minutes I had caught up to it again.  I couldn't help it that it flew in the same direction I was headed.  I swear I did not mean to stalk this poor bird.

Thanks to the All About Birds website I can tell that this was an adult, not a juvenille, by the black and white striped head.

The statue-like pose is common for them as they scan for fish.  Those feathers on their neck continually grow and fray and are used while preening.  They use a fringed claw on their middle toe to gather the "powder" from the feathers and then reapply it to their underparts to protect from the slime and oils.  I'm not kidding.

Of course while I was admiring the Great Blue Heron I drifted closer than I intended to and scared it off.  I made sure to head in the opposite direction this time.  I also saw a pair of Herons and a Great Egret a little further down the south end of the lake but they were too far out in the lily pad covered area for me to investigate.

Whatever type of bird this is pictured above is very plentiful on the lake.  I know it's a bad shot, but identification help would be appreciated!  Some type of tern maybe?  That makes two types of birds I need help identifying in this post, hope someone out there knows their bird stuff!  This is where I would normally pop in a link to Travels With Emma, but Wayne's laptop won't do that for me so click on Judy's link in my blogroll if you've got the time.

Au Train Sunset

Just 9 miles down the road from the Bay Furnace Campground in Christmas, Michigan lies the little town of Au Train.   Back in May we drove through the area looking for the Hiawatha National Forest campground but couldn't locate it.  There were no signs after the turn onto County Hwy 3, and it turns out you need to take a left on FR 2276 and then another left on FR 2596.  Well, no wonder.  We did see a lot of tempting views of the Au Train River and Au Train Lake though that looked perfect for a return kayaking trip. The campground has 33 non electric sites and if they're anything like the Bay Furnace one I"m sure it's lovely.

The Au Train River emptying into Lake Superior

We did find the "Face in the Rock" when we stopped at the Roadside Park on M-28.  We got a little help from a local who was on the beach as it was a little faded from erosion and difficult to spot right away.

The carving was left by a French explorer in the soft sandstone in 1820, so it's held up pretty well.  After seeing the carving we just hung on the beach a bit enjoying watching the sun going down on another great day on Lake Superior.  Across the highway you can see Scott Falls, which we skipped due to the fading light and lack of waterfall volume in the area at that time anyway.

Katrina and Joe were so cute watching the sunset that I convinced them to kiss.  Aren't they adorable?

Though we didn't get a chance to cross the ice floe infested waters to tour Grand Island this trip I'm sure it will still be there for us to visit the next time.  For this trip we had to be satisfied with seeing it at a distance backlit by the sinking sun.

Today we're actually beachside on a Great Lake again, this time Lake Michigan.  We're camping in Two Rivers, Wisconsin near Point Beach State Park for a few nights, though since we're surrounded by trees I couldn't see the sunset last night. After we got all set up in our mostly mosquito free site I took my camera and headed for the trail that leads through the forest to the state park.  Turns out the breeze was all that was saving us from the hordes of blood-sucking fiends and it wasn't long before I was literally trying to outrun them.  Wayne dutifully smacked the few that refused to be outrun off me before I re-entered the camper for the night. 

Speaking of kayaking and mosquitoes, Sherry and David have been battling the annoying critters as they cross the Upper Midwest this summer.  But the reward for their perseverance has been bear and loon and beaver lodge sightings, things we have not had the privilege to spy this year...yet!  Click the link and see what they've been finding.

Finding the Falls

Munising is home to many waterfalls, and this link will provide you with access to an interactive map to locate all of them.  We saw a couple within the National Lakeshore on a last visit to the area, but this time I wanted to add a few more.  Memorial Falls and Tannery Falls were easy to access just across the highway from the intersection of Washington and H-58.  There isn't a specific parking lot so just find a spot on Washington (not H-58) and cross the road.

Descending into the gorge the scenery was just beautiful, very green and peaceful and wild.  There was a nice late spring wildflower display hanging onto the steep sides below us, and water softened sandstone covered in lichens above us.

When we finally got there we were a bit disappointed.  Turns out water is a bit choosy about when to fall here.  If you want to see a shot with more than a sprinkle in it, I found a good one here.

Memorial Falls

There is supposed to be a way to easily make this a combination hike to Tannery Falls but we couldn't figure it out and somehow made our way out the back to Nestor Street instead.  We retraced our steps to the falls and then back out to the main road to start that hike from H-58 as well.  Tannery Falls had a little more water going over the edge so we stopped to take a group shot.  I'm glad we did, the light was very nice in the shady ravine.

Tannery Falls

Fellow blogger Linda recently visited Ramona Falls in Oregon on a rainy day.  Now that's a waterfall!  She sees a lot of them up there, check out some of her other posts and prepare to be awed by Oregon's natural wonders.  I can't wait to visit there someday and see them for myself, but for now I just live vicariously through her stunning photographs.  Thanks for sharing them with us, Linda!

Spring Boardwalk Finds in Munising

We love a good boardwalk, and Munising has a nice one at Sand Point.  The half mile Sand Point Marsh Trail is located near the parking lot for the beach.  Just park and walk, Baby.

Much like Baileys Harbor in Door County, this area also is made up of ridges and swales.  The trail starts in a dune ridge forest thick with Pine, Ash and Cedar trees.  It doesn't take long until you move into an open shrub swamp heavily populated with Sweet Gale and Leatherleaf shrubs.

Sweet Gale

The boardwalk trail was constructed by the Youth Conservation Corps and NPS staff during the summer of 1989.  Did you know that wetlands filter, purify and release surface water?  They help control flood waters and protect water quality by recharging groundwater.  It's not just the plant and animal community that benefits from protecting special places like this one.

Michigan has already lost over 70% of its wetlands. Amazing.  The native Anishinabe (Ojibwa or Chippewa) people made good use of wetland habitat.  The plants were used in dyes, medicines, for weaving and building. You might know that cattail leaves were used for weaving mats, but did you know the stems were eaten like potatoes?

Leatherleaf 

We were on the lookout for the frogs we could hear, but never actually saw one.  We also didn't see any Pine Marten or Beaver, but we did see some spots where perhaps they traveled through the vegetation often.  Maybe if there were more beavers out in the wild we'd have more wetlands again?

Katrina and Joe scanning for frogs

Best time for viewing wildlife is always early in the morning or just before sunset so besides a few birds flitting about our only wildlife sighting was a water spider.

To continue with this week's theme of highlighting other bloggers I encourage you to read Ranger Kathryn's post from a month ago.  In it she talks about the services maybe some people take for granted that our National Park workers provide and that always welcome reminder to treat others with respect and kindness.  I know when we visit the parks I go out of my way to tell the rangers and other staff how much I appreciate their helpfulness and dedication.

On a personal note, yesterday the temps were in the 60's (yay!) and I went for a run.  For the past two months I've only been able to run for 3-5 minutes at a time before resting.  I thought it was probably heat related and sure enough, I ran 15 minutes without a struggle.  I took a potty/hydration break at the gas station and turned around and ran another 18 minutes.  To be fair, my legs were jelly for that last minute, but I ran exactly 3 miles in 33 minutes!  What is the summer heat keeping you from doing?