I Still Blog

Well it’s been a while since I last posted but I think of this blog as a place to chronicle my travels and I don’t consider traveling to Honeoye Falls every day an epic journey (beautiful though it may be). But Jess told me my blog is gathering dust so I had to think of some things to say. If you want a more consistent and hysterical blog to read, head over to Jess's blog.
http://www.adventureswithjessica.blogspot.com/
I can’t believe summer is almost over. Ever since I started work, time has just been flying by. I have managed to do some fun things though. My proudest accomplishment is finally getting my parents to update our house. Nothing has changed since I was born and I’ve been harping for years that we need a change. However they see "renovating" as picking the same color paint and putting a new coat on. So far we’ve managed to get some paint up in the living room and computer room and the carpets have been ripped out of those rooms and new floor is in. No more 80's brown carpet, now we have beautiful oak laminate. It look so much better and everything looks much bigger. We did get one bathroom painted with a nice new shower curtain that I picked out and they approved.A few weeks ago I headed off to Syracuse with my Grandma, Aunt and cousin to take in the Central New York Scottish Games. I used to go every summer when I was little and it was great to go back. I got to hear some amazing bands, watch some hot men throw cabers and eat a bridie.Last weekend I went to my first RIT Alumni event. They offered cheap tickets to Seabreeze, a local amusement park, so I rounded up Kyle, Devin, Don, Amber, and Kurt and headed out. My cousin Ted was there for his company picnic so we were quite the impressive gang. I had so much fun. I hadn’t been to Seabreeze since high school and it was great to feel like a kid again. They have a new coaster that spins around as it flies around the track so you never know which way you’re going next. They also have the Music Express where you sit in a car and go flying around in a circle while music plays. The first time I was on the inside and with the centrifugal force, I was thrown into Ted who was subsequently thrown into Kurt. They complained that I squished them but I maintained that I couldn’t help it. So to get back at me, we hopped on again and this time I had to sit on the outside. OMG. I was nearly folded in half. As soon as the ride picked up speed both of them threw themselves across the seat and with the added force of the speeding track I was half out of my seat and falling off the cart. I’m pretty sure my shoulders touched, that’s how squished I was. We went to the water park after and my entire left side was red. Thanks a lot cousins. My favorite part of this summer has been digging through my Grandpa Burns’ old things and discovering tons of family history. I uncovered about 52 reels of old 8mm film and a projector that still works! That thing probably hadn’t been fired up in 20 years and everything worked like a charm (thanks Kodak). There was tons of video of when our homestead was a thriving farm (combining, chickens, hay, etc), when my dad and aunt and uncles graduated, got first communion, went swimming. There’s all their vacation footage from FL, MD, MI, WV, WY, SD, MT (recognize those states? Yeah pretty much everywhere I’ve been, my Dad had been first.) It’s amazing to watch. My favorite is when my Aunt is graduating high school and she’s trying to pose in front of the house with my dad and uncles and they want nothing to do with it and they all get into a shoving match. Classic! It’s really neat to see how our property used to look in the old days and how much has changed. I just dropped them off to a transfer place so we should get them all on DVD in 6 weeks. The above letterhead is from my Grandpa’s business. I also found my grandma’s wedding planner book (down to what the bouquets were and what her outfits were). Now I know where I get my insane organizational skills from. I also went to Boulder Coffee to see Lucas Carpenter. My sister in law went to high school with him and introduced me to his music and he is insanely talented. Usually I don’t enjoy live performances but he does this thing called looping and he is amazingly skilled (plus he has a really engaging personality that makes it fun). Check him out here
http://www.myspace.com/lucascarpenter

Sleeping Bear Dunes Part II

Next stop was the National Maritime Museum and it was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip because I love museums. They had an old lighthouse station that was outfitted with exhibits and tons of old artifacts. It was devoted to the lifesaving crews that were stationed there and were a precursor to the U.S. Coast Guard. What a life they led! I stopped at the Glen Haven store which is restored to look like a 19^th century mercantile. Unfortunately, they had no food (except for Necco Wafers) so I ate more of my string cheese and crackers and drove on down a dirt road to yet another trailhead. I had a hike planned that I wasn’t motivated for but decided to do anyways since it was less than 2 miles round trip. It was a gorgeous overlook much like the one at Pictured Rocks except no demon insects thank goodness so I was glad I went. Of course there was yet another death defying sand cliff. As much fun as it would be to run pell mell down a sand dune and dive in a lake, I didn't want to face the return hike. I relaxed and soaked in the view and listened to a group of middle aged teachers debate the real meaning of words. For instance, did you know that dork=camel penis? One lady was convinced there was another meaning for the word twit but I got out of there before they could brainstorm that one. Apparently, Sleeping Bear has the largest collection of preserved farmhouses in the NPS. I stopped at one that was undergoing renovation to be turned into exhibit space. The guy said there wasn’t much to see but I was free to wander around. So I of course took that as an all access pass and found my way upstairs because the door was open. He runs up after me and tells me that I’m not allowed up there and ushers me out. I didn’t see anything too incriminating up there but if he didn’t want me up there then why was the door open!?I drove back along Glen Lake (stopping at Inspiration Point) and continued to the beach because I was exhausted and grimy and wanted a swim. Earlier I had seen an overlook where there was a lake, a sandbar and then Lake Michigan. It was so cool! When I found out it was a beach, I was even more excited so decided to make that my last stop. North Bar Lake was calm and warm but very deep. I look 3 steps in and then the bottom fell away. Then I walked across a dune and there’s Lake Michigan in all its glory. The waves were huge! This is what I thought the ocean would be like but it was even better because this was freshwater. However, waves scare the crap out of me. I went in up to my ankles and the waves sucked me right in and they are relentless. I was so hot and grimy that I didn’t care at that point. By the time I surfaced and turned around to look at the beach I was a couple hundred feet away from my towel. Oops. I then tried to get out which proved difficult but finally the waves spat me out in a most ungraceful manner (but at least my bathing suit was in place). Normally when I travel I hate lingering anywhere but I was beat so I laid out on my towel for a while and enjoyed the crashing waves (the pic doesn't do it justice).I was still hungry though and decided I needed real sustenance so I stopped at a little café in town for a sandwich. I was exhausted and starving but I had planned one more hike and because of where it was I thought it best to do on the way to my campground. It was a creepy hike because I kept hearing the tree branches above me creaking and swaying. I thought one would fall on my head. The overlook was pretty. It had a nice view of where I had just been swimming.

I ran back along the trail and nearly plowed over an Indian family. I sped down the road to check-in at my campsite and promptly devoured my delicious dinner. I considered going to fireworks (because it was July 4th) but the closest ones were about 20 minutes away and I was exhausted and facing a long day of driving the next day so I laid in my tent and listened to them. I gave up on my broken cot and just slept on the ground. It poured rain most of the night but luckily I stayed dry. The next day I headed out bright and early.

I made a stop in Frankenmuth, MI. Grandma Doyle said that they had stopped there on their way to Mackinac. It is famous for its Bavarian Inn where they have a glockenspiel (which I didn’t get to see go off). I wandered the gift shop and bought some strudel and a pretzel. It’s a cute tourist trap. Somehow that stop threw off Lee so I ended up on some back roads detour through farm country to get me back on the interstate. I always enjoy a good farm road though so I didn’t mind.

When I reached the Canada border crossing I had about a half hour wait which was a lot better than I was expecting. Driving across Canada it became increasingly hot and by the time I hit the U.S. border it was about 100 degrees (they kept exclaiming about the temperature on the radio while I was driving but I don’t understand Canadian). Ughh. I saw signs saying both the Lewiston and Fort Erie crossings were delayed a couple hours so I thought I’d take a chance and cross at the Rainbow Bridge which goes over Niagara Falls. However, that traffic was so backed up that I sat at a light and it kept turning green and red but traffic wouldn’t move. Thanks to Lee, I cut out of traffic ASAP and zipped through downtown and came out right across from where people were turning onto the bridge. I forced myself into line and waited 20 minutes to go back across which was awesome. I finally made it home about 5:30 pm after about 10 hours of driving. Overall, despite all my bitching about the state trying to harm its tourists, I’m glad I went to Michigan. It is a beautiful state with gorgeous coastlines and nice people but it was a bit too far to drive for a weekend trip (never thought I’d say that ;)

Sleeping Bear Dunes Part I

Well I thought I had a great night of sleep last night but it turns out I slept wrong and I could barely walk on my right leg all day (never mind the blisters I developed from my 15 miles off hiking yesterday). I think my cot is to blame. I got this cot off of Craigslist in Denver and it looks like one of those folding stadium chairs except it’s a cot. I slept on it for 6 weeks last year and as the weeks went on I managed to snap off/rip many of the things that hold the fabric together. So basically it’s now just a pile of metal with fabric loosely draped over top.

So let’s recap: Day3= sunburned, gritty with sand, stung by various forms of demon creatures, starved and limping.

(Lake Michigan)

I headed south out of the UP and drove over to the Western Shores to Sleeping Bear Dunes. Mom had texted me and told me the Blue Angels would be at the Traverse City Cherry Festival (where I was passing though) so I got really excited. However, I got there at 10:30 and the show didn’t start til 2:00 and the traffic was horrible and I was overwhelmed at all the people so I kept driving (as much as I could in a traffic jam). As many towns as I drove through, the one I remember most is Charlevoix, MI. They have petunias lining both sides of the roadway from city limit to city limit (5 miles!) I thought it was cute when I first drove in and then I realized that it just kept going. What an amazing town that obviously takes pride in themselves.I arrived at Sleeping Bear dunes and my first stop was the gift shop. Last year I went to over 20 National Park sites and never bought more than a postcard but for some reason I went on a shopping spree and bought not only postcards, but also a bumper sticker and a 1000 piece puzzle! Thanks to Ken Burns’ (no relation) documentary there is now National Park Scrabble, Uno, Monopoly plus a plethora of other branded merchandise. I wonder if you’re allowed to register with the National Parks for gifts…

I limped out of there and headed out to the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. There really were only a couple overlooks worth stopping at. Most were just pull offs explaining the flora.
I almost didn’t make it out of one overlook with my clothes on (I know, typical Kelly). Anyway, this overlook allowed you to walk out on the dunes on a “boardwalk”. I headed out but as soon as I left the forest I felt like I had entered the Sahara. The wind was blowing so hard it completely covered the boardwalk and children were running around screaming with their eyes closed because the sand was literally blowing into your skin. I of course trudged on to take pictures. The farthest overlook was tame but at the next overlook the wind was whipping so hard I swear it almost blew my clothes off! I ended up plastered against the railing trying to keep the front of my shirt down while I held onto my shirt and shorts behind my back with my one hand and took pics with another. I didn’t dare ask anyone to take my picture for fear of what would happen. They had to be hurricane force winds. Of course there was also another one of those sand cliff trails that Michigan seems to be so fond of. I stumbled out of there and tried to catch my breath and see what was left of my skin.
I got off the scenic drive and headed to the Dune Climb. Luckily the wind wasn’t nearly as bad because I was on the land side of the dunes and not the lake side. By this point I didn’t want to do anything but figured I’m there so I have to do it. It wasn’t like Great Sand Dunes in CO. Nope this was one straight up dune (that's the sky in the pic below, not the lake). I got to the top of the main dune and took some pics and went back down. No way was I doing more than that. It was refreshing to turn around at the top and see Glen Lake and a cute little farmhouse in the distance. Almost worth the climb… almost.

Picture Rocks Part II

After I stopped running and put my shoes on, I continued on back to the trail-head. There was another waterfall from the same trail-head that I felt obligated to do even though by that point I had blisters and was limping. I was pounding along the trail with my head down when all of a sudden I heard a crash and I looked up and saw two bear cubs! I was not at all expecting bears in MI. Once again I am convinced Michigan is trying to kill all its tourists. Everywhere I've been where bears are even remotely possible in a 200 mile radius there are warning signs posted everywhere. I never saw one sign telling me there were bears. So either MI doesn't care to warn people or I saw some vagrant bears. I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to take pics. I didn't see a Mama bear so I hurried out of there. After I kept hiking I saw a family with kids hiking back so I told them I saw two cubs and they made some joke about it eating their children. BEARS ARE NO JOKE PEOPLE!! Cubs=Mama Bear. Mama Bear=Death. Idiots. I snapped a pic of Mosquito falls, turned around and stomped on back. My next stop was Miners Castle. It was stunning! It was just a few overlooks but it was so pretty. On my way to one of the overlooks 2 women in Indian getup were ahead of me and this little girl was coming from the other direction and she says as loud as she can "MOM LOOK THAT'S AN INDIAN!!" She then repeated her observation even louder when her parents tried to ignore her. I'm not sure if the lady understood what the girl was saying but she did notice that everyone was looking at her. How embarrassing. There was also a group of barefoot guys in bathing suits trying to figure out how to get back to their car. Apparently they had dove in 7 miles up the coast and swam on down, exploring caves along the way. Seriously, I thought I was a more intrepid tourist than most but these Yoopers got me beat. I stopped at one more overlook to get a view of the cliffs from the other side.
My last stop was one more waterfall, Munising Falls. They were right in town and were neat to see.
I couldn't walk on my right leg anymore and I was starving for some real food. So what's a girl to do in the Upper Peninsula? Why, grab a pasty of course! What is a pasty you ask? Well its chicken, onion, and potato in a pastry crust. Man, they are hearty! I found the last site at a 6 site campground and managed to get my tent up, limp off to the bathroom and collapse into my broken cot. At least I was full from my pasty.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Part I

So I have to split July 3rd into two days because so much happened and I have so much to say about it. Saturday my destination was the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was the along the shores of Lake Superior and it was gorgeous!! I grew up around Lake Ontario and never thought the Great Lakes were something to be marveled over. This water was blue/green and clear as could be. It reminded me of Florida actually (but 20 degrees cooler on its hottest day). My first stop was outside of Grand Marais, Michigan. I hiked out to the Grand Sable Dunes.I had been to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado 3 times so I wasn't as impressed by the size of these sand dunes. However, I was impressed at the sheer cliffs and "ghost forests" that they formed. A ghost forest is when a forest grows but then the dunes take over and starve out the trees to they are "ghosts". There were really no trails so I hiked over to the shore and the sand just dropped off a cliff so I became a little more cautious. The oddest thing was hiking through the forest and then the trail turns to sand and then you are in the middle of dunes and then there's a Great Lake in front of you. Quite the changing ecosystems. I then hiked over to Sable Falls. They were very picturesque.
My next stop was the Log Slide overlook. Apparently the UP relied on timber, copper and ore for their economy in the past and this area was where a lot of timber was harvested. So I hiked out and I see the following signThat's right. This park lets people fall down a sheer sandy cliff that apparently was previously used to shove logs down!! I didn't think anybody would actually do it since it takes less than a minute to go down and about an hour to come back up. But of course, there were some idiots doing it. When I stepped out of the forest and onto the sand I was immediately swarmed by flies. I wasn't that concerned until I realized these flies sting! What!? What kind of heinous devil spawn of a fly are these things? I had never heard of killer flies but these things were swarming me and I could barely take any pictures. I barely lasted a minute there and I ran back to my car through the woods like I was on fire. The main road through the park was closed for construction so I headed back and took a 12 mile detour down a dirt road. Every roadtrip I'm on I always hit at least one dirt road, usually unintentionally. Luckily, this one wasn't in too bad a shape and it shaved about an hour off the detour I thought I had to take. I then caught another 5 mile long dirt road to a trailhead. I hiked to Chapel Falls. The nice thing about Michigan is that it's covered in trees so the hike was nice and shady. The Fall were pretty. I decided to hike 1.5 miles further to Chapel Beach.
There's a really pretty rock (Chapel Rock of course) that sits above the beach. I was walking past it and thought, oh my gosh this is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen! It's crystal clear water and there's Chapel Rock and then a little waterfall that runs into Lake Superior and the beach runs along the shore until it hits these beautiful cliffs (the pictured rocks). I started running down to the water and all of a sudden here come the damn satan flies! Now I realized why this beach was nearly deserted. I was so hot I dove into the water in my jean shorts and yellow tank top and glasses. I was so disappointed because I wanted to spend some time relaxing at this gorgeous spot but I couldn't escape the flies. After submersing myself as much as possible, I surfaced to leave. I sighted in my shoes and bag on shore and took a deep breath and burst out of the water, ran across the burning sand, grabbed my shoes in one hand and my bag in another and took off running through the forest. I was soaked and my hair was dripping onto my glasses so I couldn't see and my feet were covered in dirt and I was swatting the flies so I got sand and dirt all over me. I'm pretty sure the other hikers thought I was some feral creature running through the forest.