We hadn’t originally intended to have extra time in St. Ignace, but a small schedule change allowed us a chance to visit Mackinac Island before heading just an hour up the road to Sault Ste. Marie. We made the best of the opportunity by booking a ferry trip to the island, exploring Fort Mackinac and visiting the Grand Hotel.
Mackinac Island, MichiganMackinac Island, MichiganMackinac Island, MichiganMaking Fudge at Murdicks Original Fudge Company on Mackinac Island, MichiganMaking Fudge at Murdicks Original Fudge Company on Mackinac Island, Michigan
The town is extremely touristy, but it is quite picturesque and there are plenty of people watching opportunities. Getting to the fort requires a bit of a climb, but once there the views were worth it and it was quite interesting.
Mackinac Island, MichiganMackinac Island, MichiganMackinac Island, MichiganFort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, MichiganFort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, MichiganFort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, MichiganFort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, MichiganFort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, MichiganRifle demonstration at Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, MichiganThe Little Stone Church on Mackinac Island, MichiganFort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, MichiganFort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, Michigan
We retreated to the Pink Pony restaurant for lunch and to cool off. We had been debating whether to walk over to the Grand Hotel and had almost decided not to. But our helpful waiter asked us if we had been, then proceeded to convince us that we should make the effort. Then he told us about the “Secret Garden” that offers beautiful flowers and a nice view of the house. It wasn’t completely secret, but there were way fewer people there than there were up at the house.
The ‘Secret Garden’ at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganThe ‘Secret Garden’ at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganThe ‘Secret Garden’ at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganThe ‘Secret Garden’ at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganThe ‘Secret Garden’ at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganThe ‘Secret Garden’ at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan
We didn’t take the time or spend the money to go inside the house, but we did enjoy the classic views from outside. And I found the official Picture Spot so I could be sure to properly document our visit!
The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganThe Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganThe Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganMackinac Island, MichiganThe Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MichiganFerry from Mackinac Island to St. Ignace, Michigan
After our time in St. Clair, we made our way toward the Upper Peninsula, stopping for a night in St. Ignace. We learned the correct pronunciation – IGness, not igNACE – and managed to get it right and not embarrass ourselves. 😉
St. Ignace Marina in St. Ignace, MichiganSt. Ignace Marina in St. Ignace, MichiganSt. Ignace Marina in St. Ignace, MichiganSt. Ignace Marina in St. Ignace, MichiganWawatam Lighthouse in St. Ignace, Michigan
We were only there for a few hours, but managed to get a few photos of the marina and the lighthouse.
Breakfast Pasty at Bentleys Cafe in St. Ignace, Michigan
We learned on a previous visit that when visiting the U.P. having a Pasty is kind of a requirement. I managed to have a Breakfast Pasty at Bentley’s Cafe.
St. Ignace Marina in St. Ignace, MichiganBayside Inn in St. Ignace, MichiganSt. Ignace, Michigan
I realized a few weeks ago that I had not completed editing and processing my photos from our trip to Michigan in July. I finished them up a few days ago and have posted a gallery on my Adobe Portfolio page.
Fort Gratiot Lighthouse seen during our cruise on the St. Clair River aboard Huron Lady II Cruises in Port Huron, MichiganBlowing in the Breeze. Fort Gratiot Lighthouse in Port Huron, Michigan
We spent a few days in the Port Huron area, staying a bit south in the town of St. Clair. It was our first time in that area, and gave a chance to catch up with Mark Graf that I posted about earlier. While in St. Clair we managed to spend some time in Port Huron, exploring the town, taking a boat cruise on the St. Clair River and visiting the Thomas Edison Depot Museum.
Readers of an Edison biography might remember that Thomas Edison lived in Port Huron during his early years, and as a 12 year old got his entrepreneurial start selling newspapers and confections on the train from Grand Trunk to Detroit. The railroad depot in Port Huron houses the Thomas Edison Depot Museum.
Thomas Edison Depot Museum in Port Huron, MichiganThomas Edison Depot Museum in Port Huron, MichiganThomas Edison Depot Museum in Port Huron, MichiganThomas Edison Depot Museum in Port Huron, Michigan
An interesting thing about the St. Clair River is that it marks the boundary between the United States and Canada. We realized that when we were looking across the river we were looking at Canada! And our phones would occasionally welcome us to Canada also! 😉
Cruise on the St. Clair River aboard Huron Lady II Cruises in Port Huron, MichiganThe Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River connects the US and Canada in Port Huron, MichiganThe Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River connects the US and Canada in Port Huron, Michigan
As it happened, we were in Port Huron during the lead up to the annual Blue Water Festival, so things were starting to get a bit busy. We managed to get in and out of town during the day and before the start of festivities without a lot of traffic issues, although a boat parade on one of the evenings would have been fun to see.
Overall Port Huron is a nice town on the water with plenty of things to see and do.
Freighter headed up river toward Detroit in Port Huron, MichiganRetired lightship ‘Huron’ seen during our cruise on the St. Clair River aboard Huron Lady II Cruises in Port Huron, Michigan
Grand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
One of the most popular spots in Yellowstone National Park is the Midway Geyser Basin. It is so popular that if you arrive after about 10:00 (earlier in the summer!) you could wait for hours just to get a place to park.
Grand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkGrand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkGrand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkGrand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkGrand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkGrand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
With that in mind, Kathy and I decided to make a non-peak visit to the basin, early (-ish) one morning (my first photo was taken just before 8:00. Unfortunately that meant that instead of dealing with bunches of crowds, we ended up dealing with bunches of steam. As it works, the bigger the difference between the air temperature and the springs, the more chance for steam and fog.
Grand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkGrand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkGrand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
We knew this going in and decided that seeing it, even in less than ideal conditions, was better than dealing with huge crowds. It was still quite dramatic, and even though I didn’t get the “classic” Grand Prismatic Spring” shot (in reality very few people do get the classic shot, and to get it you kinda have to be there in perfect conditions, preferably in an airplane!), we were happy to have gotten there on a nice day with plenty of sunshine to show off the rainbow of colors.
Grand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkBoardwalk at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkBoardwalk at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkBoardwalk at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkBoardwalk at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkOpal Pool at Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
After our morning visit to Midway Geyser Basin we headed on down the road to Fountain Paint Pots, another popular spot. That lot was starting to fill up when we got there, and by the time we got back to Midway the traffic was already starting to line up for the parking lot. But that’s a story for another day. The lesson though is that timing is everything!
Excelsior Geyser Crater. Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkExcelsior Geyser Crater. Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkLeaning Tree. Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National ParkMidway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Vortex generator at the Miriam P. Brenner Children’s Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina
I just purchased a new tablet and am hoping to use it for some of our upcoming travel in lieu of a laptop. Of course that means figuring out how to get photos from my camera to the tablet, then getting them from my tablet to my blog. I’ve used Fuji’s mobile app before but it sucks, so my best choice is to use a card reader, which I had never tried on a tablet.
Earlier this week we visited Greensboro, NC with our son and grandson, visiting the Miriam P. Brenner Children’s Museum. I took a few photos there and along the way. 😉
Train arriving at the Greensboro Amtrak station in Greensboro, North Carolina
Since I don’t want to confuse my workflow too much, I want to be able to selectively choose photos from my memory card and only import the ones I want into Lightroom Mobile. That process worked great. One weird thing is that when I plugged the card and card reader in, my tablet set up a folder scheme as though it was going to back up files to my tablet. I’d rather not have it do that but haven’t figured out how to turn it off!
For fun I imported a few files on to my tablet, processed them on my tablet and let them upload to the cloud. I cheated a bit by outputting them from my computer, and my next step will be to refine the tablet outputting in order to do it from there. I’ve done that before and it’s not a big deal.
So far so good. 🙂
Sculpture outside the Miriam P. Brenner Children’s Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina
Sapphire Pool at Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Imagine our surprise when we read that a “hydrothermal explosion” had occurred at Biscuit Basin in Yellowstone on July 23. We had visited just two months prior, and the news photos of the devastation were incredible. All of our tour guides had joked about how Yellowstone sits on a huge underground volcano, and “you never know….” It’s well known that violent eruptions can happen at any time, and sometimes they actually do. Yikes! Fortunately no one was injured, and damage appears to be mostly limited to the boardwalk. And of course the size and shapes of several of the pools were dramatically altered.
Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Our visit was in an evening and the sky was overcast. As a result a lot of the colors are quite muted. But the various colors of the pools and the surrounding bacterial mats are quite evident.
Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National ParkJewel Geyser at Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National ParkBacterial mats add interesting colors and textures to hot pools and geysers. Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National ParkBacterial mats add interesting colors and textures to hot pools and geysers. Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National ParkBacterial mats add interesting colors and textures to hot pools and geysers. Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
And gnarly trees! 🙂
Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National ParkBiscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone River from Inspiration Point. Yellowstone National Park
Kathy & I visited Grand Canyon twice during our visit to Yellowstone. The first time was on our own, and we got there before 8:00am to avoid the crowds. We use the term “Nooners” to describe the people who start showing up to tourist locations around the time we are leaving. Yes, I know there is another connotation for that word! 😉 In a place like Yellowstone the Nooners start showing up and filling the parking lots by around 10:00am, in some places even earlier.
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River from Artist Point. Yellowstone National ParkUpper Falls of the Yellowstone River from Upper Falls View. Yellowstone National Park
The canyon and the waterfalls are spectacular in any light, and we managed to get quite a few photographs, especially on the north rim where you could really see the topography. One of the things I particularly liked about the north rim is the gnarly trees growing out of the rock cliffs. They made for interesting subject matter and I’ve included just a sample here.
Yellowstone River from Inspiration Point. Yellowstone National Park
As we were leaving the Artist Point area, someone asked me if I knew what time the rainbow happened. It must have been obvious from the look on my face that I didn’t know anything about a rainbow. Silly me – a failure of research!
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River from Artist Point. Yellowstone National ParkLower Falls of the Yellowstone River from Lookout Point. Yellowstone National ParkLower Falls of the Yellowstone River from Artist Point. Yellowstone National Park
Fortunately, we returned the following day on a morning photography tour aboard one of the yellow buses. Our guide knew exactly when the rainbow would occur (about 9:40am, just in time for the Nooners! 🙂 ) and positioned us in the right spot. Not knowing when the peak color would be I made over 100 frames in order to end up with about 6. The one posted here is the only one I’ve processed so far but is typical of the others. Interestingly, the first day we visited was overcast, so we might not have seen the rainbow that day anyway!
Yellowstone River from Inspiration Point. Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone River from Inspiration Point. Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone River from Inspiration Point. Yellowstone National Park
Because it was a photography tour and not a Tom & Kathy journey, the tour only stayed long enough to capture the rainbow and didn’t travel the north rim at all. It was off to another photographic destination! I’m glad we saw the rainbow, but also glad to have visited the canyon on our own!
Rural mailboxes near Lac La Belle on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan
During our time in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan, we took a day to explore the countryside and essentially circumnavigate the peninsula.
Rural mailboxes near Lac La Belle on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan
We came across this line of mail boxes near Lac La Belle. It is certainly the most mail boxes I’ve seen in one place! We didn’t count them – feel free if you must! – but we estimated there to be about 20 in each section and 6 sections. I wonder how long it takes the letter carrier to stuff all those boxes?
Rural mailboxes near Lac La Belle on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan
