Tag Arvhies: Northern Michigan

Flying High

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Okay!  I finally have 2 seconds to rub together, so it’s finally photo blog time!  In case you haven’t seen my latest posts on Buzznet or Facebook, you don’t know that on last Friday evening, Tom took me flying in his Cessna 150!  It was AMAZING!!!  I consider it one of the greatest days in my life!  It is just SO much fun up there!  I was really worried that I would be nervous or get scared, but I didn’t at all!  Tom agreed that if I was scared he would bring me right back down!  It wasn’t necessary!  So, anyways, let’s get started!


Here is Tom bringing out the plane!


This is the dash board and all the instruments!  It was cool watching Tom inspect everything before take off!  It was also cool when he was talking to other planes and pilots on the ground to let them know where we were and that we were up there too!


Here we are on the tarmack waiting to take off!





Here is the city of Cheboygan!  In the last photo you can see the privately owned grocery store, Family Fare, and Walmart beside it!


This photo is of the shore of Mullet Lake!  You can see the mansions and boats!  Most of these are vacation homes that their owners only use a few weeks each year!  There are a number of celebrities that have vacation homes in this area!  Mullet is one of the largest inland lakes up here!


While over Cheboygan, Tom saw smoke coming from Indian River, which is about a 45 minute drive in a car!  We were there in minutes!  He said, “that is a lot of smoke!  It has to be a house fire”!  So we flew down to take a look!  Sadly, he was right! You can see all of the fire and rescue vehicles too!  Later on that night, I found out on the news that the fire started with an explosion in the garage!  One man was badly burned!  I am so very sorry for these people who were both injured and the lost their home! This was one of the worst days of their life!  I debated whether or not to even post these photos!  As you can see, I chose just this one! They have been in my thoughts and prayers all week!  I have been through a fire, and although no one was inured, it was rough!


After seeing the fire, we headed back up the country side towards the Straits!  We flew right over Tom’s place!


This is the shore of Lake Huron, and I was fascinated by what we could see under the water! You can also see where the sand bar ends!  There are logs down on the bottom from when this area was being logged and settled!  It was very cool!  The land in front of the photo is my first shot of Bois Blanc Island!


Here is the BEAUTIFUL Bois Blanc Island!  Most of the homes are on the shoreline!  There is a road that runs through the middle, but it was hidden by the trees!  To get there you have to take a car ferry boat or fly in!


The green roof down there is Tom’s parents home!  He has one too, but you can’t see it clearly from up in the air!  I did get a really good look at their beach, and was impressed!  One day Tom is going to take me up there and we are going to hike the 5 miles up to his house!  That is a very long hike for me, but I am really looking forward to it!


We happened to fly over a freightor carrying ore!  It was a huge boat, but you can’t really tell that from the photos!


Here you are looking at Bois Blanc Island, Round Island, and Mackinac Island all in one shot !  If you look at Mackinac, you can see the Grand Hotel, as well as the fort !  Mackinac Island is one of the most exclusive vacation spots in the United States!  People come from all over the world to vacation there!  There are no vehicles with an engine there!  You have to go everywhere either by horse, horse carriage, or bicycle!  It is really impressive!  Back when we had our business, my dad and brother put our equipment on a barge in the off season, but before winter hit, and drilled several wells up there!  I was very nervous about our rig and water truck falling off the barge!  Oh, I should have said that you can reach Mackinac Island by taking a ferry boat from either Mackinaw City or St Ignace!


Here is an attempt at a selfie with Tom!  He looks great, but I am blurry! It was fun wearing and talking through the head sets! He is so handsome! ( :




These are all shots of Mackinaw City!


This shows all the hotels that border Lake Huron as you are going north into Mackinaw City (we were flying south when I took this)!  They are VERY expensive in the summer months!  Many close altogether as do many businesses in the winter months!


I will end with my favorite shot of the day! I know you have seen this one already, but I want you to see it again! (:  Here is our Mighty Mack with the freightor going underneath in the shipping lane!

Well there you have it!  I apologize for this being so long!  I took over 300 photos, so it was very hard to choose which photos to include!

I also have to say THANK YOU, TOM!!!  It was so very nice of him to take me!  I hope to get up there again soon! ( :

Hiking and Fishing With Trevor

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Sunday was put aside for Trevor and I to hang out before he heads back up to college!  We had set out on our journey with the plans being, he would catch trout to go with the dinner he was planning to cook for us!  Lucky for me, trout fishing is done out in the forest with nature all around! While he fished, I shot photos!  That said, let’s get started :






Trevor knew about this awesome old train bridge over the Maple River that he thought would be a good place to catch fish!  I had no idea it was even there, and it is only about 1 mile from our apartment! (:  While he fished from the bank, I climbed up the steep hill and onto the train bridge itself!  Since we don’t have any trains up here anymore, the bridge has been converted in order to be a part of the Michigan Snowmobile Trail!





Here is the view from the top, in all 4 directions!  The Maple isn’t very deep right here!  The water level is very low again this year, but you can see that in years past it was much higher!



Here is us on the train bridge!  Trevor has no idea that I even took this shot of him!  Shhh!  Don’t tell him, okay?! (:  I was having a very bad hair day, but you can see how much weight I have lost, so I included this shot!  I just wish my pockets hadn’t been so full of everything under the sun!  I think that I would have looked better with them empty!


I think that these are Baneberries, but I am not sure!  They are also very similar to choke cherries, so maybe that is what they are!  The ones in our complex are a bit different, but I am sure there are many types of choke cherries!  I imagine the birds and the bears love them! 


There were a few of these flowers up by the bridge itself!  I have fallen in love with them!  Does anyone know what they are?  JJ?  Annie?  Hersh?



Since we struck out at the train bridge, we headed over to the Dam!  This is still Maple River btw!


This is the back side of the dam!  The actual concrete part of the dam is on the other side of the road!  Unlike the train bridge, this section of the river bank isn’t as steep!  There are trails to follow all along the river’s edge,which I did!  Trevor had several good nibbles here, but didn’t actually catch any fish!



Here are the trails that are off into the forest!  I love the way they look so rugged but beautiful little paths!


I am not sure if this is the work of beavers or the current, but I thought it looked pretty cool over on the other side of the river!


This tree branch resembles a spider web, but this wasn’t done by a spider!   This is fishing line, some even have sinkers on them where fishermen have cast their line only to have it get tangled up in the tree!  I thought it was rather funny!  Trevor said that some of it might be his from earlier fishing trips! ( :


Here is the view looking down the river!  I bent down on one knee to photograph a leaf while I was out here on the river’s edge, and was actually  down about 2 seconds before I jumped up and realizing that I was kneeling on wet marshy weeds and mud! My pants were indeed wet! (:


This is more trees, sticks, and roots that have spent some serious time under water and in the current!  The bark is all stripped off, and the white of the wood shines! It looks freshly polished! This is also my 2nd favorite shot of the day!


I looked across the river and into the dense forest, and realized just how lush and green it is!  I love nature!!!


Trevor moved over to where the river bends and that is where he got his nibbles and tugs on his line!


Somebody left behind their Whoopin Stick!  Well that is what we call it up here! (:


This is just where the trail is right directly beside a shallow part of the river!  I liked the way it turned out with the reflection from the sky!  It sure would have been nice to have a sunny blue sky kind of day, but we didn’t!


I found this and it gave me the sadz!  It is still supposed to be summer!  We are not ready for this yet!



Just down the trail we found this!  We figure it was done by a woodpecker, but there is no way to know for sure without seeing one!  What are your opinions, my fellow nature lovers?



This tree fell over into the river and made a beautiful design with it’s roots!


I was suprised to find this big blob of foam on the water!  I never thought to ask Trevor why this happens!  I mean he is about to earn his first degree in Biology specializing in fish, so he should know!


There once was a babbling brook!  In spring there is always a lot of water in this little stream that flows into the Maple River!  I am not sure where it originates!  But I always love how those tiny green leaves grow on that big old fallen tree trunk!  Some people have stepped on the top of it this year, which bums me out!  They don’t have to ruin it!  There is a log bridge that goes over the brook and onto the last leg of the trail !


On our way back to the van, I decided to stop and take a shot of the pretty thistle that is growing everywhere up here right now!  It is such a beautiful shade of violet!  I liked how this one was just starting to open up as opposed to the ones that are already open!


Last is my favorite shot of the day, like always! They used the old railroad ties to make a few steps as you climb up to the train bridge!  One still has the spike in it, so I had to get a shot!  I didn’t put the thistle there either!  It had just grown to the side!  I do think it adds a nice touch though!

Sorry for this being SO long, but I haven’t done one in awhile, so I thought what the heck!  I didn’t include the shots I took that day of my neighbor’s petunias, or more from the basketball court that day!  I still have no idea how we ended up at the basketball court, but somehow we did! And then…the sun came out! ( :

Let me know what photo is your favorite?

Evening Sky

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While on my way home on Friday night, I noticed that the evening sky was BEAUTIFUL in my mind !  So, I went to my “secret place” and took a few shots that I want to share them with you!

To see the photos in full size, simply click on them!

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Sky and Nature photography is typically my favorite!

My daughter doesn’t like the shots that are framed by the tree on the right, and the broken tree branch on the left !  The shots that I am usually  happy with, tend to be framed in some way!

Let me know what you think in the comments! ( :

Airport Day For Kay

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Hi there family and friends!  I warned you that I would be posting photo blogs!  Today Andy and I took Kay to the airport in Traverse City so that she could fly to Peoria, Illinois for her best friend’s birthday and graduation party!  She couldn’t get a flight out of Pellston, as it is our busy tourist season up here!  So, her loving Uncle Buck got her tickets out of the next closest airport over at Cherry Capital Airport and volunteered to drive her there!  Traverse City is about 113 miles southwest of Pellston!  Most of it is 2 lane too, so traffic can be crazy when you go through Petoskey and Charlevoix!

This is a very eccletic set of photos!  I just shot whatever looked interesting to me!  Let’s see if you think they are interesting too! (:

I didn’t know that any of these were still in service!  This one is on the side of a 7/11 party mart!

There was a bit of landscaping on the side of the 7/11, and I was impressed with this antique cream can and this birdhouse!  I am not sure how the birdhouse ended up being on the pole sideways, but still it was cool to me!

We ate a yummy brunch at the Flap Jack Shack!  I love the architecture of their restaurants! (:

Their prices are very reasonable, and the food was delish!  I was also impressed with the coffee creamer in the giant Coffee-mate mug!

I shot this crooked, but I had to post it and make an Airplane the movie reference!  Someone might remember that movie!  I find it hilarious!

Cherry Capital Airport is GORGEOUS!!!  I have never been in the terminal before!  I have flown in before and then immediately back out landing in Pellston!  They used to be owned by the same people, I think!  Anyhoots, I am so in love with that light fixture and the fireplace!  It is all very Frank Lloyd Wright looking!  Don’t I sound like a smarty pants?! (:  I actually stole that from Andy who knows architecture and interior design much better than I do!   After all, he is married to the best architect in the US!!!  I was sufficiently impressed with my surroundings!  I was expecting it to be closer to the size of the Pellston Regional Airport!  It is not!

I had Andy take a shot of us before she went through security!  I love you Kay Keiser! (:

A few more shots of girlfriend! (:

I will end with my favorite shot of the day!  They are both SO MUCH FUN!!!  I love them both with all of my heart !  I hope that Kay will have a great time with Vane, and return to us safely next week!

THANK YOU ANDY!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

My Visit To The Pellston Fire Department

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 I got to visit our local firehouse here in Pellston, Michigan where I happen to live!  My brother was doing computer work for them, and he invited me over to have a look around!  Our firefighters are all volunteers, so there isn’t always a crew in the building!  I got a look at everything without disrupting anyone and was able to photograph everything that caught my eye!

So here we go…PHOTOBLOG time!

I took these as I was walking up to the firehouse!  I think it is a very pretty building, and one that we can be very proud of!

I thought I would get a few shots of the signs that were around the building!

I ventured into the upstairs of the building, and found that it had a rather eerie feel to it!  There was dust on the floor and my shoes left prints!  That tells me that no one else has been up there in some time!  I thought this cracking paint looked like something from a haunted house, so I took a quick shot of it!  It was dark so I had to use a flash!  There is a basement in the building, but I wasn’t brave enough to go down there!  Basements often have mice, and I just don’t do mice! (:

Now for the AMAZING fire and rescue equipment:

This fire engine looked so pretty!  Just seeing it makes me feel safe in my decision to live in the beautiful village of Pellston!

This is my favorite shot of the day!

Here are some of the brave firefighter’s lockers where they have their gear ready to go the next time a call for help goes out!

This antique toy fire truck is sitting on top of someone’s desk area in the main office!  I absolutely love it! One day I hope to actually meet the fire chief and photograph his office too!  I could see through the window that he has a collection of antique clocks!  That would mean another photoblog! (:

A photo of a photo! (:  On the bulletin board they have a group photo of our volunteer firefighters posing with the big fire engine!

Just before we headed off to lunch and shopping, Andy took my camera and got this shot of me sitting on my new favorite engine!

So what is fire and rescue like where you live?  Have you ever been inside your firehouse?  If so, what was your favorite part?

THANK YOU TO EVERY PELLSTON FIREFIGHTER FOR THEIR SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY!!

Shoe Tree

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Yesterday was Thursday, and we all know what that means … shopping day in Cheboygan!  As my dad and I were finishing up our shopping and errands, we were headed out of town and saw this tree!  It is just full of shoes thrown over the branches!

I have seen shoes thrown over an electrical or cable wire over a city streets, but never have I seen anything like this!

I have no idea what this is for, or what it means!  There was no explanation that I could find!  My dad is used to me and a very good sport, so he pulled over and waited while I shot a few photos!  Thanks Dad! ( :

You can also see in this shot, that the snow is almost gone!  WAHOO!!!  There are more piles of it yet to melt in Pellston, but Cheboygan is mostly clear!

Based on the fact that this tree is about 4 or 5 blocks from the highschool, and the style of the shoes in the tree, I am assuming it was done by teenagers!  No matter who put them up there, for whatever reasons, I thought it was rather cool and wanted to share it with you!  If, per chance, you know what this is about, please fill me in! (:

I also got to eat lunch at Your Spirit, Your Place and it was YUMMY!!!  The owner came up to me, even though they were BUSY, and gave me a big hug and thanked me for my blog about her restaurant!  It made me feel so good!  Someone was pleased with my efforts, and that is just the best feeling ever!  Most places they wouldn’t even remember me!  Not Dominique!  She recognized me right away!

SO MUCH HAPPY!!!

HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Your Spirit, Your Place

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Our family has a new favorite lunch spot when we are in Cheboygan to do our shopping!  It is a wonderful little restaurant named Your Spirit, Your Place!  We have truly come to love it!  The food is all homemade, and the positive messages that they put out are quirky and completely amazing!  You will love it too, I promise!  I asked the owner if I could take photos of her business when we were there last week, and she said that I could!  I did take a few, and I shared one in a photo blog on my Buzznet account!  I also asked if I could write a full photo blog about the place, and she was nice enough to say that I could!  I can’t tell you how happy this made me!

Let’s get started with these hand painted and really fun tables !

Well Behaved Cowgirls Rarely Make History

A Coffee Shared With A Friend Is Happiness Tasted And Time Well Spent

Whatever Our Souls Are Made Of Yours And Mine Are The Same

Is It Time For Your Medication, Or Mine?

The Best Things In Life Are Furry

Do I Look Like A People Person?

To Gnome Me Is To Love Me

I couldn’t shoot them all because some were in use, but here are a few!  The one with my precious nephew, Gary, at the table was ours, obviously!  It is also upside down, but you can still clearly see the painted horse!

The work of several artists adorn the walls!  It is like a diner and an art exhibit all in one place! I am really impressed by the pretty paint scheme on the walls!  They are two colors that I would never think to put together, but they compliment each other so well!  I love it! (you are going to hear me say that often)

One wall even has a chalk board where you are welcome to share your thoughts!  I love this so much!  However, I couldn’t think of anything clever to share at the time!  I am sharing my photos now instead! Photos are my own contribution to the art world no matter how amateurish they may be!

The daily specials are written in chalk too!  I love this! (:

These lovely ladies were kind enough to let me take a shot of them while they were finishing up their lunch!

This is where the magic happens!  My favorite drink is their vanilla latte, and it is AMAZING!!!  If you are a fan of lattes, you definitely want to give this one a try!

Even the women’s lavatory is cheerful and fun!

Now for the important part … the FOOD!!!  Gary was having fun chewing on his straw after he finished his chocolate milk! (:  He enjoyed his scrambled eggs and bacon so much that we had to order him a second plate of eggs!  The staff were very generous and served him extra bacon as well!  He really appreciated this, and so did we!

They serve a very healthy menu that includes Vegan and Vegetarian dishes!  They even serve Australian Meat Pies!  You can see that I ordered my very favorite , the peanut butter chocolate chip french toast!  Words cannot describe how YUMMY it is!  I have also had their oatmeal, and it is real whole rolled oats, served with raisins, dried fruit, and slivered almonds!  I can’t say enough about a good bowl of oatmeal!  It can be very hard to find these days!

They serve both breakfast and lunch! Their Facebook page says that they serve Italian food too!  I didn’t know that!  I, obviously, have more things to learn about Your Spirit, Your Place!  Yet, I tend to be a creature of habit and will most likely order the french toast or the oatmeal! (:

For further information, be sure to visit their lovely Facebook page!  If you are pleased with what you find, be sure to hit that Like button while you are there!

There is a back room near the restrooms that has all of these pretty frames and other decorations!  I was traveling with a 2 year old, so I was out of time!  I will investigate these items further when I am there next week, and I will be sure to let you know exactly what I find!

After the other customers were done eating, I was able to get this larger shot of the dining room!

This is how cute it is from the outside, sitting on an old fashioned downtown block!

Well there you have it!  Your Spirit, Your Place is THE place to eat in Northern Michigan!  It has a little bit of absolutely  everything!  They have a menu with so many GREAT choices!  They have the most delightful and cheerful decor!  The food is absolutely delicious!  The owners and staff are so friendly and wonderful to chat with! They really create a welcoming atmosphere!

If you find yourself in downtown Cheboygan, Michigan, be sure to stop by and give Your Spirit, Your Place a try! You have my word that it will be a rewarding experience for your family and friends!

THANK YOU to Your Spirit, Your Place for allowing me to do this blog!

See you next time!

A Day In Cheboygan With Dad … For Yong Yi

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It is Thursday again, so Dad and I headed to Cheboygan to shop, run errands, and go to several appointments!  What does this have to do with Yong Yi you ask?  Well, she recently went to Australia to visit her younger sister who is attending college there!  She was rather impressed with the produce and how it was arranged in their grocery stores!  So, I decided to take photos today and let her see what the stores look like up here in the Mitten!

ee the stores up here in the Mitten!

We left for town an hour earlier than normal because my dad had an appointment to get his car worked on!  We ended up getting into Cheboygan really early, so we hit the Living Spirit coffee shop!  My dad had his coffee at home, so he just got a glass of milk!  I was hungry, so I got what I thought was a blueberry muffin and a vanilla latte!  Much to my surprise, the muffin was chocolate chip!  Both the muffin and the latte were YUMMY!!!  I didn’t think to take the shot before I started eating the muffin, so you get to see the inside of it’s yummyness!

We were at the auto repair shop a bit before 10:00am which was our appointment time!  It is an interesting place!  It is very greasey and dirty as you would expect an auto repair shop to be!  It was also FREEZING in there because it isn’t heated!  I entertained myself by reading everything on the walls and taking photos of what I thought looked interesting!  I fell in love with the dog, but he wouldn’t look straight at me so that I could photograph his face!  You can tell that he is a very old dog! I thought he was really cute!  I wish I had asked his name!
As it turned out, he could not repair my dad’s car!  The noise is a right rear wheel bearing!  The owner/mechanic didn’t have the right press to do that repair, so he sent us to another repair shop where my dad got an appointment for next week!  They were pretty booked up!
However, in between auto repair shops, I had an appointment with my Chiropractor!  I sat there for about 40 minutes before it was my turn!  My neck and shoulders were really badly out of place!  Dr Willey did a great job of fixing me up!  I couldn’t take a photo in there because it is a medical office!  It could cause problems because of the other patients right to confidentiality!
Finally time to hit the grocery stores!

Yong Yi, here is all the produce! ( :  We go to Glen’s Market to buy our deli items and produce!  They have the nicest produce you could ever ask for!  I bought strawberries, blueberries, black berries, bananas, pears, and baby spinach greens!  I am making a spinach, cottage cheese, and fruit salad for dinner!  Yum!!!
Next we were on to Walmart to finish up!  I don’t enjoy Walmart at all!  They don’t pay or treat their employees fairly, and they buy products from places that are less than reputable around the planet!  However, there are some things that I can only get there!  As much as I don’t enjoy Walmart, I have to say that I am pleased with most of their prices!  They are typically the lowest!  Still, I am willing to pay more for nice fresh produce!

Time for more foodz!  Lunch was at the Big Boy restaurant!  I got the Big Boy Classic burger and it comes with french fries, and a Diet Pepsi! YUM!!!  It is my favorite lunch in the world!
We finished up there just in time to go to my eye doctor appointment!  The optomitrist that I saw was a very nice man!  He and I both graduated from the same university!  It is always nice to reminisce with other alumni!  However, the appointment itself didn’t have the nicest conclusion!  I don’t need bifocals yet, so that is good!  I don’t have any damage from diabetes, and that is good! However I am on the borderline of glaucoma, and that isn’t good! :(  I have to go back in 4 weeks to have the test repeated!  Then if my score is still high, they will send me to an ophthalmologist who specializes in glaucoma! :(  Just what I need is another diagnosis of something incurable!  I am not happy about this at all!!!
I didn’t let possible sad news about my eyes ruin a really great day!  I had a really great time hanging out and shopping with my dad!  He is a really good guy!  I am so thankful to still have him here and healthy in my daily life!

Yong Yi, I hope you liked this!

Regional Sunset

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DSC_0961Sunday night I had a wonderful dinner with my date at The Landing!  That is the restaurant that sits atop the Pellston Regional Airport!  We had a lovely dinner and were able to also enjoy this lovely sunset!  It was a fun night, and I hope for many more with this particular date!  (If you click on the photograph, you can see it in full size)

Welcome

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I have been posting photography and the story that is my life on social media for about 6 years now!  When my favorite site was sold and went in another direction away from photography, I decided it was time for me to create my own site!  Thus you have When Words Become Unclear!

This site will be a place to hopefully enjoy the art of an amateur photographer and a detailed family life!  I reside in Northern Michigan where nature is a constant around me!  Nature and my family are my favorite things to photograph and blog about!

I hope you will follow me and give me a chance to share with you!  Please feel free to leave any and all comments!  I will answer them personally, and we can get to know each other!

So there you have it!  Let’s get started!Paradise Lake