Tessera

Into the Woods Bikers enjoying Michigan’s North Central Trail Mackinaw City, Michigan #forestfriday #scape #landscape #photography #alphabetchallenge #weekFforFilm #EastCoastKin #ECK

Good morning all you fabulous BlueSky people! I hope you have a lovely day ❤️ Morning Glory (1933) #sunrise #dogsofbluesky #scape #coloraday #yellowthur #husky #alphabetchallenge #weekFforFilm #EastCoastKin

Just hanging out, having coffee with Jonathan and his friends this morning Jonathan Livingston Seagull #alphabetchallenge #weekFforFilms #waterwednesday #greatlakes #beach #ECK #EastCoastKin

Breakfast with a view A Month by the Lake #alphabetchallenge #weekFforFilms #waterwednesday #lake #vanlife #rvlife #ECK

My dog stopped to drink from a puddle #blueskyartshow #water #reflection #classicmono #monochrome #EastCoastKin #husky #dogsofbluesky

Capturing a perfect summer evening Mackinaw City, Michigan #blueskyartshow #water #alphabetchallenge #weekEForEphemeral #sunset #ECK #EastCoastKin

Man versus Machine US Steel overlooks Indiana Dunes National Park Portage, Indiana #blueskyartshow #water #nature #nationalparks #classicmono #monochrome #EastCoastKin

Walking with the dog in May Woods on a beautiful day Emmet County, Michigan #forestfriday #scape #landscape #hiking #husky #dogsofbluesky #EastCoastKin #nature

Look up! Chicago Cultural Center Chicago, Illinois #humansofbluesky #urbangaze #palacesandgardens #palacetops #classicmono #monochrome #ECK #EastCoastKin

Getting the perfect shot Tahquamenon Falls Paradise, Michigan #humansofbluesky #photography #waterfalls #landscape #ECK #EastCoastKin

Lower Tahquamenon Falls at dusk Paradise, MI #waterfallwednesday #waterwednesday #hiking #roadtrip #nature #ECK #EastCoastKin #landscape #photography

I love a day without an agenda. A sunny Sunday is a perfect day for a roadtrip, and Northern Michigan is a perfect place for backroads wandering. More in the AltText ⬇️ #thecampfire #coloraday #bluetue #roadtrip #vanlife

You’d be hard pressed to find any place more beautiful than Northern Michigan in the summer. It’s probably the only thing Kid Rock & I agree on.

The upper peninsula of Michigan is a great place to take a roadtrip. In addition to incredible natural beauty, the UP has a certain “See Rock City” nostalgic feel to many of its, been-family-run-for-generations, roadside attractions. There is actually a “See Shell City” sign for a place not far from us in Mackinaw City. We still haven’t seen it. I guess the owners need to up their signage game.

We had a loose agenda for the day. My husband had heard of a place called Oswald’s Bear Ranch & he wanted to see if we could find it. I thought the bear ranch would be the most interesting thing we saw that day. It was not.

We were coming back from a picnic lunch along Lake Superior when we passed The Ugly Fish Baking Company. I didn’t think it would be open at 4:00 on a Sunday. I’m glad Rob decided to stop anyway.

We met a couple of old hippies running an ice cream shop and bakery out of a 1974 Airstream by the side of a Michigan backroad. They also sell hot dogs and giant polish sausage from a little stand onsite. They make their own hot dog buns from scratch. I know this because the man grilling the sausage told Rob he was getting the last bun, but it was okay because he had more rising.

I guess the stand gets enough business from the state park visitors, and hunting and fishing camps, to make it worth their while. They certainly don’t have much competition out here.

I stuck to the original plan and got a milkshake as a post picnic dessert. I knew Rob was going to order the Polish sausage as soon as I saw it on the menu.

I sat on a swing under the pine trees, sipping on my milkshake, and chatting with the owner while he cooked up Rob’s sausage.

At one point the man’s wife left the camper, hopped on an old bicycle, & peddled across the street. I watched as she headed down a dirt road & disappeared into the trees.

I’m guessing the couple lived down that road, because the woman returned a short while later with warm, fresh, hot dog buns in the basket of her bicycle.

I’m glad the sausage took a while to cook. This was the sort of perfect day the you want to savor as long as possible.

My husband sat next to me on the swing and “helped” me drink my milkshake, while the owner and I had a wide ranging conversation.

I learned a lot about ice fishing on Lake Superior. Apparently it sucks. The wind is too strong to put up a fishing shack. It just gets blown around while you sit there freezing.

I asked him about Coast Guard Road, the intersecting dirt road the little stand sat next to; and learned it was an old, turn of the 19th century, Coast Guard rescue road that used to lead to a no longer in existence lighthouse. There were so many shipwrecks on Lake Superior, and many more wolves and other wild animals in Northern Michigan in the late 1800s and early 1900s, than today. If bodies washed up on shore they’d be quickly eaten, so families would offer rewards for the return of their loved ones, and it sounds like the recovery effort was a lucrative side business for coast guard employees.

This was morbid story to be told while sitting on a swing eating ice cream on a beautiful day.

I asked how long his season ran and he said, “I stay open to serve fish chowder to the hunters during deer season and then I’m done. Winter here I can deal with, but the start of winter, October, is just rain, then ice, then snow, then more ice. When that first ice storm hits, it’s time to shut things down, fire up the wood stove, sit in the sauna, and watch the Lions lose.”

If I’m going to watch my team lose, that sounds like a pretty nice way to do it.

When people ask why we decided to hit the road in our RV, days like this are the reason.

The sun hitting the water created a rainbow. Glad I caught it with my camera Upper Tahquamenon Falls Paradise, Michigan #alphabetchallenge #weekEforephemeral #coloraday #bluetue #rockintuesday #waterfall #ECK #EastCoastKin

Another shot of beautiful Tahquamenon Falls Paradise, Michigan #blueskymonday #mountainmonday #waterfall #hiking #nature #roadtrip #michigan #ECK #EastCoastKin

“Time stands still in this moment, Peace washes over me. A sunset so resplendent, Where heaven meets the sea.” Sunset on the Shore, Emily Dickinson Another perfect Lake Huron evening #stunday #scape #coloraday #orangesun #imageandverse #ECK #EastCoastKin #michigan #dogsofbluesky #husky

Big sky over the little farmhouse Lee County, KY #blueskyartshow #big #alphabetchallenge #weekDforDark #classicmono #photography #ECK #EastCoastKin

Cucumber Falls Ohiopyle State Park Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania #scape #landscape #nature #waterfall #forestfriday #hiking #ECK #EastCoastKin

Sunset over Lake Huron ❤️ #waterwednesday #sunset #ECK #EastCoastKin

The morning Canada goose parade Mackinaw City, Michigan #rockintuesday #tidesouttuesday #coloraday #bluetue #ECK #EastCoastKin #greatlakes

One of the more unusual Michigan landscapes. The Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company operates the world’s largest limestone quarry in Roger’s City, Michigan. Founded in 1912, it is 4 miles long, 1.5 miles wide and up to 150 feet deep. #blueskymonday #rockintuesday #roadtrip #travel #ECK