Yesterday was such a hard day on our feet, we’ll be doing a full day of boating and island hopping today instead. There are loads of small hikes around the small islands surrounding Isle Royale, and each one has it’s own surprises. We pull into Edisen Fishery for one of the highlights of the day. It’s a beautiful walk over to Rock Harbor Lighthouse after getting a glimpse into the life of true fisherman of old in the Scandanavian style. ...
Today we’re hiking from Rock Harbor up to Mt Franklin again, then along the Greenstone Ridge further west to Mt Ojibway. Plenty of great views, signs along the trail, and a little bit of fall color. There are some awesome views from the top of the tower at Mt Ojibway, but it’s crazy hot and we’ve got a very long way to go still. It’s back down to Daisy Farm and a lunch break for some well earned rest. ...
It’s another beautiful day on Isle Royale, so we’re off for some great hiking on the eastern end of the island. We’ll be taking the M.V. Sandy over to Lookout Louise, then we’ll head along the Greenstone Ridge out to Mt Franklin for a great view. We get a nice view of the Ranger on our way back to Rock Harbor. Check out the details of our hike over on Strava. ...
This year I’m joining Charlotte on her fall trip to Bootjack to bring Gordon back to Capitola for the winter. For most of the time though, we’ll be enjoying the outdoors, hiking, and boating in beautiful Isle Royale National Park. We’re headed over on the Isle Royale Queen out of Copper Harbor, and we’ll be staying at the Rock Harbor Lodge. As soon as we arrive, we’re already off on our first activity. We head over to Passage Island on the M.V. Sandy for a guided hike and some exploring. Here’s a nice sampling of the wildflowers and berries on the island. ...
I’m traveling to Upper Michigan again with Charlotte on her regular trip to bring Gordon back to Capitola. We’re planning a week of hiking and exploring in Isle Royale, but we have a day or two before we leave. Charlotte shows me her latest discovery for hiking and agates over at Seven Mile Point
We’re heading south today for a road race in San Ardo. I love heading down this way since it feels like I’m headed to San Luis Obispo to visit Nick. It’ll be a busy day with a long race for Gabe, and a nice long ride in the hills nearby. Mack and Matt take off first and we’re hoping for a great placing. Gabe is off next after rollout with Ryan. I don’t think they’ve raced together for quite a while. Gabe is jazzed about his chances today. ...
After our few short days in Germany we started to make our way down towards Italy. On the way though was Austria. We drove through miles of countryside and finally the Alps. It was beautiful driving around the countryside of Germany, and Austria. Here unlike the USA, towns are scattered, rather than having a large city that fans out into countryside, it seems like hundreds of little towns were plopped down in the middle of nowhere without purpose. ...
Munich, Germany was the first destination on our European trip and what a place. On this gray rainy day, the city seemed extremely somber. Being a Sunday, all the shops were closed and the city was extremely quite. Silence and quietness are something that seems prevalent in Germany. The people seem to enjoy their silence. Not in a rude or snobbish way, they just appear to be a more silent people who keep many thoughts to themselves. As if they contemplate each word or sentence that comes from there mouth, they seem to keep most words inside as if to spare us if any of the words are not entirely worth hearing; in total opposition to many people I know in the US who talk simply so silence is never heard. It is a calm and almost serene silence but the grey sky brings a sadness to this great city. ...
A couple of days ago my grand adventure around Europe came to a bittersweet end. Back in the USA now I had one full day at home before being shipped off to Michigan. So here I am sitting in my grandmother’s beautiful library addressing you. I have seen so many amazing things and of course I desire to share all of it with you. But I would like to share a brief preface before the fun begins: ...
For those of you who are not aware, I have been in Europe for the last week. I have been without internet and will soon be again, so I will just give a quick update. We started in Germany with a flight to Munich, after several days there we left for Venice, on the way we also stopped in Austria. We had a magical stay in Venice and have just finally moved on to Tuscany where we are currently staying in Chianti, a very small wine village right between Florence and Siena. After a day trip to Florence today tomorrow we are moving on to Siena and ending our day in Vinci, Italy. ...