Hello from the Dead River Coffee Shop in Marquette, Michigan! Shane and I are enjoying some coffee and WiFi while we upload photos, update the blog, and plan our next move. We've had an eventful first week, and I'm excited to share it with you. I also love lists, so here we go!
Places visited
Niagara Falls
Georgian Bay Islands (national park in Canada consisting of islands!)
Sault Ste. Marie State Forest Area
Hiawatha National Forest
Munising, Michigan/upper peninsula of Michigan
Marquette, Michigan (a cute little town)
Things I've Missed
Family and friends in PA, Virginia, and Chicago
Convenience
Coffee (but I don't miss this anymore! See the personal high list below...)
Things I'm Grateful For
Shane, of course! Most of the time :p
The friendly people in Canada and Michigan who have offered us tips on places to visit
The pleasant weather this week
My Rav4, our home away from home
The flexibility we have regarding time
The chance to see parts of North America that weren't even on my radar a month ago
Personal Highs
Seeing Niagara Falls at night - so beautiful!
Hiking on the Georgian Bay Islands and finding a rattlesnake
Exploring Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising, Michigan. We hiked a very scenic 9-mile trail along the shores of Lake Superior. Spectacular views!
Being warm at night. I've been sleeping in shorts and a t-shirt so far - our sleeping bags and tent keep us pretty warm!
Using our cooking gear for the first time. Shane woke me up with coffee the next morning <3
Personal Lows
The bathroom situation for most of the trip, especially when the outhouse was close enough to our tent at one site that I could smell it when the wind changed direction… gross!
My cell phone's charging speed (speed of sloth). Even when I don't have service, I use my phone as a source of light and for taking pictures and navigating, so I prefer that it function
Animals Spotted
Frogs and toads
Snakes: 3 so far, including 1 rattlesnake
A turtle
A very friendly goose we befriended at one campsite and named Henry
2 random birds by the side of the road, but I don't know what they were …
Deer, casual
Squirrels, of course, but they are smaller and kind of reddish around here
CHIPMUNKS - we counted 35 on one hike! They come up VERY close to us
Things I've Learned
what to do if a black bear attacks: hold your ground and try to scare it off/fight if necessary
what to do if a moose attacks: run! (NB: bear and moose count remain at zero, although I'm hoping we'll see both from a safe distance at some point. I don't think we'll have any problems with either.)
the largest organism is a fungus in Michigan - crazy, right? Go ahead and Google it!
Shane and I have enjoyed trying to identify mushrooms on our hikes using this book: Fascinating Fungi in the North Woods by Cora Mollen and Larry A. Weber
how to identify Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Bootes, Draco, Corona Borealis, and Cassiopeia in the night sky
the subtle difference between Shane's snores and a bear's growls ;)
Here are some of my favorite photos from this week:
Camping with coffee!
Shane at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Hiawatha National Forest
Henry the Goose!
Chapel Rock
Special thanks to my mom, Carol, for gifting us our cameras this past Christmas - they are getting some great use!
Thank you all for reading about our travels! Hope everyone is having a great week <3
