We returned to Meijer Gardens recently to finish off our tour of the Chihuly sculptures, this time focusing on the Japanese Garden.
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| new take on the old jungle gym, in the children's garden |
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| Gamelans by the Buchans |
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| the Great Lakes water feature in the children's garden |
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| entrance to the Japanese Garden |
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| Niijima Floats |
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| boardwalk |
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| Turquoise and Erbium fiori |
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| Float Boat |
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| Fiori Boat |
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| Yellow Herons |
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| Susie |
A momentary geographic diversion relevant to our recent trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
I know many of you have asked the same question I had when looking at the map: when does a peninsula stop becoming a peninsula?
Answer: when it either becomes an island or widens so much that water is no longer distinctively surrounded on three sides.
Ah, yes, but what do is meant by "distinctively surrounded"?
I'm leaning toward the view that once you go west from Marquette, the Upper Peninsula may not in fact be a peninsula since it no longer is surrounded by water on three side. Or is it? There is significant difference of opinion on this within the family at the moment.
To continue beating a dead horse, it would also seem that the Keweenaw is not a peninsula either and may in fact actually be an an island. Note Portage lake seems to cut the Keweenaw off from the mainland and at the upper end is reportedly a short canal dug in order to connect one side of Lake Superior with the other.
We live in exciting times.
September 27-28.
Well we're back at our home in Grand Rapids. The drive to Huntley, Illinois was smooth and largely devoid of traffic snarls although there was the occasional slowdown between the Wisconsin Dells and Madison, Wisconsin.
Anyway, after about 6 hours on the road we got to our hotel, checked in and appreciated a quiet bed to take a short nap before dinner.
We met up with Greg and Joyce for pizza at Lou Malnati's in Lakewood. A pizza staple of the Chicagoland area for decades, Lou Malnati's has a fun and funky vibe inside and the pizza along with the services was very good indeed.
The four of us spent a couple of hours catching up; we hadn't seen each other since earlier last year when Greg was in the hospital after a fall off a ladder at home. We shared warm and lively conversation as always, littered with plenty of laughs.
After a round of hugs and good-byes we headed back to the hotel for the night.
Monday morning we were took our time over coffee and a light breakfast in our room before packing up and heading out. We wanted to give the morning commuter traffic plenty of time to thin out before hitting the road around Chicago.
It was a relatively pain free four-hour drive home. Although (as always) the traffic along I-80/90 through south Chicago and northern Indiana was heavy it moved along, and for that we were grateful. And the roads, which were in various states of reconstruction here and there, were familiar.
The trip was short but oh so very sweet. Yes, we ended up spending some 35 hours in the car covering more than 1,900 miles on roads of varying quality behind drivers of varying intelligence. But two things of note stand out: first we got to experience truly remarkable parts of our country we had never seen before, learning one or two things in the bargain while also catching some spectacular glimpses of the coming autumn colors; second, we got to spend quality time with family. You can't ask for much more than that.
September 26.
The day began with rain which continued more or less most of the day. A good day to be inside. Yesterday we had learned from niece Rachel that grandniece Marlowe was going to be at a skating lesson this morning so we got the deets for the time and place and headed over to the Bloomington Ice Garden. A massive three-rink facility that caters to all skaters young and old was a short drive from our hotel, and we arrived in time for the 11 AM session.
It took just a question or two once we were inside to learn where Marlowe's class was to be held. Along the way we met a woman whose daughter was in the same class and, since she's a local, she steered us to rink three.
Between the warm conversation with Laura and watching the kids on the ice going through their movements we enjoyed ourselves very much indeed.
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| rink three before skating lessons |
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| Marlowe's group |
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| Prairie School architecture and design |
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| View of Tangier from the Seashore (1856-58) by Eugene Delacroix |
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Portrait of Countess Maria Theresia Bucquoi neé Parr (1793) by Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun |
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Fishing Vessels Offshore in a Heavy Sea (1684) by Ludolph Backhuysen |
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(the bride) After the Reception (1887) by Douglas Volk |
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| Susie, me, Stephen with Elliott and Marlow in front, Rachel snapping the pic |
Conversation was lively, lots of laughs about one thing or another, along with more down-to earth and personal talks about life. We were a bit sad to have to say goodnight. But we have another leg to go tomorrow as we head to Huntley, Illinois to visit my brother Greg and his wife Joyce. One night there and then it's home Monday,
September 25.
We lingered over coffee and breakfast before packing the car, locking the house and headed out for the next leg of our journey. After stopping for gas in L'Anse we pulled onto Route 41 to Baraga and then turned onto Route 38 in the direction of Ontonagon and Lake Superior. Although our ultimate goal for the day was Minneapolis, we opted for a detour to Lake in the Clouds, which is sort of on the way to Minnesota.
The morning was crisp, clear and traffic surprisingly light given that the colors were beginning to pop in large swathes. We easily found the entrance to the Porcupines Wilderness State Park, home of the Lake in the Clouds, along the 107th Engineers Memorial highway out of Silver City. The drive through the park ever upwards around twisting worn beaten roads amidst the dense forest dotted every so often with trailheads was comforting and felt cozy rather than claustrophobic. The parking lot at the dead end was surprisingly packed with quite a few vehicles, so many hikers out enjoying the several trails through the "porkies" as these hills are affectionately referred to by locals.
The boardwalk up to the very overlooks provided our first glimpse of the Lake in the Clouds and the stunning views were evidence that our morning detour was well-worth the drive and time.
From the Porkies we returned to Silver City and made our way on, ever westward - Bergland, Wakefield and finally Ironwood at the state line where Michigan becomes a wholly different place altogether, called Wisconsin.
We stopped at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center just outside of Ashland, Wisconsin, to take a break, use the bathrooms and have our packed lunch of rollups and an apple.
Eventually we pushed onward to Superior, Wisconsin where we crossed the St. Louis river into Duluth, Minnesota. As we traveled over the bridge we could see several weatherbeaten freighters loading/unloading readying themselves for the next journey across that most superior of lakes.
We were now on I-35 heading south to Minneapolis. Susie spelled me at the wheel giving me a chance to appreciate this part of Minnesota as we whizzed down the highway.
After some 140 or so miles we found ourselves in the midst of an enormous traffic network during rush hour so we were truly thankful for our GPS to help guide us to our hotel.
After checking in and settling in we cleaned up, dressed and made our way to a nearby noodle bar to meet up with Steve, Rachel and the kids for dinner.
The evening passed pleasantly, catching up with the Engels family and laughing about one thing or another (that family is adept at laughing). It was a great way to end a long day of travel through the upper midwest.
Tomorrow Minneapolis calls!
We returned to Meijer Gardens recently to finish off our tour of the Chihuly sculptures, this time focusing on the Japanese Garden. new take...
