I Think I am Getting Married...

...or rather renewing my vows in 20+ years...at a state park...in an old pavilion...overlooking Lake Huron. I have way too many moments where I find an ideal location for a wedding, and have that moment like, awww shoot, I wish I hadn't already gotten married because then I could have my wedding here. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband (at least most of the time), and love my son (all the time), and really enjoyed our wedding and all the details of it, but when you find yourself sitting in an old timber pavilion, with a huge fireplace inside, surrounded by trees on three sides and overlooking Lake Huron 100 yards away along a boardwalk leading from its large cement steps, you find yourself thinking: now this would be a beautiful spot for a wedding.

P.J. Hoeft State Park has everything a big girl dreams of. The white sands, blue waters, stones, a few treasured shell fossils, one piece of lake glass, and a hugely cool timber and dune shoreline.

The pebbles seemed to make perfect compositions in the sand only to have been created by God's hand. The pencil thin lines left by the waves rolling in and out over the sand are something of a printmaker's design.

This was the best two day camping vacation. It's not really camping unless you get rained out at 6:30 in the morning and pack-up all your wet gear in the cartop, soaking your clothes straight through, while your son eats doughnuts inside the Jeep. Yay to tenting it in bear country, with a storm front moving in, and picking the lowest site in the campground.

Three Lighthouses in One Area...Who'd of Thought

This is a different Presque Isle than the one I frequently blog about. This is not the state park in the U.P. but rather a harbor near Roger City in the eastern northern lower peninsula. They have three lighthouses there. The Old Presque Isle Lighthouse, the New Presque Isle Lighthouse, and The Range Light. There's a state harbor/marina and water that is so green-blue it looks Caribbean (although, I'm entirely assuming that, being I've never actually been to the Caribbean). What a lovely place to find with no major indicators along the highway except a sign that reads "P.I. Lighthouse Park" with an arrow.

Oh, and according to Bits, lighthouses are "too heavy to lift", in case you were wondering.

A Quick Stop on a Long Drive

It's hard to choose which one I love more (I'm talking about the two different pics of the same fern, people).

I Didn't Read Any Sign: Do Not Eat the Berries

We've been here before and we'll be back again. This last trip was done back in July, but with other happenings, I hadn't had time 'til now to upload pics and share a tale or two.

We headed out to my favorite Lake Superior stop with Mike's brother and his brother's girlfriend and their dog. An awesome day to be a turtle, dog, or a person. As I searched the shoreline for driftwood finds, I noticed berries growing in the brush. First thought, where there are berries there may be bears. Second thought, I better eat these before the bears eat them all. I hesitated long enough to mention to our party that I think I found some wild raspberries, but my lack of plant identification knowledge made me a tad skeptical. I thought that these berries may just be berries that look like raspberries, but are really poisonous, non-edible berries. Only one way to find out. I ate one and it was the best, possibly poisonous non-raspberry, raspberry I have ever had. I had not immediately died from ingesting said single berry, so I had a few more.

I am still living and breathing today, so when summer comes next year, I know where to find the tastiest raspberries in the area.