I was standing underneath this tree over the waterfall

– I love swinging wooden bridges.  Tom and I got on this one and had it swinging back and forth…I forgot to take a picture from the end of it.

-This is Presque Isle Falls from the foot bridge (after it stopped swinging)

Another View

Presque Isle Falls

…I left my son in the dust…somewhere south of the bridge…

(he got stuck in traffic  behind a rolled over semi…I went to Mackinac and bought fudge.  Right now I’m at the Burger King in St. Ignace waiting for him to catch up and I think he’s pretty close)

The Cut River Bridge is closed so it’s going to take us even longer to get to Marquette…I think I’m camping and Tom’s staying in the dorm.

Wednesday…when Tom is at orientation…

I’m going to swing by Canada and have me a Cuban.

Use my passport for the first time.

(I know…the whole cigar thing doesn’t really fit the whole “primal blueprint” thing…)

I’m going to be going “away” for a while.  A combination of driving time, camping time and most likely a hotel or two.

How to do Atkins while camping?

This afternoon:

• hard boil a dozen eggs
• make a list

Breakfasts:  same as home

1. Atkins shakes (add fiber)
2. eggs (scrambled with veggies and cheese)
3. full fat yogurt with berries and almonds/walnuts (add fiber)
4. eggs fried in coconut oil, with salsa, guacamole and black soybeans

Lunches:

1. packets of tuna with real mayo (not low fat), celery, onion and a little curry powder
2. egg salad with avocado instead of mayo (sounds and looks terrible, but if you like avocado, it’s good)
3. hard boiled eggs, string cheese, fruit
4. full fat yogurt with berries and almonds/walnuts (add fiber)

Dinners:

1. chicken breast wrapped in bacon and topped with mushrooms.  Wrap it in tin foil and freeze.  Put in in the fire pit (in the coals).  When done, open and top with colby cheese.
2. cubed steak, carrots, rutabaga, onions, celery, butter (if you added potato and flour, this would be the filling for a pasty).  Wrap in tin foil and freeze.  Cook in the coals.
3. Kosher (and low sodium) hot dogs (no nitrites).  Slit open and fill with colby cheese.
4. on skewers over the fire:  any combination of:  steak, lamb, pork, chicken, green bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots, celery, pineapple chunks, broccoli

There will be one night on the road and one night in “town” – so restaurants.

I’m going with the 50-60 grams of carb per day, so fruit is on the menu for snacks.

My favorite campsite (lately).  From South Manitou Island backpacking trip.

the view of the beach…

the view from my tent…

I was in Indiana Tuesday with my sister-in-law Judy. We went on a “quilt tour” in Amish country and saw this mural and this (below) garden

(the quilt pattern of the garden is “Lone Star”.

For more information on the tour, visit this site.
PhotoHunt

We spent a few nice days in Chicago with my husband’s sisters.

• We spent a day at Arlington Race Track (I’m thinking that if I get sunburned enough to see where my cross sits…that makes me a “crispy critter”.

• Sunday afternoon we went to Chicago Botanical Gardens

• Monday we wandered around the Museum of Science and Industry

• Tuesday we spent at Brookfield Zoo

…

We had a very nice trip, but it is also nice to be home.

we climbed “Castle Rock” (in the background).  I remember it being so much bigger when I was a kid.  But we all made it to the top.

We also stopped at a place called “Oswald Bear Ranch“…okay…tourist trap, right?  Not quite.  This is a place where the “naughty bears”  and rescued bears go to live.  They have mama bear who made her den under the foundation of a house in Minnisota.   They moved her once, but she came back.  So now she lives in Newberry, MI.  They also have a pair of cubs who fell out of a tree when lumberjacks cut it down,  Below see Bonnie (or Clyde…or both)

The cubs know that when people come into their pen (always with a handler and only one family at a time) they’re up for a photo-op.  One or both of them climb up onto one of these chairs and the folks sit or squat behind the chair.  Tom had something on his pants (we were camping…it happens)

I, on the other hand, had been chewing on a tea-tree-oil laced toothpick.  My hair was still wet (or rather I had used a different “product” and it didn’t get dry all day) and I wasn’t planning on photos of me and the bears.  But he was so CUTE!

He licked my teeth…and handler (the dad of the family that owns the place) kept saying…”that’s a good picture…”

By the time Amanda got her photo taken alone with the cub (since he tried to get into Tom’s pocket and he licked my teeth and pretty much didn’t pay any attention to Amanda)…

he was pretty tuckered out…

If you go to the website, at the top there’s a picture of a white-haired guy.  He (I think) is the “grandpa” to the bears.  The cubs get all excited and wound up and need to be calmed down (just like little kids).  We saw this guy sitting in there in one of those green chairs, one of the cubs in his lap.  The cub was sucking on the man’s “double chin” and making a sort of “purring” sound like a cat (only raspier and louder).  I asked if bears purr and he said, yes…and I’m the pacifier.

The “Big Mac”…”Mighty Mac”…the Mackinac Bridge.

The Mackinac Bridge is currently the third longest suspension bridge in the world. In 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan became the longest with a total suspension of 12,826 feet. The Great Belt Bridge in Halsskov-Sprogoe, Denmark, which also opened in 1998, is the second longest suspension bridge in the world with a total suspension of 8,921 feet. The Mackinac Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. The total length of the Mackinac Bridge is 26,372 feet. The length of the suspension bridge (including anchorages) is 8,614 feet. The length from cable bent pier to cable bent pier is 7,400 feet. Length of main span (between towers) is 3,800 feet. (…)

The height of the roadway at mid-span is approximately 200 feet above water level. The vertical clearance at normal temperature is 155 feet at the center of the main suspension span and 135 feet at the boundaries of the 3,000 ft. navigation channel.

All suspension bridges are designed to move to accommodate wind, change in temperature, and weight. It is possible that the deck at center span could move as much as 35 feet (east or west) due to high winds. This would only happen under severe wind conditions. The deck would not swing or “sway” but rather move slowly in one direction based on the force and direction of the wind. After the wind subsides, the weight of the vehicles crossing would slowly move it back into center position.

After a minimum of fussing even.  A friend of my daughter is going to be in town unexpectedly and only for a few days (from Japan) so we came home early to allow for socializing.

We stayed dry…a bear licked my teeth.  A cub.  Really.

Muskallonge State Park.

(These are all possibilities…I may update as we go)

Complete with agate beach.

The cat is diabetic and finding a friend who is willing to give injections is a bit difficult.  She’s learning now.  Then we’re out of here…

Thursday Challenge…

(Me, in the Valley of Fire, NV)

and