Not all bears bite

Left: Dad, Pyramid Point.

Right: My dad and brother.

Left: The "Sleeping Bear", along with Lake Michigan and South Bar Lake.


Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is in the northwest corner of Michigan, not far from Traverse City. The name comes from a Chippewa legend about a mother bear and her two cubs. That story, and other information about the Park is nicely summarized in this article from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Bear_Dunes_National_Lakeshore

As said, I was able to get up there for a few days while I was home last month. Since I was kid, my family has been coming to this area to hike the dunes forests, swim the inland lakes, and canoe and kayak the Platte and Crystal rivers. My dad, brother, and I, along with 10 other people and a flight attendent with a morose but hilarious sense of humor, flew from O'Hara to Traverse City in a mere 45 minutes, a far cry from the six hour drive that usually gets us there. Unfortunately, Mom couldn't make it up this time.


Though these are some spectacular pictures, they don't do the ever changing sand dunes and inland lakes justice. Only a visit can achieve that.

Kayaking the Crystal River.

Portage.

And the other side.

The cover shot for my upcoming album.

Lake Michigan. Yes, it might as well be an ocean.

Parting Shot

Sweet Home Chicago

I was lucky enough to get home for a couple weeks in September. While there, I gorged myself on pizza, a variety of beer, and Spanish, French, Thai, Mexican, and Italian cuisine. I also checked out some Japanese restaurants, though I found once again that the proprieters were Korean (ironic given that most Koreans continue to hate the Japanese because of acts of brutality committed beford and during WWII, not to mention Japanese failure to atone for said atrocities). The Chicago Art Institute, a walking architectual tour of downtown, a Cubs game in Milwaukee, cycling in Bussee Woods and along the Fox River Trail, boating on Lake something-or-other in nearby Wisconsin, a four day trip to the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore in NW Michigan.......it was a spectacular but busy "vacation". The best part was just be able to hang out with my family and friends. Good company really does make a place. Below are some choice pics.


Above right: The domed roof of the Chicago Cultural Center, initially built as a public library in the late 19th-century.

Above left: The Chicago Art Institute, one of the finest of its kind in the known world.


Above: This shot doesn't warrant inclusion without an explanation. Named for the foul smelling plants that covered the banks of the Chicago river prior to the European invasion, "Chicago" literally means "land of stinking onions" in the local Native American language (Illini? Miami?). This fence surrounds a ventilation shaft of some sort. If you follow the vertical poles down towards the sidewalk, you'll see that they seem to sprout from an onion-like bulb, representing the land of stinking onions that we all know and love.

Right: Me and The Gregory, Cubs v. Brewers, Millers Stadium, Milwaukee. Cubbies won. Holy cow.

Right: My father, John, cycling on the Fox River Trail.

Old friends.

Looks like the Sleeping Bear Dunes portion of my report will have to wait. It's simply too rich a subject to for today. We build up to things like that....