Sun and sand, wind and water (part 2)

Saturday we got up, cooked breakfast and went for a hike. Okay, we didn't get out of camp until 11:30. I'm such a putz. Anyway, we set out on the nature trail. We saw all sorts of nature trail kinds of things. Trees, mostly. We found a thick vine hanging in a loop from a high branch. Cindy swung on it, doing her best Tarzana impression. We walked for a while in the hot, still, buggy woods. Then we found the sand. And went uphill. And almost collapsed at the top. But it was worth it. We came out at the top of the park. The view was spectacular. Sand dunes, beach grass and the lake. *Way* down there. The clouds were making dark patterns on the deep blue waves. We ran down the hill. Running down the dunes is great. You take these huge bounds, landing in the soft sand with each step.

When we got to the bottom, the storm clouds had moved in, and we heard thunder. We decided to risk the walk along the beach - the long way around, rather than go back.

The beach is great too. Long, wide, and at this time of year, empty. I think it is about three miles from end to end. Cyn and I frolicked in the water. The Michigan side of the lake is much nicer than the Wisconsin side. Aside from the amount of sand, it is much warmer, since the westerly wind blows the surface water to that side. The water was still cool, though, which was nice because the sun was so warm. Did I mention the rain was all inland? The clouds seemed to dissipate over the lake, We just caught a bit of sprinkles. So we wandered down the beach for a while, skipping stones, before heading into the trees for lunch.

I scrounged around a little while for some food, and we built a fire to purify some water from the lake in an old tin can. Yeah, right. I pulled my little folding pocket stove and a small pan from my backpack, and we cooked ramen noodles. While I was sitting there waiting for the noodles to cook, I felt a bug on me and *quickly* brushed it off. In that instant I saw that it was huge. Then I looked for it and found that it was a walking stick. That was very cool. I'm not sure I've ever seen one. It was at least five inches long, and looked very much like some twigs. From the shape of the joints in its legs to its color and texture. The shape of the tip of its abdomen looked exactly like the end of a twig. Very cool. We watched it watch us for a while. Then it climbed to the top of a weed. It disappeared after that, and we went on our way too.

I'm a commie?

My political ideology might best be described as the following:

# 1 Progressive
# 2 Socialist
# 3 Anarchist
# 4 Leninist
# 5 Marxist
# 6 US Liberal
# 7 US Libertarian
# 8 US Conservative

by somebody at SelectSmart.com

Thanks to Velvet Wife.

hairy worms

Cyn and I kept brushing caterpillars off of our stuff, all weekend. They kept trying to climb upwards, looking for the tallest thing around. Like our tent. We watched one wander all over our picnic table. It decided that the coffeepot was the tallest thing there and went up. It made several circuits of it before deciding that it wasn't what it was looking for. It also didn't seem to know what to make off the glass percolator top. It wouldn't go up on it. It would stop and look in, but would just go on around.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of them, so I can't share them with you. I can tell you that they were yellowish, and hairy. Over an inch long.They had two or four black spikes of hair sticking out like antennae on either end. I tried a moth and butterfly identification site, but I couldn't find anything like them. The park staff didn't seem like they would have been much help either.

(no subject)

Beware of prophets dressed like gas station attendants.

Sand, water and sky (part 3)

After lunch, we wandered on down the beach, while the wind scoured our legs with the sand. Dare I say we frolicked by and in the water? Cyn chased some seagulls. We skipped more stones, to varying degrees of success. We walked quite a way into the water, on a sandbar. We waved to an Amish couple and their kids, who seemed to be having more fun than we were, in the lake up to their knees in their traditional garb, the long dress and long pants.

After a stop at the concession stand for an ice cream bar, we set off into the woods for camp. The trail had quite a few ups and downs. I guess it is some conservation thing, where they don't want the trails going level along the side of a hill. So we went from hill top to hill top, up and down. At one point there was a sand path up a very steep hill - 45 degrees, I'd estimate. How often do you climb hills that steep? And this one was loose sand - two steps up, one step back. At the top we were treated to another spectacular view. We sat at the top for quite a while resting enjoying the view. We sat at the northern edge of a bowl. To our east we could see the lake over some dunes. To the west was a taller dune than the one we were on. To the south, we could see far into the distance. We watched rain storms traveling across the countryside. Tree covered ridge after ridge faded from view, then emerged from the silver haze.

Our next little hike was not so strenuous. It was mostly flat, and sloped gently upwards to the ridge top. At first we couldn't see over it. Soon we saw the horizon, far in the distance. Then as we neared the edge, we saw more and more of the countryside, until we could see the tops of the trees below us. The storm had moved northward as we walked, so when we reached the edge, a rainbow was there in the east to greet us. The air was so clear, the only thing that blocked our sight was the rain itself, in the distance. We stood there for quite a while and never saw a soul.

That time on that ridge, itself, would have made the whole trip worthwhile.