The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is very remote and wild and I have always wanted to visit it. A wedding in Michigan provided the perfect excuse :-). Within this peninsula lies Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Resting against the rough shores of Lake Superior, it is a true gem for nature lovers. One of the highlights for us was trekking 3 miles throught the woods to emerge on an amazing beach with towering sandstone cliffs! Its name is Chapel Beach and it was spectacular! We took photos past sunset ... and yes we did hike the 3 miles back though the woods, in the dark, as the light of a full moon danced through the trees :-). It was a magical experience!
The water's of Lake Superior were so amazingly blue!!
Photos and moments captured along the way!
Utah
Of course none of our trips seem complete without Purple Bill and Greeny :-)!
Grand Teton National Park
Phuong is one of my dearest and oldest friends. We met in North Carolina in High School (which was in the late 80's for timeline references) when I was a senior and she was a junior. Seniors had the privilege of leaving campus for lunch and I would always sneak Phuong out with me. We also loved to go to those rowdy high school parties together and we ditched our prom dates to hang out for the rest of the night together ... which was much more fun given who my date was :-). We also would just get together and head out to the beach (a 2 1/2 hour drive away) on a moments notice just because. We always had fun together - and I loved going to her house to have some of her mother's Vietnamese cooking, yum - and no matter how sad I might be Phuong always had a way of making me laugh ... she just has that kind of personality!
The one thing about Phuong is that her love of travel and adventure is only matched by my own - and perhaps her husband's :-). This is one of those major things we have always shared in common. The last time I saw Phuong was in 1999. That was also a "Tina & Phuong Adventure Trip", along with some other people - spouses, etc. On that trip we spent a month together in Kenya, a week of that living with the Maasai when I was initiated into their tribe. We had such an amazing time, but I didn't realize when I said goodbye that I wouldn't see my good friend again for a decade ... and she only lives in San Francisco, go figure.
I was so super excited when she called and said she wanted to visit. After picking her up at the airport we headed up to Flagstaff and the first place I took her was Snowbowl. This was mid-April and it was still barren on top of the mountain. We took a photo on the last day she was here and it was all green and beautiful. Before arriving she asked what she should pack in the way of clothing and I told her to expect temperatures from below freezing to over 100 degrees ... I think she thought I was crazy, but she soon learned what those of us who live here well know :-). She stayed almost 5 weeks and in that time we visited many areas of the state, she assisted me at weddings, she fell in love with our dog, Yoshi, and laughed a lot at the antics of our crazy bird, Ziggy. We had many new adventures and a great time reminiscing about adventures gone by ...
Until the next big adventure Phuong ... hopefully it won't be another decade away :-)! Love you always!!
The first day at Snowbowl.
This was one of our really big, full-day trips. I really wanted Phuong to see where I used to live and also experience a place not many tourists to Arizona see - the White Mountains. We started by going to the Petrified Forest, then continued southeast to Springerville at which point we stopped at Java Blues for lunch (one of our favorite spots to eat in the WM.) From there we continued on Forest Roads past Big Lake to the West Fork of the Black River and then out to Greer, finally ending in Pinetop for dinner at Charlie Clark's (another favorite) before heading home. It was still quite barren at that elevation with no leaves yet on the aspens and large patches on snow dotting the mountain. I really love this area of the state and Phuong definitely could see why :-)! Yoshi went along for the ride and had a great time too!!
Yoshi's comfy little pad in the back of the car, complete with his bed and favorite stuffed animal :-).
