Now I know how Rapunzel feels.

"Well, I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, Sister Golden Hair surprise

And I just can't live without you; can't you see it in my eyes?

I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find

But it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind."

This past weekend we were in Michigan. For a state so close, I had only been there a handful of times. I will say, the commercials you hear about "Pure Michigan" are very true—it's an experience that I am going to re-live in a month or so when the leaves turn on the color, something I assure you I am looking forward to. Especially if I can find a cool barn.

The area where we stayed was called, "Silver Lake." I don't know why it's known by this name, I didn't see any silver, but I did see some sites that made me gasp. Literally and figuratively. From the literal viewpoint, there are some pretty major dunes on one side of the lake. They look fairly innocent from a mile away (the width of the lake) but when you are challenged by your daughter to see who can make it to the top faster, do not take the challenge! 

Audrey is in very good shape. She found it to be no problem to make it to the top with only a small stop or two. Her Dad on the other hand, he needed "longer catch your breath stops" for fear of not making it—causing complete embarrassment and a lot of laughter by those below. We attempted to guess its height once I got back to the beach, it was estimated to be 200 to 250 feet up, and I suspect the angle was 70 degrees. If that was not hard enough…it was soft sand! I went, they didn't. Let them laugh.

Once at the top, I made sure of one thing—I was not coming down right away. If I made it up, I was staying to at least catch my breath. The view was exceptional—until I wondered, "How am I going to get down from here?" Audrey went first and was down in less than 30 seconds; when I eventually made the trek down, I took a different path to avoid falling and making a complete fool of myself. (No worries, that happened the next day when we went up a different path; although only about 100 feet up, and closer to 80 degrees [not the temperature]—I was up about half way, slipped and well, with a camera bag and towel bag in hand, showed everyone what it would look like to see someone fall.)

Was it worth it? Yes it was. While the family went down to the beach, I went further and watched dune buggies take advantage of what seemed to be miles of sand. Oh, and I took some photos too!

The photo above was taken from a light house that overlooked Lake Michigan. I had never been near one, yet alone up in one; this was easy to maneuver as it was only 135 steps (they tell you before hand). While up there, a woman was literally gripping the side of the wall in complete fear of tumbling to a certain death. To make up for my ridiculous journey up the dune the previous day, I gained retribution by doing what I like to do best—take a risk while photographing. I leaned over the railing as far as I could—to the fear of my family—and snapped away. That will teach them to laugh.

Thanks for stopping by.