Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

A long while back, I promised that on Thursdays I would share a saying, some song lyrics or an interesting sign which I spied somewhere in my travels. I've been neglecting the sign aspect. I haven't run across any lately which warrant an entire blog post, but here are some from the archives. 

This is at the city park in Houghton, Michigan. Doesn't this look like a lot of fun? But remember, kids, go down feet first.

I don't know about the aspargus salad, but I'd like to try one of Ken's pot pies.

But do those vehicles and their trailers need to be upside down?

 Bicycles? I think these are really wooden shoes.

Oh, the bicycles are in the background.

Have a great weekend!

Where will you be going next?

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. Deuteronomy 30:19 New International Version (NIV)

I don’t know why I am so fascinated with cemeteries. I suppose part of it is because I can envision an entire life around each headstone, making up stories in my head as to how this person died or how that person lived. Also, the headstones are sometimes works of art, as well as the other adornments throughout the older cemeteries.

Vacationing in the Michigan’s UP last week, we visited a few of these old cemeteries. The old graveyards seem to have a lot of fences around each family plot. I’ve been researching on line all week to discover the history of these fences, or borders as they are called. I thought that I read once somewhere that they were meant to keep bad spirits out or good spirits in. Pretty much all I found in my internet search is that one purpose the borders served was to discourage grave robbers.

(I also read that grave robbing was a popular crime at the start of the last century. Not the life of crime I would ever resort to.)

I think we are all curious about what happens after we die. As a Christian, I believe I will go to heaven, and don’t much care what happens to my body or where or how it is disposed of (I just don’t want grave robbers digging me up). The thought of my body lying in a casket buried under six feet of dirt really doesn’t do it for me. Yet I’d still like a headstone in a cemetery somewhere, a reminder to generations to come that this person lived from this date to this date and that she had a sometimes boring, occasionally interesting life in between.

Lord, thank you for giving me this life. I know that I complain about all sorts of things, but in general I am content with where I am. Guide me through the remaining years of my life and let whatever I leave behind be good. Amen  

I Will Not Let My Backache Slow Us Down

Tuesday, July 27,2010

Around 8:30 Tuesday morning, we finally left camp for the day. Our first stop was the Calumet waterworks city park. No one was around and we had a mile of Lake Superior beach before us.

Dino could romp and play in the water. He wasn’t used to such serious waves and the first one kind of freaked him out, but after that he thought it was great. He had such a good time.

Our next stops were the Lakeview Cemetery just west of Calumet, the spot in the road that was once the mining town of Cliff, the Phoenix Church, and Eagle River Falls. We drove by Jacob Falls, but we did stop at the Jampot which is just past the Falls. Remember this is the bakery owned and operated by an order of monks, and they make fantastic baked goods and jams. Bought some goodies that we just did not need, but it is vacation.

Eagle Harbor was next on the map. I saw a cute old school down a side street and directed Himey that way. Bonus, the old school was next to a park which had nice clean restrooms open to the public.

We had lunch at my favorite place, Essery Roadside Park. Dino actually laid down and stopped panting for a few minutes. You could tell my back was hurting because I didn’t climb all over the cool rocks being beaten by the Lake Superior waves. Plus, it was hot. 86 degrees at that point and humid.

We didn’t tour Copper Harbor or Fort Wilkins, but we did explore Manganese Falls. It is just a narrow creek, but runs through a really deep gorge. You definitely have to get off the trail here and explore to find the top of the falls where you can really see it.From the fence with its warning signs (“deep gorge – caution”), you can’t see a thing.

We headed further up the road in search of Estivant Pines. We got there and started up the trail, until we got to the sign which read that the loop was 1.2 miles. You know that my back had to be hurting at this point, as I gave in and asked Himey if we could turn around and go back to the Blazer.

Back at Copper Harbor, we naturally had to stop for ice cream. Himey even bought Dino a small dish of plain vanilla. Both my guys are so spoiled.

We took the Brockway Mountain Drive back to Eagle Harbor. Wow, what a beautiful drive, fantastic views of Lake Superior and all the surrounding forests when you get to the top. Though it was overcast, we could still see for what was forever.

Dino just loves the water

Essery Roadside Park

View from atop Brockway Mountain