More Winter Shots- Crystal Mtn+Pinckney

I'm really in no mood to write anything interesting right now...
But I just edited a bunch of pictures, its 3am and I don't have anything else going on, so here you go. Also I'm just so fond of the interwebs I cant stay away.

I find it a little bit hilarious that I'm chronicling my adventures in May when they happened in February, but I guess rather late than never. (Also-Hi Mom!)

sooo.....Some of these are the usual outdoor pretty shots, and the others, in direct contrast, are really awful blurry pics taken up near Traverse City at Crystal Mountain, where Beardy Man and some friends and I went to hang out for a few days, ski a lot, and stuff our faces with food.

The first thing, the boys decided, was that we needed firewood. And they procured said wood. A whole truckload of it.


But wait! There's more!


We can keep some in here...


But in case we run out there's more in the shed...


Crystal Mountain is the closest thing Michigan has to a ski resort, and they have sled dogs where you can take rides...this was not good for me, as I have a fairly serious husky dog obsession.

WANT.


We discovered the excitement of cross country skiing.
Ready....


And they're off!






Good amount of snow for x-c...


Also, we feasted. There's really no other word for what went on...I don't have pictures from every dinner, which included lasagna one night and IPA steamed mussels on the other, because I was too busy stuffing my face.

Instead, here's a picture of Beardy Man wearing suspenders.


Tews and Andrea cooking up a storm...


Quesadillas with poblano peppers, portabello mushrooms and feta cheese...




OMNOMNOM. This isn't my plate. Really, its not...
Good god. Save me from myself...


Anyway, that was a super fun couple of days and I just sort of felt like sharing.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

About mid February we took a trip out to Pinckney Rec Area, which is about a 40ish minute drive from A2. It snowed like a beast the whole time, and it was awesome...a thick heavy silent blanket of snow covering everything. I had to stop and take a moment to savor the weight of it all...




We saw maybe two skiers, and a few ice fishermen, otherwise, the place was empty and still.






Snow in mah hayers...


Definitely love this kind of thing...


I know I'm sort of snobby about Oregon being the best place ever, etc etc, but with that in mind its easy to overlook all the awesome stuff in other places. Michigan has its share of beauty and wild moments, you just have to look a little harder. Winter was cold and sort of awful, but at the same time, overwhelmingly beautiful at times.

I'm glad for spring and flowers and sunshine and a chance to let me smelly softshell air out for a while, but I don't know if I'll see another snowy Michigan winter for awhile, and I know I'll miss it once I'm gone.

In other news-moving next week! Also, spring pictures soon! Im being productive! Yay punctuation! I like puppies! I think its time for a popsicle...

THE END...

Winter Shots

It looks like I'm pretty much done posting things about my China adventures for now, but as I keep taking pictures and I like to share them with friends and family, etc, this page will stay semi active. I'm not really going to go on about my life, since its sort of boring, so email me if you want that kind of news.

Aaaaaannnnnyway....
I know its spring now (and I'll get to those pics by fall, I promise) but I did a lot of tromping around in the winter in both Michigan and Oregon and took plenty of photos.

So yeah.

Anyway, these first few were taken in Oregon right around Christmas. I was super jet lagged and got up at 6am everyday. Kira and I drove out to the beach to watch the sunrise....it was great.



These are at sunset in a wildlife area called Jackson Bottom. Its a wetlands preserve. Mama Rae likes it much there.


These two were in color originally but I like them better in b&w.






Some crazy ice!




Ducks and beaver in this pond. (Mom says nutria, I insist they were beaver. I INSIST)




After Christmas I left the land of Everything Great and returned to Michigan, the land of Some Things Decent, where I had left all my shit five months ago.

And it snowed all the time, of course.
All of these are from various walks around Ann Arbor and Ypsi in January and February.






The Beardy Man Gremlin has chopped up ice!


It examines its kill...


This is at the Peninsular Paper Company in Ypsilanti, an awesome, very abandoned building right on the edge of the river.




Later on, in an old graveyard near Corner Brewing Company, also in Ypsi.


These ice formations were underneath an ice shelf that had formed around a tree...I went a little hog wild with the photos...








Near the Arboretum...train coming.


And going...




We played lots of disc golf in the winter- it was actually really great, no humans, no poison ivy, no underbrush to lose your discs in...
All of these next pics were taken at Rolling Hills park...


Some cool old rusty machinery in the woods.




Obsessed with the shadows on the snow...






And as we left that day...a sunset of majestic proportions...


And in order not to overload you, Ill stop there. Beardy Man and I had some other epic adventures in the snow, but I'll put those up later. Right now, its springy and green out, I'm going to make blackberry pancakes tomorrow morning and I'm moving again in a few weeks...
more winter photos to follow, and maybe springy ones after that.

Peace and photosynthesis.