Various Ramblings
Michael Nowak
Cha-cha-changes!
Cha-cha-changes!
Various Ramblings
Michael Nowak
Seeing can mean believing.
Seeing can mean believing.

throwback

Stay-At-Home, Week 3 Check-In

I’ve got road trips on my brain, again.
Do they ever leave my brain?

I’m longing for one of those GOOD road trips that involve little planning and maximum adventure. Back in the day my buddies and I would get in the car and plot out some stops and fill in the rest as we went. We made minimal hotel reservations, didn’t know when or where we’d stop to eat, and didn’t much care.

Read about the four trips I did with some best friends as I transitioned from college to real life.

Memorable trips more recently include drives back to Michigan, trips to Missouri, long hauls to the Redwoods and Oregon, and shorter ones to places like Big Bend or New Mexico. I have the Redwoods on the brain today, but who knows where I’ll be tomorrow? Daydreaming is getting me through this time of quarantine.

My Top 5 States (in no particular order)

  1. Washington

  2. Michigan

  3. Oregon

  4. New Mexico

  5. Minnesota

Some honorable mentions are Alaska, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, California, and Nevada. I have yet to truly dive in to Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. I haven’t done much out east, either, and it shows. I am not opposed to the east side, I just love what I find in the west. I think my top five list is based on accessibility - it’s easy to explore in those places, or I have connections. We have family in Alaska, so if it were a top six it would be on there. Alaska is expensive to get to and expensive to navigate if you want to get off the beaten path. The west is best.

I’m so excited that two of the trips I have planned for late summer/fall are to Washington. Some friends and I are going to camp on the beach in Olympic National Park, hike through the forests of Rainier, and anything and everything in between. Then, I get to go back a month later to run my first 10K up a mountain in the same area! Have I mentioned I love Washington?

Travel is clearly my escape. I know it’s a privilege, and it can seem very annoying to whine about canceling trips. I posted a similar statement on Twitter, only to be refreshed at the responses. I hadn’t thought that people, like myself, prioritize trips in their lives over other things and events. I forgot that trips to nature are the literal escape our brains need sometimes and it’s okay to miss it or to have feelings about it overall.

We’ll all get to travel again, when we get a handle on this virus. One way or another, the world still spins madly on. Enjoy some photos from my favorite states.

#WayBackWednesday - Around Lake Michigan in One Night. (the first time)

Around+Lake+Michigan+Part+One.jpg

Road trips have been a favorite thing since way back when. In college, my buddy and I would just get in the car and drive until we had to be back for something important. There were nights we’d end up hours from Grand Rapids, MI in Indiana or Northern Michigan. One of these nights, we had the brilliant(ly stupid) idea of driving around Lake Michigan. It was a random March night and we though it would be fun to see if we could make it around the lake in one shot. By this point in time, we had already had many nights of driving to the Mackinac Bridge and back, down every road in our county and surrounding ones, so we were well adjusted to staying up all night blowing money on gas for no reason. We were fueled by coffee, stupidity, and a lack of direction. These trips, these night drives, would eventually lead to our our spring break road trips, and many other adventures along the way.

Here are a few shots of us breezing through Chicago. Notice the excellent photography skills and attention to photo framing; obviously documenting the trip was less important to me back then.

Morning was starting to show and this photo happened in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Flash + snow.

We started before midnight, and pushed through to the next day. We were getting pretty tired by Northern Wisconsin, and I think we stopped for Hardee’s somewhere before entering back into Michigan. We were good at fighting the exhaustion, it was almost a game, and we’d get second and third winds which led to louder music and rolling the windows down allowing the icy air to blast through the car. This was freedom.

Without the flash, the morning light begins to illuminate the snow.

Temperatures were around zero and the morning sun was beginning to show. You know that feeling of false warmth you get from the sun on a cold day, we didn’t feel that because that’s how cold it was. We had a stockpile of caffeinated products and the need to get back home so the sunrise was just further encouragement.

We stopped several times to take photos of the sun over Lake Michigan as well as at a little rest stop where a thermometer nailed to a tree read just above zero, which we believed was a lie. I might mention, at this point, that we were doing all of this in a 1991 Dodge Caravan that my buddy inherited from his mom when she got a cooler car back in the early 2000s. This van was a beast, all wheel drive, and made it through an unplowed turnout, with a little help from one of us pushing.

We made it back to our respective dwellings safely and probably passed out, I cant’ be sure because we could have also went to class. This may have been the first time we drove around Lake Michigan, but there were more brilliant(ly stupid) adventures to come.

#WayBackWednesday - July at the Lake

I’m looking back to July of 2016 and a spontaneous trip up to Michigan. This was during a transitional period for me when I was working a contract position that was seven days on and seven off - which was great for road trips! Part of me misses that schedule but I don’t miss that job nor do I miss the hours, but I do miss seven days off in a row. That summer we went to Michigan a few times, went to the Redwoods, and plenty of local excursions. Enjoy some photos from the family cottage in rural Northern Michigan and think back to a good time!

#WayBackWednesday - Caprock Canyons State Park

We’re going back to Caprock Canyons State Park last year at the end of September. This was a quick weekend camping trip that included a hike to Fern Canyon (a must-see if you’re at Caprock) and some other adventures with bison and spiders. Camping varies there, but there I’d recommend anywhere but near the lake as you’ll have more space between spots. Primitive looked best, but we just car camped at one of the tent only areas. Enjoy some photos!

Special #ThrowbackThursday - Alaskan Adventure

A year ago my other half and I were probably napping after our flight back from Alaska.  We spent about 10 days visiting with his family, exploring the land, and loving life.  I can't wait to get back up there, so I'm sharing a few photos to relive the moments until then.  Enjoy!

Quartz Creek Campground - Kenai Lake

A quiet morning on Kenai Lake - Quartz Creek Campground

A foggy view just south of Seward

Sea kayaks with a view - Seward, AK

A view of Exit Glacier on the way up to get a closer look - Kenai Fjords National Park

Byron Glacier

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