Where in the Copper Country #13

Last week, Shekinah got the answer. The picture I featured was from the Estivant Pines.

I think I may have a tougher one here. I wouldn’t have been able to guess it until now since this picture was taken during my first visit there. Just a note, Explorer took this pic so I can’t take credit for it.

If no one gets it after a little while, I’ll give a few clues.

Where in the Copper Country is this pic taken?

My Fashion Sense

I have a problem…I have a fear of anything with eight legs. The fear is made worse when the critter has eight legs and attaches to you and sucks blood. Yep, I’m talking about ticks.

Our son has a camera that he takes along on trips so he can take his own pictures. He always provides an interesting angle, like this one.

I don’t care how silly it may look to have my pants tucked into my socks (I think that went out of style in the 80s??). I wear those socks proudly since it helps to keep those critters out!

The dude with the tan pants is Mr. Explorer. He refuses to be as fashionable as me! :)

Enjoying the PastyFest 2009 Parade

For the first time in 12 years, I missed the annual Bridgefest parade. Other commitments prevented us from attending. So we had to make sure we made it to yesterday’s PastyFest parade – our first parade of the year.

The sky looked a little iffy as we walked to our parade viewing spot. It looked like it could start raining at any moment. Luckily, the rain held off for the 20-25 minute parade.

The parade wouldn’t be complete without a float about pasties! This one gave some info on how to make them. Click for larger view.

Then there was a cute float of women making pasties – complete with pasties made out of paper plates along the side of the float.

No parade is complete without some old cars to enjoy (wacky horns and all!).

Then there are the mascots. Toivo the walking, talking pasty was there but he snuck right up on us and startled me and my son when he came up with his hand extended for a handshake. He came out of no where.

But I did manage to snap pics of Elroy and Firepup:

Trucks from the three local fire departments (Calumet, Laurium and Calumet Township) were at the end of the parade. I was only able to get a decent pic of one of them.

It was a nice, small parade and the kids loved the candy. There were plenty of smiles!

Mother Nature’s Artwork

I’m not sure what else to say about the following photos…except that Mother Nature sure knows what she is doing…

Eagle River Deer

The harsh winters in the Keweenaw can be tough on the whitetail deer population. There are spots in the Keweenaw where deer hunker down for the winter and Eagle River is one of them. All you need to do is drive to Eagle River and right when you hit town you will spot deer in yards and crossing the road. The speed limit is 35 – but you definitely want to go even slower.

The main place to see the deer is at the Eagle River Park. The woods behind the park creates a natural shelter for the deer due to it being a thick with cedar and other types of underbrush. The cedar provides some protection from the elements and also provides food for the deer (it looks like the cedars in the area are trimmed to a certain height – it’s actually the deer who do it and make it look so nice!). The local sportsman club also feeds the deer in this location, providing a little extra help to the population.

It’s a tradition to go see the deer at least once a year. We went in April and the deer were still roaming around.

This one looks like he’s saying, “What are you lookin’ at??”

Once the snow is low enough, the deer leave and go back to their usual home. When the snow returns, they travel back. I can’t help but wonder how far they travel to this wintering spot.

NOTE: Just a few more pictures from April (I didn’t take too many pictures this winter at all) and Monday I start with current pics :)