Tag: usa

A close up of the bark of a white pine tree with some lichen

Where to Find Old-Growth Trees in Michigan

December 4, 2015

“You’re in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax
and all of his friends
may come back.”

— “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss

Nearly all of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula was logged in the 1880s and 1890s. When the “Panic of 1893” pausing the clear cutting for a brief window, a stand of trees, now protected by the Hartwick Pines State Park, to escaped unscathed. Hartwick Pines is one of about a dozen remaining locations that the state recognizes as “Remnants of Michigan’s Early Forests.”

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Green aurora borealis under a starry sky with a tree silhouetted on the right

Watching the Northern Lights Flashing in Michigan

November 6, 2015

Went I went up to Isle Royale in September, I had dreams of seeing the aurora borealis lighting up the night sky. I had done my research and knew that they were most active around 10-11 p.m. and just before dawn in the morning. Around the equinoxes is also a time of high activity.

However, I failed to account for the fact that I would be hiking an average of 10 miles a day with a 30-pound pack and that with the lack of electric lights that I would be sound asleep by at those times. I think I may have seen them one early morning, having been woken up by bright flashes in the sky, but I’m not entirely sure.

I got a second chance earlier this week though, when some kind of solar storm kicked up the solar winds enough to knock the Northern Lights a bit further south than usual.

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A trail through the woods covered with yellow fall leaves

Fall Leaf Peeping in Huron National Forest

October 23, 2015

The joke about the seasons in Thailand is that there are three: hot, hotter and hottest. Truthfully, there are still three seasons, hot, rainy and cool, which leaves much to be desired by people who are accustomed to places that are truly four season wonders, such as Michigan.

While summers in the Midwest get the glory for the outdoor activities and the winters are hailed for the glorious snowscapes and spring brings out a multitude of flowers, nothing quite compares to the autumnal foliage colors.

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A long card board box on a table with white paper going into the distance

Eating the World’s Longest Box of Chocolates

October 16, 2015

Chocolate. Milk chocolate. White chocolate. Dark chocolate. I’m a sucker for chocolate. So when my friend from high school Alexandra Clark opened up her very own chocolate shop right here in Detroit, I was all about it. In fact, when I had a six hour layover in Detroit on my way to Washington, D.C. for the Blog It Home Top Bloggers Tour in 2014, I had my friend pick me up at the airport and my first taste of America was a bon bon from Alex’s shop, Bon Bon Bon.

And Wednesday, Bon Bon Bon set the world record for the World’s Longest Box of Chocolates, clocking in at 313 feet long. (Detroit’s area code is 313, in case you were wondering why that length.)

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The front of a white house with blue doors and trim and the words Hitsville, USA on a sign

The Birthplace of that Motown Sound

October 9, 2015

D Town. The Motor City. Hockeytown. Rock City. Motown.

Ah, that Motown sound. The label that created that sound, and in 1975 was producing the most 45s, was headquartered in Detroit, Mich., and has been a museum for the past 30 years. Visitors can learn about the start of the label, its rise to success, how they got those rich vocals and see the studio where it all happened, plus a bonus of Michael Jackson’s famous fedora and sparkly glove.

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View from a rocky ridge over a mixed evergreen and hardwood forest

5 Days in the Backcountry of Isle Royale

October 2, 2015

The sun shone down on my face from the peak of its daily ascent. I lay there, on some of the oldest rocks in the world with my feet dangling over the edge of the ridge, dozing in the mid-day heat and taking a break from my ritual of the day.

The ritual of meticulously placing my hiking pole in a spot that would support and balance me as I swung my foot up onto the rocky ridge in front of me, pushing myself forward on the stretch of trail that is routinely referred to as “the hardest trail in Michigan” only to catch myself as I picked my way down the rocks back into the boreal forest. The process would repeat itself less than a quarter mile later.

I lay there, along with the lichen, soaking up the late September sun and allowing it to turn the sweat on my brow into salt lines, giving me a faux aged look, until the call of a bull moose rang out from the wilderness below my feet spurred me up and onto my destination for the day, still a few hard miles on down the trail.

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The Arab American National museum facade made of white stone with a dome

A Visit to the Arab American National Museum

July 31, 2015

Earlier this week, I went to lunch with my grandma. I had wanted falafel and she knew the best place to get that would be East Dearborn, which is home to a large Arab-American population. On our way back, we passed the Arab American National Museum, which until that moment, I did not know existed, and I was intrigued. I resolved to research and visit the museum soon. Thursday ended up being the final day for an exhibit showcasing some of Khalid Albaih’s political cartoons and so I made it a point to go and check it out.

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A campfire on the right side under a night sky with low yellow clouds

All About Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes

July 24, 2015

It’s no secret that Michigan is full of natural beauty. One of the places in Michigan that definitely a natural wonder is the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

My friends, and fellow Blog It Home winners, Keith and Heather over at Sponge and Slate are back in the U.S. for a month before embarking on their third year extension adventure in China, and invited me to join them relaxing at a family cabin on the gorgeous shores of Lake Michigan. Of course I jumped at the opportunity.

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View of a blue river under a clear blue sky with a green island in the middle and a steep sand dune in the foreground

7 Things on My Michigan To-Do List

July 17, 2015

I’ve been back Stateside for a week now and I’m still getting used to life here. (There’s so much space everywhere! Tap water is OK to drink! Toilet paper exists and is so thick!) But, in addition to getting my bearings here (I’m constantly reminding myself to stay to the right when I’m driving), I’ve also been answering the question, “So what’s next?” about once an hour. There are a lot of things that are next but this is a list of things that I know I will do next.

Michigan is a beautiful state, with the most coastline of any state in the continental U.S., wonderful National Forests, great engineering feats, a booming food and beer scene and a lot more. I’ve been away from my home state for just shy of a decade and I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself with the bounties that are here, and these are the things that are at the top of my list.

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I Won Blog It Home and Went on a Top Bloggers’ Tour

October 10, 2014

Last year, in the weekly e-mail that is sent out by the Peace Corps Thailand office, there was a call for people who keep a blog to submit theirs for consideration for the first ever Blog It Home competition. The winners would be flown to D.C. to take part in the Third Goal Conference and to give a presentation on blogging and their country of service. At that point, I had been in country for about seven months, but was making regular posts and decided to submit for the country director to choose which one would best represent Thailand.

I wasn’t chosen. My friend, Sara, was chosen as the finalist for Thailand and then the people at the Office of the Third Goal selected her as one of the winners. She finished her service in March, and I have kept on blogging.

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