my proffession is to always find god in nature

i'm going to start my national park segment with michigan. later on, i'll talk about the ones that i really want to go to from across the country.

ISLE ROYALE

my mom went backpacking there in the '80s with a few friends. she says it's gorgeous. there are more than 165 miles of scenic hiking on that one island, which is perfect for me. the only problem is that you have to take a boat or plane over to the island, which can get kind of pricey.

my mom said that she saw deer, moose, all these amazing things that you get when you're on an island that is 98% designated wilderness.

PICTURED ROCKS NATIONAL LANDSHORE

YAY!!!! I'm going there this summer! 42 miles of hiking, sandstone cliffs, beaches, sand dunes, waterfalls, lakes, forest, and 40 miles of shoreline on Lake Superior. You can get a permit to go backcountry camping in the area. I'll take some more pictures of all the beauty that this place offers when we GO THERE! We really have to spend two or three days there so we can tackle all 42 miles.

SLEEPING BEAR DUNES




i'm so happy. we're going to 2 out of 3 of the national parks in michigan in our UP trip this summer!

if you go there, you have to take the Dune Trail to Lake Michigan. while it's only a 3.5 mile round trip, if anyone has ever climbed a sand dune, they know that it's difficult. but worth it.


there's 100 miles of hiking to do, spread between 13 trails. each trail has something different to offer, and different levels of difficulcy.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page

so i've decided that im going to get real serious about this blog! even if nobody reads it... im going to about actual events, like politics, travel, even fashion. this is going to become a big part of my life, so hopefully someone might be interested.

im so intrigued with travel. i plan on making it a big part of my life. so i'll be talking about trips i've been on, trips i want to go on, and so on. maybe i'll even explore each country, and talk about what everyone should see there. WHO KNOWS?

here's starting... my latest trip was to the state park in ludington, mi! this is the third year in the row that i've gone with my family. you can tell that this is a beautiful place.

i went hiking everyday, usually with my cousin sarah, and then anyone else who wanted to join us. i spent time on the beautiful lake michigan. i walked up to the lighthouse a few times. i saw cranes, baby ducks, swans, snakes, chipmunks. i played whiffle (?) ball on the beach with my family. i relaxed in front of a fire.

but really, hiking was my favorite part. im so excited for the pictured rocks in the UP in a few weeks! that'll be even better than ludington.

because of my recent trip, i'm going to start talking about all some of the national parks in the USA later.

if slaughter houses had glass walls, the whole world would be vegetarian

IT'S TRUE.

I've been a locto-ovo vegetarian since may 2007, and I recently became a pescetarian (which means I eat seafood.) It started when I watched this horrible, HORRIBLE video by Peta, showing how animals are raised in today's world. I'm not saying that ALL places are like this. But a lot are.

My beliefs are changing. Sort of.

I'm coming to terms that animals eat other animals. It's the way of life for most species. But humans are different. We dont catch our prey in the wild (or not most of us). What we do is enslave the entire species, stuff them in small, dirty cages, treat them horribly, and then kill them. We're a cruel species.

So now I'm thinking that I might be mostly a vegetarian, but sometimes eat Amish meat, or animals that have been proven to be treated kindly. I wont do this too often, though. I lost 20 pounds when I stopped eating meat, clearly it's a healthier lifestyle for me.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts on this one. (Even though I know it'll only be read by Amy and Corey haha)