Goodbye to Michigan, for now.

Range of colors in the oak leaves

My favorite tree in its autumn best

 Brrrrr! When I left Michigan yesterday it was close to 80 degrees. After driving under a scary-looking black cloud in western Illinois, it had dropped to the 50’s, and this morning in Davenport, Iowa, there’s frost on the ground.

In southwestern Michigan I stopped in New Buffalo for one last look at Lake Michigan, and a half-hour’s barefoot walk on the dunes and beach. Couldn’t take much more than that because I was getting sandblasted by the wind, and my neck still feels gritty this morning.

I fought that wind most of the day, made more interesting by having the kayak on top of the car. At one point I had to make an emergency stop along the freeway to reposition it and tighten up straps.

Once I got out of the pine forests of Michigan, the oil-tank forests of northern Indiana, and the big-truck forests of greater Chicago area, the landscape changed to rolling farmland. Like driving through a sepia-toned photograph, all shades of brown and gray and black, bare trees, fields done for the year, big old hip-roofed barns, cattail swamps scattered here and there.

My last few days in Michigan were pleasant. I managed to get in a bit more kayaking, paddling about 2 miles up the river from home. The river is up probably at least a foot since September, with a lot more current, and this was quite a bit harder than it was back then. Getting through some of our little rapids was a workout, but at least there was (barely) enough water to paddle in now. The float back down was quiet and peaceful, and I even managed to get out without falling into the water or sinking into the mud.

And here are a few more pictures:

closeup of my favorite tree