Lake Trek as Quest...

I'd like to thank Kathy Drue for her blog review of my book.

She illuminates the quest aspect of my adventure:

"Her heart called her on
a Big Quest,
and she didn’t refuse
its calling."

She had some lovely thoughts on answering the call of the quest for all of us.

You can read the entire review here: http://upwoods.wordpress.com/

Cabin Fever Event at McLean & Eakin

There was a packed house at McLean & Eakin this week to hear all about my book! Thank you to everyone who came out on this cold evening and for sharing your stories of Lake Michigan.

A huge thanks to Jessilyn and the entire staff at McLean & Eakin for hosting this Cabin Fever event. I am honored to be part of your winter line-up.

What a great audience with great questions. And one woman, Mary, even brought me a beautiful pair of mittens she made to "keep your hands warm when you hike." How lovely!

I have a jam-packed book tour developing. Check the sidebar for details and locations. I hope to see you along the way!

The formal BOOK LAUNCH will be at BRILLIANT BOOKS of Suttons Bay, Friday, March 11 at 7pm.

Please note that reservations are recommended.

The Sleeping Bear

One of the questions people ask when they hear that I walked all the way around Lake Michigan is:

What was your favorite part?

While it's difficult to choose only one, I did fall in love with one stretch of Lake Michigan all over again: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.




This park preserves 35 miles of lakeshore and the two large islands just offshore.

This is a place I return to in my mind...and I'll get back there soon to explore this national treasure.

The North and South Manitou Islands are just offshore.

The barns below are also part of the park.

Did You Know...

…the French explorer Jean Nicolet was the first European to travel the Great Lakes.

…the name Michigan is probably from the Ojibwa word michigami meaning “great water.”

...the Great Lakes are relatively young, geologically speaking, around 10,000 years old.

...the state fossil of Michigan -- the petoskey stone (in photo below) -- is a fossilized coral that thrived much earlier. They populated the inland sea that covered much of this region in the Devonian Period over 350 million years ago.

Beginning of Book Tour