My Michigan

Petosky, MI

About a year ago one of my family members was moving from California to either Michigan or Florida. I quickly found myself creating lists of reasons why a move to Michigan would be the perfect choice. I guess I wasn’t the only one looking into the many assets our great Mitten State has to offer. A recent article from Thrillest.com ultimately decided that Michigan was ranked the greatest state out of all 50. Many of us here in Michigan already know that. On the same note the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau asked folks on social media to create a Pinterest page dedicated to all the things people love about Lansing summers. I was able to create this page: I #LoveLansing Summers. I think it’s natural to have pride in the location you’ve decided to live in, raise a family in, work in and vacation in. Michiganders love their state.  We love the great lakes, the urban cities, the national forests, the four seasons, and the people.

Here’s just a short list of some of my favorite Michigan places.

Lansing, MI view from the Boji Tower

1. Lansing, MI

The Grand River at Francis Park

This is home. This place has such a stronghold on my heart that it’s hard to explain how much I adore it. The people here are amazing. The sense of community is intoxicating! The changes that have taken place in the last 30 years are hard to comprehend. Each year this little big city expands and grows much for the better. I look forward to seeing where we will be in another 30.

2. Traverse City

Golfing at Traverse City

I hadn’t spent much time here as a child but my husband’s family did. As an adult we make a trip to Traverse City almost every year. From the camp grounds to the quaint city there is something for everyone. We’ve spent time picking red raspberries and eating cherries from a roadside stand while meandering through the peninsulas. We’ve golfed at scenic golf courses. We’ve sat at the beach and camped at the campground. There are Cherry Fests and Film fests that draw in thousands a year.

Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City

3. Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

This can almost be rolled into the Traverse City section but since it was rated by GMA in 2011 as the most beautiful place in America, I thought I would give it its own vote. As a child I would take trips here with my grandparents who had an RV at Duck Lake. As an adult I’ve traveled to these majestic sand mountains during the summer and also winter. Some may not know but they allow sledding on these hills in the winter and it was one of the best sledding I’ve ever done.

Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan

4. Porcupine Mountains

Lake in The Clouds the view from Porcupine Mountains, MI

As a child my family would travel the 12 hours to Lake Pomeroy and camp for almost two weeks. From there we would take day trips to waterfalls, Lake Gogebic and, my favorite, Porcupine Mountains. I was able to take my older kids to this beautiful wilderness area and we enjoyed ourselves greatly despite the steady rain.

The Presque Isle River that run through Porcupine Mountains into Lake Superior.

5. Holland, MI

Windmill Island Holland, MI

This was another location my family would head to when I was a child. We would take the 1.5 hour drive to the Holland Beach and spend the whole day there. My sister in law recently moved there with her family and we usually take 3-4 trips to Holland a year now. We’ve explored Tunnel Park, Windmill Island and the adorable city.

Tunnel Park in Holland, MI

I’m sure everyone has their favorites too. It’s honestly extremely difficult to pick only a handful. I hope everyone enjoys your summer wherever you decide to spend it!

All images are ©Ariniko Artistry 2015.

Ariniko is a greater Lansing photographer who specializes in community enrichment through family portraits, business photography and event photography. To find more examples of her work check out her website at www.ariniko.com.

It’s a Race

More Dragonboat photos here
I was late. The meeting started at 9:00 a.m. and it was now 8:30 a.m. By car it would normally take me only 15 minutes to get into town. However this day I decided to ride my bike for my Dragon Boat meeting. I raced from Haslett, through East Lansing, into Lansing and finally, only ten minutes late, my destination; Cooley Stadium. Since joining the Dragon Boat committee I’ve participated in a handful of meetings. I will be the site coordinator during the event and I am also helping put together “Land Cruises”; meetings held at public locations where our volunteers, teams and location patrons can actually grab a paddle and practice. We hope to also bring in the dragon boats so folks can check them out. We hope these events will help inform the public about forming teams (by June 15) and the actual event during Labor Day Weekend. I am also a committee member for Ignite Lansing.
I am helping organize the volunteers for this event. It’s really extraordinary watching these great events come into existence. I love participating with these groups. I enjoy the brainstorming for the next great location, theme or way to publicize the event. Both of these events were inspired by a person or a couple of people who decided they wanted their specific event here in Lansing. They trusted that our city, full of creative and generous people and businesses, would be able to pull it off. I’ve participated in festivals like Capital City Film Festival that operated at a level equal to other well established festivals its first year.

This year I will be photographing Dirty Feat.
It’s another festival put together by a handful of energized people. Last year in Old Town I ran into two of the organizers riding around on their bikes putting together stopping points for their race; two guys, on a bike. At today’s meeting it was the City Saunterer on a bike, a Lansing Center Events Manager, a Lugnut manager, a retired police detective and a dragon boat leader standing in a circle on the stadium grounds. We talked about where we could park the dragon boat, how many reserved spots we would need to fit it (7). We talked about how we’ve all talked to people who seem a bit confused by the boat part of it. I’ve had people ask how they put the boats together or that they couldn’t do it because they don’t have room to store a 20 person boat. We’ve decided that just offering up detailed information will help people understand that the boats are being rented from the American Dragon Boat Association. Essentially if you can find 25 people who would like to participate then we will supply the boats, life jackets, training and steering person. You can download an application here. And learn more here!
So the race is on! The race to create fantastic festivals, the race to keep Lansing vibrant and exciting and the race to get this summer of festivals going!
Where I walked

Here are a few more festivals and summer fun:

Festival of the Sun
Festival of the Moon
Scrap Fest
Turner Street Outdoor Theater
Common Ground
Michigan Mosaic Music Festival
Dirty Feat
Ignite Lansing 5.0

A leg Up

I was barely into my walk and my skin began to glisten under the streaming sun rays. I could feel my face getting warmer and I knew it wouldn’t be long before it was really hot out. Whether you believe in global warming or only feel that there are natural cycles in Earth’s temperatures, there is no denying that Lansing has had some extremely rare weather activities this year. In fact, today’s high will result in two more records broken; which we’ve had almost every day for a week now. The first will be the daily high and then we also will beat the record high temperature in the month of March EVER. All in all there wasn’t much of a winter here in mid Michigan and as we reach over 40 degrees warmer than our normal high, I’ve taken in how this is definitely to our advantage. Back in January I started noticing some activity that I usually don’t see during that time of year; house repair. Homeowners were replacing roofs and adding on additions in January. The lack of snow has also allowed road repair to commence much earlier than normal. As I walked today the number of people out landscaping, repairing, rebuilding and improving was amazing. There was a news segment recently about the new bridge construction on Saginaw and I heard these never before used words for this type of activity: “we are on schedule”!!!! No way! If it’s only March and roads are repaired and construction is on schedule what ever will we be doing in August!!!?? It’s an amazing concept, that all these winters we’ve been forced into hibernation, unable to get things done. Now we have a chance, maybe our one and only chance, to get out early and fix and grow and improve. I just hope we all don’t get burned out!

Other Photos Here–>
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