Collage correspondence, part 3: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

There wasn’t much in the way of crowds after I crossed the Mackinac Bridge into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Tahquamenon Falls State Park was lightly trafficked and well worth the visit, as was Painted Rocks National Lakeshore and Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Here are postcard collages from the area:

Postcard collage of "Da Yooper Hotel" — Dear Tracy — Greetings from Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula! I spent last night hanging around a campfire with a long-haul trucker and a hired hand from a dairy farm, although if his dreams come true he’ll be a male model instead. We made plans to run down the shore of Lake Superior to a lighthouse at 7:30 this morning, but come sun-up the only ones running were me and my dog Skillet. The trucker never wanted to run, and the farmhand was too hung over to move.

Natural American postcard collage - buff guy and binoculars-wielding outdoorsman — Hi Rob –Thanks for backing my Kickstarter project! I was at Pictured Rocks yesterday and the day before that. I didn’t see the rock in this picture, but I did meet an aspiring male model who works on a dairy farm and his long-haul trucker friend. I probably could have said “dairy” instead of “dairy farm,” because all dairies are farms. Anyway. It was the friendliest encounter I’ve ever had with drunk guys who woke me up with their stereo.

Postcard collage - Bird in front of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore — Hey James — Thanks for backing my Kickstarter project! Pictured Rocks was great, but you can’t really see the fantastic cliffs from land. And the tour boats aren’t dog- or wallet-friendly. But I did see a neat shipwreck. It was an old freight steamer. An aspiring male model’s friend was taking cell phone pictures of him walking on it at sunset. In a hundred years I hope models will pose on shipwrecked jet skis.

Postcard collage of Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park with "Forever Untamed" quote — Zach and family — Greetings from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula! I’m in Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park. Did you know there are mountains in Michigan? I didn’t! They aren’t very big, though. They are some of the oldest mountains in our country, and have had plenty of time to be worn down by erosion. They were formed about a billion years ago … more recently, Ojibwa Indians gave them their name because they look like giant porcupines when you view them from far away. It’s a neat place — I’m glad I visited!

Postcard collage of crowd running in front of Lake Superior with text "Choose Your Path" — Marieta — Greetings from Lake Superior! The sun just set and I’m listening to the waves slap against the rocky shore. Meanwhile my dog Skillet is curled up next to me, snoozing. The woods are chock full of noisy frogs and insects. It’s really peaceful. And after a long, hot day the air is finally cooling down and a breeze is picking up off the lake. Not much action, but lots going on.

Postcard collage of a yellow bird, Iowa's Driftless Area, and signs saying "Did You Know?" — Dear Johan — Hello! How are you? Thanks for backing my Kickstarter project. I hope you don’t mind if some of the text on this postcard is written under the cancellation stamp. I think that’s what the post office uses to void a stamp once you mail something. I should probably know my nomenclature if I’m going to do an entire Kickstarter project that relies on the US Postal Service. But the name for what it is sounds so redundant — a stamp cancellation stamp. The postage stamp and the cancellation stamp are really two different things, but they’re both called stamps. Anyway. This postcard has a huge caption up top, and a bar code down below. They eat up so much space. Also, I just noticed that this postcard has an ISBN number.* Wow! I’ve never seen that before. I’d look it up right away, but I can’t because I’m in the middle of Michigan’s Lake Superior shoreline, which is like the Bermuda triangle for cellular reception.

*I just realized that right after I complained about redundancy, I used the phrase “ISBN number.”

A conglomeration of things

Collage correspondence, part 3: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

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