Deb and Ron Simons recently decided to tour the Portage Canal by boat and Deb snapped a plethora of photos to share with us all. I’ve always enjoyed seeing places from the water, a view you don’t often see. There were actually thirty-one photos, but I settled for ten here today, which just may be a record for the most photos on one day and is a nice assortment.

I have a couple favorites in the mix... I like the Michigan Tech Lakeshore Center photo because of the jetski creating a splash there. The Chutes and Ladders shot is one, too, just look at how long that slide is! And then the last shot of M-26 going up towards the business corridor...it reminds me of the old shot with Van Orden’s hill in it, when this ‘new’ highway was being built. You can check that photo out here: October 3, 2004

So do you have any favorites among today’s photos? Thanks for the boat tour, Deb and Ron!

Detroit Public TV is taking us on a U.P. Adventure with Under the Radar, from the Porcupine Mountains to the Douglas House Saloon. Plus a place you can eat, drink and sleep with waves from Lake Superior.

That was definitely a fun day. And Mary
managed to choose my favorites from this
cruise. What absolutely gorgeous views we
have where we're lucky enough to call home.
I've done this ride when I was much younger,
but wasn't smart enough to do a photo shoot
this way. I wish I would have thought to do
it, as it would have been nice to be able to
do a comparison. Oh well, we've all been
young and clueless about how special this
area really is, I guess you have to get
older to truly appreciate what we have here.
Thanks for sharing our outing, Mary.

I must say, avast array of pix today!
My favorite scene…Mount Ripley in Green.

BTW…nicely done, Deb and Ron!
I want to see you in a kayak next time.

I like Mt.Ripley too.

Deb, did you go on that electric boat? The
Dragonfly. That looks awesome!!

I like UTR vids too.

My favorite is the M-26 hill pic. Very nice Deb.

I've climbed all the stairs to the top of that giant human torpedo tube at the chutes and ladders park. Truly exhausting for this old man, but I made it. The height of the steps were typically well over 1 foot, which does not meet building code, but then again maybe it doesn't apply to kids. Then I had to climb down as I realized I was too big to safely exit through the tubes.

Did you know Alex, the human eye can discern far more shades of green than any other color? It must go back to when we needed to be able to spot all the various dangers lurking in the bushes.

When my friend and drove his 20 foot rigid inflatable boat to Isle Royale we used the Portage Coast Guard Station as our disembarking port (we are both in the Coast Guard Auxiliary). Very nice people there, but after 9/11 it much more difficult to enter.

Donna, we did not go on that boat.

D.A., M-26 is also my favorite. I don't know
why, but I love that one.

D.A….”It’s not easy being green. “