Life at the Lake

Every summer since I can remember, my family has taken a one week vacation to a lake.  When I was little, we would go primitive camping.  As in, on-an-island-with-nothing-but-a-picnic-table kind of primitive.  This year, it seems we're moving up in the world, and we spent this year's vacation in a lakeside cabin.  That's right, folks, real beds and a real kitchen.  No sleeping bags for us, no sir.

We took our boat like we always have, and I took my camera like I always do.  I love to take photos from the boat while people kneeboard, tube, or ski, but I also have this image in my mind of dropping my camera in the lake and watching little bubbles float up as water seeps in.  I can just imagine trying to turn it on again and seeing the screen all splattered with black just like my first phone was after I dropped it in a snow bank.  But I steeled myself, put my paranoias aside, and this is what I saw...

We also hiked down to an underground waterfall one day.  People actually go spelunking behind these falls.  Maybe next year we'll move far enough up in the world to do that, too.

An Old Warehouse and Some Poison Ivy

Impromptu photo shoots are probably my favorite, just pulling over to the side of the road and taking photos of what I see.  Abandoned buildings and railroad tracks are my weakness.  One time, I was roadtripping with my mom, when I caught a glimpse of a railroad track that passed underneath the road.  You know those turn-arounds on highways that say "Emergency Vehicles Only"?  We made like an emergency vehicle and turned around, parked on the shoulder, and walked down the highway, all to satisfy my irrational need to photograph the railroad track.  But hey, look what we got out of our little adventure:

A couple days ago, I caught the photo bug again when me and Sean (or 'Sean and I' for you grammar nazis) went to get froyo.  We drove back through a series of old, unkempt, and intriguing warehouses.  We pulled over to the side of the road, Sean voiced his fears of arrest, and I went traipsing around looking for a good photo.  Here's what I found.

And my personal favorite...

Oh, and against Sean's better judgment, I hacked my way through a poison ivy vine that did a good impression of a non-violent plant.  I'm regretting that part.