Today, my roommate and I went out towards the “West Coast” of Michigan to ride over the large sand dunes in the small town of Saugatuck. We went with Saugatuck Dune Rides over privately owned dunes created by Lake Michigan. After a great fire in Chicago, they had to harvest wood from this side of the Lake, and they did not replant. As a result, seven foot of sand a year blew in to the area, and even buried the original town of Singapore (now relocated). To reduce the amount of sand that blows in, the State of Michigan pays for grass to be planted along the dunes every year and now only two feet of sand per year comes in. Now because of the grass, it has helped to bring back some of the soil and trees are beginning to grow again. The highest dune is 350 feet, and at the top we could see Lake Michigan. There is a large 70 foot dune, which has created what they call a “dead dune” behind it. It essentially blocks all the wind from coming in and a forest has developed (last photo). We had a lot of fun riding over the dunes at a top speed of 35 mph up and down and around corners. It was really interesting to learn about these dunes and some of the local history.
I went kayaking for the first time today! It was super fun. We started at Argo Canoe Livery and went down the Huron River for about 1.5 hours to Gallup Canoe Livery. I have never kayaked before and neither had my partner. We learned on the fly and of course crashed and got stuck at times but it was all part of the adventure.
I got a Mophie Juice Pack Air battery iPhone case. It’s awesome. As a graduate student I’m out of my room for most of the day either working at my desk or in a study area but rarely home. And of course I do not want to deal with the hassle of carrying my iPhone charger with me wherever I go. So I normally have to be careful with my daily iPhone usage as to not completely drain the battery and make sure I can look up the bus schedule when it’s time to go home. Now enter Mophie Juice Pack Air. I can do everything I want with my iPhone now without feeling limited by battery usage. I can stream Rdio, read and respond to emails, see what my family is doing on Path, stalk people on Facebook, and of course do… err… homework. My task lately has been to see what I can do to drain my battery! It’s at 100% until well into the afternoon. It’s amazing. Last night I completely drained the battery case and got down to 70% on my iPhone. I can’t wait to see how much I can drain it tonight. Oh, yes it does make my phone slightly bigger and obviously a little heavier, but I think it’s worth the benefits of not having a dead phone. I have needed to recalibrate how I type and use my iPhone to account for the extended dimensions of the case.
When I first heard about it, I thought it had the names of those killed in the concentration camps lasered on the pieces of glass. Then I go up to it and find it’s just their numbers. It’s a very intense memorial and allows you to recognize the reality of the events that took place those 12 years.
