Luke Climbs a Lighthouse

For our 15th anniversary we are spending a week in Lundington, Michigan. There are lots of pictures still to go through, but I wanted to blog our highlight today, on our actual anniversary. What a fun day! (click on any picture to view larger, then browse back to pick up where you left off!)

Luke was just eager to get going on our 1.8 mile hike to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse which is only accessible by hiking in.

If you squint you can see a little black and white dot in the upper left hand corner of this picture… that was our destination. Would Luke make it, that was the question!

Fortunately, some friends of our who live in Ludington, who we visited with on Tuesday evening, “just happened” to give us a kid-backpack. (God is indeed sovereign, and He likes to prove it over and over!) So when Luke got tired or decided he wanted to walk in directions other than forward, we had a way to make progress without losing too much time.

But we were in no rush, so we stopped often to rest and enjoy the beautiful scenery – a strange combination of sand, water and evergreens. (I’m sparing you all my nature photography!)

Luke definitely takes after his father in having this strong irresistible urge to wander off the well marked path! Keeping him on the trail was a constant struggle! Little explorer that he is! Oh, the fun we will have in the years ahead wandering around like Lewis and Clark!

Just had to post this one – is that one beautiful boy, or what? (note the shirt!)

Once we hid from mom off the side of the road when she wasn’t looking, but she soon found us!

“Does this road ever end?” Luke asks. “We’re not sure,” we answer!

But FINALLY we arrive and enjoy our sack lunch on a bench under the shade of some trees looking out over Lake Michigan. The lighthouse behind us and the roar of crashing waves around us. Luke seemed thrilled to have arrived at our destination and is eager to explore!

Soon he is off to see where all these wooden paths lead to. Treasure? Cookies?

He finds a steel wall with steps leading up to… to what? What could BE on the other side?

It’s water! As far as the eye can see. (Luke absolutely loves water!)

Luke ponders how there could be so much water in one place. (I don’t even try to explain that this is only a lake and that oceans are even bigger.)

He decides he likes this place very much, but he doesn’t like the big steel wall!

So he finds his way around it to the BEACH! And points so I know where he wants to go!

Soon he has found a UBPT. (Universal Boys Play Thing) Also known as “a stick.”

And what do boys DO with sticks, you ask?

Why, THROW THEM, of course! (this was only one of his many victims who were cast into the sea*!)

But then it was time to do what we came here to do – CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE LIGHTHOUSE! Luke made the height requirement by less than an inch so he got to go on an adventure to new heights, literally!

Every twenty steps or so there was a window with a ledge big enough for him to sit on, and he absolutely loved sitting there and taking in the view. There are quite a few of these pictures, though the lighting was tricky for pictures to get both the view inside the fairly dark tower and the outside. I was able to get it by opening up the aperture pretty wide to get the outside in focus and not lose the inside. Until I figured that out, either you got nothing inside (like below) or the outside was washed out and all white. (TMI for most of you I know, but my photo-friends will appreciate it!)

This shot shows when we spotted mom from around 50 steps up in the lighthouse!

Not even half way up yet, and already the view is getting spectacular. (Yes, that’s mom in the pink!)

We waved and waved and suddenly Mom actually SAW US in the little window and took this picture!

We went rather slowly, but I was so proud of Luke. He did the entire thing all by himself! Here he is passing the 100th step. (and this is the only time I wasn’t immediately behind him)

Yes, that’s me and Luke 130 feet up in the air at the top of the Big Sable Point Lighthouse!

The view was wonderful and the sky was perfectly clear. It was pretty windy but it felt great.

The lighthouse was pretty busy with a steady stream of visitors and yet, when we got up there, we had the whole thing to ourselves for about ten minutes. It really was a gift from the Lord. Luke had absolutely no fear at all. The funny thing was, the only thing that scared him was some orange streamers they had hanging from the two hatches you had to come through on the stairs. They were blowing in the wind and really freaked him out. I had to hold him as we passed the orange streamers. Silly, but sweet too.

Can you spot us up there at the top of the lighthouse? Good thing mom was too scared to come up, she was able to take some fun pictures from the bottom. :)

Here’s a zoomed in version of Luke at the top of a historic Michigan Lighthouse!

VIDEO: Watch Luke at the top of the Lighthouse

All good things must come to an end. In this case, all good things have another hour long walk before they come to an end!

Not that all of us had to walk the whole way, at least one of us got the royal treatment for most of the trip back. But as I said on the walk, even as my legs and back were aching, if he rests his head on mine, I could walk a thousand miles.

It was a wonderful way to spend our 15th anniversary. Several people have seemed surprised when they found out we took Luke on our anniversary trip – but when you waited as long as we did for a little child to love, he is the highlight of our celebration and the joy of our times together. (and he does take naps)

The Big Sable Point Lighthouse can be seen for 19 miles out into the Lake. I’m so glad that on this 19th of June we celebrate that we know the Big Savior who made a Point of being the Light we can build our House on! When the storms of life hit, we don’t rely on some rusty old retainer wall to hold off the erosion of time that pounds against our lives relentlessly – we can rely on the grace and mercies of God which are new every morning! Praise God!

*for those who e-mail me my typos, the use of the word “sea” here was figurative, not literal. OK?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

3 Comments:

  1. That’s one of my favorite lighthouses on Lake Michigan (and I’ve been to many of them: http://forums.tannerworld.com/showthread.php?threadid=2835)! Enjoy your trip. Love, Amy Tanner

  2. I’ve never been to a light house before. Looks awesome. And watching how much you love your kid makes it hard to wait for the day I get to experience that!

  3. Thanks for the post. It was wonderful to see, but I got a little motion sick watching your video.

    Happy Anniversary!!

    I’ll always have you two to thank for my proposal. I took Keith to your wedding and was proposed to August of the same year. Today is our 14th anniversary. Thanks. He said after going to your wedding he knew he wanted to marry me.

    Love you guys,
    Melissa

Comments are closed