It’s been a while, so if anyone needs a refresher, Parts 1, 2, and 3 are HERE, HERE, and HERE. BUT . . . since it’s a rare reader indeed who follows links, a quick recap:

1. Original plan: Chicago, north through Wisconsin, across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, down to the Lower Peninsula, through Indiana, and home.
2. Modification 1: North to the Lower Peninsula, up to the Upper Peninsula, back down to visit friends, down through Indiana, and home.
3. Modification 2: 1,909 miles from home to as far North as Whitefish Point in the U. P. and back home in 102 hours.

This post, then, is about September 19^th, 2022.

Them who read the previous posts know today’s travels start Traverse City. It would end nearly 385 miles later in Michigan City, which, oddly enough, is in Indiana.

We’d originally planned a stopover at the Air Zoo, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but with most of the trip already modified beyond recognition, we decided to get home as fast as possible. The 20th of September would see us getting home in the early afternoon, thus — as the title says — completing the 1,909 mile trip in 102 hours.

For some reason, some of the photos are loading slowly, and I don’t know if that’s WP or SmugMug’s fault, but if I mention something and you don’t see it, try refreshing the screen. Like, for instance, the following map.

That’s the route, and what follows are the photos . . . by the way, as before, some of the gallery’s photos appear to be duplicates because after snapping a photo with the D7500, I often would bring out the Note 20 and capture the same scene.

Unlike the previous day, the weather was amazing. In fact — with the exception of the morning of the 19th — the weather for the whole trip was absolutely perfect.

Leaving Traverse City, we headed North. Our destination was the Leelanau State Park and the Grand Traverse Light.

But the first photo is of an International Harvester vehicle . . . Specifically, an International Harvester Travelall

That actually looks like it would be a handy vehicle to have.

Anyway, after a bit (about an hour), we made it to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.

A few words about Michigan parks . . . As mentioned before, you have to pay to get in, and they charge more if you’re from out of state. Except, there was no one at the entrance booth or the buildings, so we just walked around for about 15 minutes, looking at and photographing stuff.

Like, for instance, this land boat.

As usual, I advise going to the SmugMug Gallery HERE since I’ll not add all the photos here. Alternatively, there’s a link to a slideshow of all the photos at the end of this post.

The above encompasses the sign, part of the lighthouse building, and a common decorative feature.

I mentioned in previous posts about the many rocks along the shoreline and pretty much anywhere you look. They probably picked those up on the premises.

And here’s the main attraction . . . along with a scale replica that’s less-than-accurate.

This next view is from the shoreline looking south.

About these photos . . . The D7500 photos had an initial processing via DxO’s Pure RAW, but the bulk of the post-processing — including for the Noto 20 Ultra’s photos — was done in Lightroom. The latest release is pretty good with masks and gradients and stuff that makes Lightroom a much better processor than it already was.

For instance, this is the RAW version of the above . . . .

Aside from using the ‘Auto’ option to improve the photo, I also removed most of the distortion from the wide-angle lens and used a gradient mask to additionally brighten the shade portions of the scene (yard and back face of the building). Normally, I’d use DxO’s ViewPoint, Luminar AI (or Color Efex Pro), and back to Lightroom for the finishing touches.

. . . Lightroom is becoming more of a one-stop-tool. Mind you, I still like using other tools for more difficult photos. These were pretty easy to edit.

Here’s the view of the shoreline . . .

This next panorama is comprised of four photos showing almost a 180° view . . .

. . . and, again, I used a gradient mask to lighten up the foreground . . .

For you flat-earthers, notice the curvature of the horizon . . . I think the disk is bulging because you guys are spreading more bull droppings on the East and West sides than on the North and South sides.

Anyway, a parting shot . . .

And we were out of there . . . wait; one more shot of a type of tree I’d forgotten about . . .

Boring name . . . I’d have named it Mastodon White Cedar.

It would’ve been smarter to drive down the western side of the peninsula, but we were on a schedule and it was faster returning the way we came, also because there was a quilt shop Melisa wanted to visit in Traverse City (it didn’t open until 10 am, hence why we first headed North).

Regardless, the next step was the Point Betsie Lighthouse.

If you click on the link, you’ll note a photo I don’t have. A great view of the lighthouse with some interesting foreground breakwater features.

I don’t have that photo because I didn’t know you could walk on that side. This next photo shows the north side of the beach closed off.

And, if you keep looking north, you see a steel barrier in addition to the fence.

By the way, the SmugMug Gallery has three different attempts at panorama generation from five photos. All of them ended up with some glitches (discontinuities at the seams) at either the horizon or the steel barrier. Both Photoshop and Lightroom were great at lining up either the horizon or the dark barrier, but not both.

I fudged this next shot, but if you go to SmugMug and zoom in on the Horizon, you can see the places where there are discontinuities.

The last panorama looks like this . . .

The above is the 4K version (3840 x 668 pixels), but if you go to SmugMug, be careful opening the original because it’s 21,235 x 3693 pixels.

Ask me why I didn’t use either the phone or the P900 to capture the panorama since both have that feature? . . . because I can usually get better results with the DSLR and stitching photos. Except, in this case, I think the ultra-wide lens is not a good candidate for photos one intends to stitch into a panorama.

Aside from all that, I want to point out how much the Great Lakes (in this case, Lake Michigan) offer views that are reminiscent of looking out at the ocean. They are big lakes.

This is the beach and view of the lighthouse from the south side . . . I didn’t bother walking to the steel barrier that’s visible below the lighthouse because I assumed I wouldn’t be able to get through . . . and thus, I missed what would have been a great photo.

On the plus side, we grabbed some nice rocks from the shoreline. Another couple was there with scoopers and strainers. They were collecting rocks for their jewelry business . . . they probably got all the good ones before we got there.

The last stop and photos before getting to Michigan City are from another quilting shop, where I photographed old sewing machines (only a few shots here, but more views on the blog).

Those photos were taken with the Note 20 held above my head (those were all on high shelves).

We take a lot of technology for granted now, machines of all sorts and sizes, but imagine how amazing it must have seemed at the time for a machine to sew (knowing how some of the stitches are made, it seems amazing to me even today).

Imagine also how amazed a seamstress or tailor must have been when these contraptions came to market and kept evolving in ease of use and capability. Some of them might have felt threatened, but they eventually embraced the tool for what it is . . . a way to expand their business and offerings.

Sort of like I feel about cameras, I imagine. Except, I don’t sell my stuff.

And with those, so ends the tale of 1,909 miles and 102 hours, A bit of a disappointment because we missed out on seeing family and friends, but we had decent weather, I took a few photos, we ate a few things, saw a few things, and we drove . . . which we always enjoy doing.

Here’s the slideshow of the above photos and many not shown above. As always, you can pause it and scroll manually.

Slideshow of the 1,909 miles and 102 hours — part 4 Gallery — 41 photos

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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