Hey everybody Marty's got legs "and he knows how to use them. . . Lol😂😂😂! Seriously, beautiful scenery and gorgeous sketches. Thanks for sharing this amazing country with us.
Blue sky, water and trees..three of my favourite things. Beautiful weather has been in short supply here in England just lately so your little video here has cheered me up immensely..so thanks for that.
Hi Jane - An English summer :-) so they say. I saw it was very cool and wet in Ireland as well lately. Here's wishing you some warm and sunny days, very soon. ~Marty
When I was at Mum's a couple of weeks ago I was very lucky as it was sunny practically every day. She lives on the coast so it was lovely getting some sea air into my lungs. Later today I need to go out but it's so dark and depressing it's putting me off! I believe the Jet Stream is in the 'wrong' place and I wish it would move!!😎 Oh, I have one question for you. Those Caran D'Ache Fibralo pens you have..do they all work, have you tried them? The main reason I haven't bought the full set yet is that I'm terrified some won't work properly. At the moment I've been buying Kuretake Clean Color F Twin Tip Colouring Pens singly (not the brush pens) but I can't buy the Caran D'Ache's singly, unfortunately. I wish I could!!
Jane Metcalfe Hi Jane - Yes, they all worked flawlessly. I buy them myself so the company doesn't have a chance to send me their, "best" products. That keeps it pretty clean in terms of getting product any average person would pick up themselves. :-) ~Marty
Hi Marty! I live in Door County (Sturgeon Bay) & still enjoyed seeing Cave Point and the view from Peninsula State Park. I pulled out my brushes again last year after a long hiatus and I am never at a loss for places to paint. Thank you for reminding me of what I tend to take for granted. Coincidentally, I hope to get up to the Copper Harbor area sometime as I've never gone that far north. Hope you enjoyed your vacation here and we treated you well! Thanks again!
Hi Kathy - Thank you so much for the comments. We stayed in Sturgeon Bay our first night and it was very nice. Yes, the people of Door County treated us incredibly well. They were polite and generous with information about all the great places to go see. I was thinking about how people in Door County must on one hand despise all the tourists taking up spaces and muddling up the area and on the other hand count on them for the economy. Either way, we had great encounters with the folks in your County and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a fantastic destination. Since we Minnesotans tend to be a considerate lot who love the outdoors and respect nature, we were careful to leave things undisturbed and really enjoyed all the great places. Copper Harbor was an awesome place and still pristine. The surrounding woods and trails were filled with interesting sights, including some waterfalls. It was really a great visit. We really do live in such a wonderful country, I wish we could all set aside our politics and appreciate the blessing we surrounded by. :-) ~Marty
This was WONDERFUL! I grew up in Illinois and we went to these areas in the summer often and also to Canada - it brings back such great memories - that area of the country is stunningly beautiful - many people have no idea - which is probably a good thing - maybe it will stay that way longer! Thanks so much for sharing!! It made me so happy to see those crystal clear lake waters are still there.
I could put this video on a continual loop replay! I absolutely love this part of the country and all its history and stunningly beautiful landscape! The weather looks absolutely beautiful too! ( you never know what you'll get in the U.P. Early Spring/Summer!) Well done my friend! So glad you and your family were able to explore one of Michigan's many treasures! No matter where my husband and I roam we always feel our heart (and our feet) will always be here in Michigan! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Denise - Loved our trip to the UP and got to stop in a few towns, like Marquette and Escanaba as well as a few places in the wilderness. :-) Love your state and the beauty of the big lakes. ~Marty
Stunning scenery Marty. Thanks for sharing your trip. I don't come out much because of a handicap and I took some shapshots of your video for inspiration.
Thank you my friend. It was awesome up in the UP. Feel free to use whatever you'd like from my videos. Take care my friend and don't forget to breath some fresh air. ~Marty
That was beautiful Marty. Bus drivers shouldn't talk with their hands though. Haha. Mr Dave had a moment there at first. Those sunsets and sunrises were my favorite part. I'm a sucker for a pretty sky. Thanks for sharing Marty. -Pete
This is my busy time of year work wise. Your video was a nice escape for a few minutes! Thanks Marty. Love how you integrate the video and your sketches!! Best wishes my friend.
Loved seeing you enjoy Michigan. We are near Lansing but visit the UP every year. Thanks for your perspective and renderings. Best regards from Michigan.
Hi Judy - You certainly are blessed to live in such a beautiful state, with so much natural beauty. Sometimes in Minnesota we think we're the center of the outdoor universe, so it was great to see another state with so much incredible nature. Loved the Superior and Michigan shores. There were some towns along the way (in the UP) that seemed a little depressed, but I guess the economy hasn't treated them too well. There were some really nice towns as well, like Marquette, Eagle Harbor and Copper Harbor. Loved traveling to the Northern most point in the UP, end of the road. It was really cool. Thanks for the note. ~Marty
Awesome video tour of some of my favorite places here in Michigan! I live near Traverse City but spent every summer vacation in the UP as a kid. Really enjoyed your sketches especially the lighthouses!
Truly inspirational! Great photography! I have a problem now, though. I want to paint about 10 of the scenes I saw on this video! Oh my! Thank you so much for the beautiful scenery and for motivating me to paint some of what I saw.
Thanks so much for sharing your video, Marty. I loved watching it! The UP sure is beautiful country... I wish I could get up there more often from SE MI.
You got some amazing footage. Looks like you had perfect weather the whole time! When I saw that red sunrise, I thought you were in for some foul weather, glad it didn't seem to be the case :) seeing all your footage reminded me of all the trips to the lake and northern ontario we used to do when I was a kid, right down to the abandoned trains. The area of lake where people were kayaking was truly stunning, as was everything really, but the clear water certainly weren't hurting that! I hope you are having a great weekend! 😆x
Thank you Annie. It was really nice there and we had great sunshine almost the whole time. The weather was perfect most days. We had one windy day, but honestly, it was nothing to complain about. :-) ~Marty
It has been some time since I saw a video of yours ... finding this is an absolute gem, all the scenery is gorgeous and your sketches are beautiful. -sana'a
... oh, such a great video, Marty! Nature is simply the best place to be! Wow, that lake is really huuuuge! I loved to see the 'real' objects and your drawings side by side: your work of the mining car and the locomotive are gorgeous! I didn't get it, what kind of mine was it? You probably know that we had a lot of mines here in Germany, too. Must be very hard to work belowground. I could never do that. I need to see the sun and its magic 11:17 ! Thank you for sharing your adventures!
Hi Anja - :-) That was a copper mine, although it is no longer in operation. I think it shut down in the 1960's or 70's. I am with you, I couldn't work underground, I need the sunshine as well. I never visited the mines in Germany when I lived there, but I was aware there were mining operations. I spent most of my time on the border, listening to East German's and Czechoslovakians ;-) I was in Chicago this week and saw a huge art supply store/warehouse, but sadly I had no time to visit it. ~Marty
Anja Meurer Ha! Yes the German's were excellent to me. I rented a small apartment from a former Luftwaffe pilot and his wife. I lived there for almost two years. I lived in Fulda and visited places like Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Nuremberg, and Kiel in the north. I remember in Kiel, visiting Holstenstraße for shopping. I celebrated Fasching in two different years (84 and 85) and my unit was even filmed one year for TV (link below). Most of the time I was stuck up on the border though, just watching and listening to the East Germans. I learned to speak German fluently and although it was a low german, I got by well in social settings and made some good friends while I was there. As soldiers I think many of us were sad/angry about the border that divided Germany and later in the decade, when the wall came down, many of us celebrated in the US. It was so wonderful to see a peaceful unification of your country. I was treated well by the Germans and my oldest daughter was even born in Fulda. It was a great time in my life and I will never forget the beautiful country and people of Germany. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bO71LjkB-X8.html
I've never been to Fulda but i think it's a nice town, isn't it? This movie about your unit seems like pictures from a faraway time and place... It's really strange, when the famous wall fall came down i was 18 years old and what did i do? I just stayed at home. Each time when i see pictures on TV from people who celebrated this great event i keep asking myself why i didn't go there. Probably because i had no connections to any people in Eastern Germany. I only remember one neighbour, a friendly woman. As a child i understood that she collected clothes and other useful things and she said to my mother that she will bring it 'in die Zone'. When i heard this word, 'zone', i always thought of something dark and frightening and obviously i wasn't so wrong! As a child - and still today - i am fascinated by all the stories from DDR citizens who risked their life in order to escape from a place they couldn't live in. I remember one family who even built a hot air balloon! Later, while studying i was very interested in how the DDR system abused their sportsmen. They were just seen as machines who got drugs in order to win and bring 'honour' to the country... Well, don't get me wrong. It's not that i don't see the 'faults' of the Western system. I'm longing for the day when capitalism will finally die...
Anja Meurer I was on the border around the time a grandfather and his grandson tried to go over the fence. The grandfather was killed, but the grandson escaped to the west. It was a tragic day for him though.
Wonderful video Marty! I loved the waterfall and little creek, that is where you would find me...lol 😉 It looks like you had a very relaxing time and enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing. Oh and the TV fish tank was cool. 😆
Hi Valarie - Thank you so much for the comments. Now I know you watched to the end. :-) Michigan and Wisconsin have so much natural beauty. Hope the tourists don't take it over too much (Door County was a bit more commercial, but still no large corporate entities, so it's a bit unspoiled). It definitely is a relaxing place, but there is also a lot of adventuring to do if you're into outdoor sports like kayaking, biking, hiking and rock climbing. :-) Thanks for watching. ~Marty
Owings Art Of course I watched to the end...lol 😉I know what you mean about tourists, we are starting to really have that problem here. A lot of them come up from Phoenix either to cool off in the summer or play in the snow. Many of them don't seem to care about how they leave us (i.e leaving trash everywhere) and can be plain rude like them coming up here should be an honor for us. I find myself being like the old guy who yells at people being in his yard...only I get cranky about them being in our town. Lol😉 The kayaking looked beautiful. Definitely looks like an area where one can find their peace. 😆
Valarie Connell Yes, exactly. There's a reason people like coming to your town, and if they spoil it, no one will come. It's a blessing and a curse. The money is good for the community, but you just hope some of it will be left unspoiled and in it's natural state. I think you live in Flagstaff right? I love that place and although I've only been there twice, I remember how much natural beauty there was and how wonderful the giant pines and forests were. It's a magical place.
+Owings Art Absolutely Marty! It is a blessing and a curse. Yep, we are in Flagstaff with our wonderful ponderosa pines. I just wish those coming in would be more respectful and nicer. It gets frustrating when us locals can't go out and enjoy our area when tourist come in and take up all of the space. Granted though like you said the money is good for the community, but there has to be a balance. Memorial day weekend we had 120 unattended campsite fires left smoldering in the forest around us all the while there were a couple of large wildfires burning in the areas. You would think that the wildfire smoke would be a reminder to completely douse, but nope. Luckily none of them burned more then an acre, they were caught in time. We would always love for you to come back down and visit. At least I know you respect nature and enjoy her.😆
I love the UP we are from Michigan. Beautiful views and great drawings! We rented a house in Eagle Harbor right on Lk Superior, beautiful sunset! Was this a tour excursion, if so what was the name? Tfs!
Great video! We're actually planning a trip there - flying from L.A., maybe to Milwaukee, then renting a car. What is the route you took on the UP? Never been to your part of the country.
Hi Sharon - I think you're going to just LOVE it. Mostly we took Route 41 up through the UP and then Marquette, which had the Maritime museum. Made our way all the way up to Copper Harbor which is just awesome for sunset and sunrise as seen in the video. So many great things to see, it's hard to go wrong. Enjoy and let me know how it goes. ~Marty
Sharon Nolfi Hi Sharon, lol, that's not my aquarium, we spotted it in the Harbor Fish Market & Grille in Bailey's Harbor, WI. The Tugboats were in Sturgeon Bay, WI.
