Last weekend I found myself home alone with just the dogs.  This doesn’t happen very often but my husband was out of town, the kids are both away at school and finally the weather looked to be absolutely perfect for going out and exploring.

I was inspired by the weekly photo challenge prompt of edge and I knew exactly where I wanted to go to try to capture some pictures that would relate to that theme.

This summer has been incredibly hot which makes it unsafe for me to walk my big hairy dogs.  Maisie and I have always taken really long walks when the temperatures are below 75 degrees.  We live about 8 blocks from Lake Michigan and there is a beautiful walking path that we enjoy in all kinds of weather, the colder, the better.

Our walks have gotten a lot shorter since Annie has started to join us. She’s older and doesn’t have the same level of stamina and I’m very careful to not get her over heated.  I really wanted to go the full length of the path which loops around the Northwestern University campus but it’s just too far for Annie and I didn’t want to leave her home alone.  I don’t know why it hasn’t occurred to me before, but I decided to drive down to the path and then we could walk along the lakefront taking breaks when needed and then drive back home.

The girls love a car ride but when I parked and got out, they were both a little anxious because they didn’t recognize where we were and we were heading out to a new direction.  I parked close to campus in the residential neighborhood but once we started walking and they saw the lake they settled into an excited pace.

Our first stop was at the end of the pier which has a beautiful view with the Chicago skyline in the background. My biggest frustration was that I left my good camera at home and had to rely on my iphone to capture what I wanted. The lighting was tricky but we enjoyed the peaceful setting.

We kept moving and I found a gorgeous spot with a different angle that gave me a slightly better result.

Then we worked our way to the other area that I had thought represented “edge”.

Annie is always very close.

A little dark.

To wrap it up we strolled along the loop of the path, took a rest and headed back to the car. (Finally the angle of the sun was in line with what I wanted to capture.)

It was such a nice break from our usual routine that we returned on Sunday and I found even more amazing spots that I have walked by so many times but never stopped long enough to enjoy the view.

Loving the moment here and now!