Chicago.....It's my kind of town!

Thursday - Sunday, July 6-16, 2017

July 6 & 7 
Beginning on July 7th we had another house sitting gig in Chicago.  Our hosts have graciously allowed Joe to come out and visit us while we stay in their home...With that in mind we secured a room at the Residence Inn near O'Hare airport so that we could pick Joe up at 9am on the 7th (we left Elwood at the house sit).  What a great treat to have one of my children with me for my birthday...of course I've decided to change my birthday this year from the 7th to the 8th so that it's a full day of activities separate from meeting our house hosts and pets and while getting situated at the house.

July 8-16
Driving our hosts to the airport has become one of our things....Our host family had an early flight out of O'Hare and Wilson drove them...He would pick them up late on the 15th as well.

Joe will be here until late afternoon Monday.  One of the reasons that he is here is because he has been wanting to see the Broadway musical Hamilton.  Broadway tickets are like gold, luckily the show has begun touring.  In March Joe will be celebrating his 1/4 Century birthday and as we did with Gabriela we wanted to to give him something special to commemorate such an occasion.  Hamilton was the perfect gift for him.  The show will be coming to Boston in October but in researching it, we found that the cost was beyond what we could, in all good conscience, afford.  What we found was that he could fly to Chicago and see the show there (bonus visit for us) for basically less than just seeing the show in Boston...He and I went to the show together on Saturday evening (8/8)....a true gift for each of us.

July 8
Whoooo....hold the horses, I've jumped forward a bit.  We had a full day on Saturday before the show that I didn't even talk about yet.  It was filled with all sorts of activities including a Free Chicago Walking Tour.  We chose the River and North Loop tour, mostly because of the time it was offered and the fact that you get a little bit of everything...history, art, & architecture.  Several large cities offer free walking tours, the only expense is tipping the tour guide.  Based on our experience we will certainly do another if they're offered in any upcoming places we visit.

Interesting Fact:  In order to keep the drinking water clean the flow of the Chicago River was reversed.

Chicago has great food!  For the past three weeks I have been basically carb-free, which was about to end.  You can't visit the Windy City without having a deep-dish pizza.  We went to a place that was recommended to us by our tour guide, which is an off-spring of sorts of the very original deep-dish Chicago tradition...the restaurant was called Pizanos.  We walked into the E. Madison location and were greeted with a feeling of a deep sense of tradition and family right from the get-go.  On top of that we were waited on by "The Chach".  Chach, himself, is a legend in his own right.  He was voted "Best waiter in a pizzeria" in 2012.  He is an over-the-top character that in another time and place could be considered too much but at this place and this time he just added to the charm of the place.  His thing is taking pictures with his guests and having them posted online as well as collecting t-shirts.  When we get to Wilson's cousin's house we will have the shirts that we had made and we plan on sending him one....We're sure he'll never get another one like it since only 24 were printed.

After lunch we headed back home to rest for a bit before Joe and I headed out for the show.  While staying in the suburbs of Chicago we use public transportation to get around.  We are not that far from the Orange Line at Midway airport which is sort of our home base for transportation.  Over the weekend we drive and leave our car in the lot but on the weekdays Wilson and I pick up a bus from around the corner because parking in the lot closest to the station is nearly impossible because of commuters but it's also an extra expense that we don't need.

Leave Lake Hudson, MI - 8:20am - 64°, cloudy

Rte. 156S (8:36 OH welcomes us)►20W(9:25 IN welcomes us)►2W(11:30 Time Change)►20W►94W►65S►30W►43N
1:41pm IL welcomes us

Arrive – Host's Home (drop off Elwood) 2:00pm
►55S►294N►90W►
Arrive - Residence Inn @ O'Hare 2:50pm

Miles traveled - 256.9

Lake Hudson MI State Recreation Area

Tuesday – Thursday, July 4-6, 2017

Our final stop in Michigan was Lake Hudson.  We planned the last few stops all the way back when we were in Traverse City knowing that it would be difficult to find spots available over the 4th of July holiday.  Lake Hudson had spots available in part because of it's location (more inland, away from the Great Lakes) and impart because there were only pit toilets and no shower facilities.  We did have the lake though which we did not hesitate to jump into...not only for a "sense" of feeling clean but also because it was so darn hot.  

We spent quite a long time in Michigan.  It's a lovely state and in some regards it's a great combination of the two areas Wilson and I best associate with....Vermont and the Jersey Shore.  The beautiful wooded areas along with sandy beaches of the lakes make it a great place to be.  Lake Michigan is not the shore but if you couldn't be by the seashore the lakeshore along this beautiful lake would be the next best thing.  Wilson even made a comment about how he could live here, which is quite the compliment to this area.

Although Michigan has been a great stop, I was more than ready to move on.  It felt, to me, that we were in some sort of time warp and that our trip had been somehow suspended in time.  We're off to Illinois next as our next house sitting job begins on July 7th.

Leave Columbiaville, MI - 11:13am - 67°, warm & sunny

Rte. Travel back roads in the directions of South and West until connecting with 69W►23S►12W►525►34W►156S

Arrive – Lake Hudson SP 2:25pm

Miles traveled -145.2

Boondocking Columbiaville, MI (LaPeer, MI)

Saturday – Tuesday, July 1-4, 2017

I have got to say that our Boondocking experiences have been some of the best experiences of our trip thus far.  Again we needed to find a spot to stay for the weekend and again we were able to find a boondocking friend, actually a lovely couple.

We parked by their pond...according to our host the whole area is a big water area and you only have to dig a bit to create a pond.  I don't doubt this fact as it seemed that everyone here had a pond.  We spent an enjoyable three nights with these folks which included watching the wildlife come to the pond, hanging by a campfire, and best of all playing with their visiting grandchildren.

We also went to neighboring towns and checked out their beaches.  The temperature hovered in the high 80's and 90's, so finding a beach was very important.  Again we used our Michigan State Park Pass and ended up at a state park up the lake.  At this point we are hanging out around Lake Huron.

    

We also went to the movies...another great way to get out of the heat and humidity...We chose a movie based on the time, not really knowing what it was about...well lucky for us it was a shark attack movie....not.  With my increased paranoia about various things a shark attack movie was probably not a good idea.  Luckily it didn't increase any innate fears I might have, but it wasn't really a very good movie.  The best parts for me - air conditioning and a stupid, albeit funny, photo opt ☺

Leave Cheboygan SP - 10:20am

Rte. 23N►27S►75S►54S►57E►155
Gas- Exit 244 off 75S - Valero $2.37/gal

Arrive – Columbiaville, MI 3:10pm

Miles traveled -227

Cheboygan State Park & Sault Ste. Maria (UP)

Thursday – Saturday, June 29-July 1, 2017

Our tour of Michigan would not be complete without a trip to the Upper Peninsula (UP).  We chose Cheboygan SP as our next destination because it was a relatively short drive to the UP from there.

                                                            

Our plan was to go to Sault Ste. Marie, MI to check out the Soo Locks.  Locks allow ships to move from one body of water to another by sectioning off part of a waterway in which the water level can be changed by the use of gates and sluices, which allow for the raising and lowering of the vessels between gates. The Soo Locks allow large vessels to go between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

    

Once we got to Sault Ste. Marie it was evident that something was going on in the town.  Apparently we arrived on Soo Locks Engineers Weekend.  There were a lot of people enjoying behind the scene looks of the Locks and various other local attractions.  After our boat ride through the Locks Wilson and I walked around town.  We went through the Cleveland Hydroelectric Plant (1/2 mile long building) where they had various displays of how the plant worked.  They also gave away hot dogs (I did not have one) and bottles of water (I did have one 😎).  We also were able to walk across the Locks and walk through the Coast Guard station, which you normally can't do.  There were also Coast Guard ships available to tour but Wilson and I were getting tired and we still had to get to Lake Superior.

We arrived at a spot on Lake Superior where Wilson was able to dip his toes into the lake.  As mentioned previously it was our goal to hit every Great Lake and Lake Superior was our last.

   

The UP is lovely but there isn't much going on up there.  Think North East Kingdom.  It's very wooded and there are long spaces between towns...some of the towns listed are so small that if you blink you miss them.  As you may remember from the beginning of our trip last year, I was a bit obsessive when it came to bears.  At the campground I did read that the majority of bears in Michigan tend to be found in the UP, which based on the geography doesn't surprise me.

Leave Traverse City SP - 10:48am - 70°, sunny

Rte. 31N►72E►612E►571N►612E►75N►27►23

Interesting Note- Traveled across the 45th Parallel in Gaylord, MI.  This is the halfway point between the North Pole and the Equator

Arrive – Cheboygan SP 2:18pm

Miles traveled -120.8

Traverse City State Park

Monday – Thursday, June 26-29, 2017

We continue our journey north, staying in Traverse City.  As previously mentioned, this is the city where the National Cherry Festival is held.  The city is preparing for it while we are here.  We could easily stay and participate but generally speaking, big crowds are not our thing.

Again, we spent our time exploring and again we came across several lighthouses.  A couple worth noting; Grand Traverse SP Lighthouse and Big Sable Point Lighthouse. 

Grand Traverse Lighthouse has a interesting little museum on it's grounds.  While here Wilson and I learned that Lake Michigan was used in WWII by the navy for training pilots landing on aircraft carriers.  They chose the lake because it was an inland body of water, which meant that there were no threats of German U-Boats interfering. I think that I also read that the lake also mimicked the sea a little bit, giving real-life experience to the pilots & deck people. Check out the  Chicago Tribune Article_May 27, 2016 for a little more information if you're interested.

                                        

Big Sable Point Lighthouse was also nice.  It is located at the Ludington SP and is accessed by a trail that included several information boards along the way.  Inside the lighthouse is a small museum with a short informational film about life at the lighthouse.  The location of the lighthouse was situated on treacherous section of Lake Michigan, in 1855 alone there were 12 shipwrecks in the area.  Wilson and I took a chance and walked along the beach back to the state park beach area where our truck was parked.  Luckily for us the beach was walkable the whole way :)

                                                      

Leave Frankfort, MI - 11:58am - 54°, cloudy with a chance of rain

Rte. We began on back roads because Wilson didn't want to travel back the same way we arrived---it's hard to believe that a man of math wouldn't want to take the more direct route :) ►606E►31N

Gas- Traverse City Shell (using our new card which gives us 5¢ off a gallon- $2.33/gal

Arrive – Traverse City SP 1:30pm

Miles traveled -42.1

Charles Mears State Park

Monday – Friday, June 19-23, 2017

We continue our tour of Michigan with our stay at the Charles Mears State Park in Pentwater, MI, located right on Lake Michigan.  The park is nice but crowded.  It’s an interesting place because it seems like it’s a park where people come back year after year and build relationships with others that do the same.  While here we took drives to other parks nearby and took a couple of hikes.  

The state parks in MI have a day-use fee on top of the camping fee.  The non-resident daily rate is $9 and an annual pass is $32.  Well, given the amount of days we plan on spending in Michigan State Parks it's a no brainer....we bought the annual pass.  Moving forward we will visit many parks (some which will just be for the day, others overnight) along our journey making the pass very cost effective...

Leave Saint Joseph, MI - 11:05am - 69°

Rte. 63N►31N/196N►31N (exit 154)

Arrive – Charles Mears SP 1:35pm

Miles traveled -121

Boondocking in Frankfort, MI

Friday – Monday, June 23-26, 2017

We had another great Boondocking experience in Frankfort, MI.  Our host is a sign printer who also prints t-shirts.  I had a design for a tee that I wasn't able to get printed before leaving VT and so I asked if he could print me off some shirts...Luckily for us he was able to print them and we had them sent to Wilson's cousin in IL, where we were going to be in a few weeks.  We had a nice camp fire with our host and his family...I even took a walk the following morning with his mother which was really nice.

  

--------A note of warning...do not drink the water from the Mineral Springs, it tastes awful

While here Wilson and I found out that a lot of cherries are produced in Michigan, in fact...Traverse City hosts the National Cherry Festival, which would be happening the following week.  Frankfort is a very active tourist town. I got the sense that it's a place where families come back year after year.  

We were very active while in the area.  

We went to the Frankfort 48 Film Festival.  The short films were all created within a 48 hour time period incorporating the following criteria; the phrase, "There's no place like home", a bicycle, and a lighthouse. You can check out the top three films by clicking on the link above.

We also went to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  Sleeping Bear was named the "Most Beautiful Place in America" by ABC's Good Morning America having received 100,000 votes. We've seen a lot of beautiful places it would be hard for me to pick which one was the most beautiful...the beauty in each is so unique.  One of the biggest attraction in the park is the Dune Climb.  I can't remember how high the dune is that we climbed but there are dunes that are 450' above Lake Michigan according to the website.  Believe me when I say they are very steep, which I hope you will be able to see from my pictures. The first dune is by far the steepest.  Wilson and I traveled over about four dunes, until we had the visual of Lake Michigan.  I must admit I was proud of myself for going as far as I did because it's not easy hiking in sand, it's very tiring on the legs.

- An interesting side note: The dunes area was originally privately owned but the federal government took it over as a national resource area. The mother of our boondocking friend used to be the former owners personal assistant...

                              

looking up the big dune

looking down from the big dune

We drove around quite a bit this day, exploring the different areas.  While in this part of Michigan there is an abudance of lighthouses.  Each lighthouse has it's own history and there are a variety of designs.  The pictures below are the Bestie Lighthouse, Frankfort Lighthouse, and the yellow scum that I slipped on while walking out to the Frankfort Lighthouse (Wilson is pointing to where my butt made an imprint 😁)....I don't mind saying that I was a little frightened as I was falling because I could have gone over the walkway and there were a lot of large rocks that I would have fallen on, which is why I include it here.

    

Leave Charles Mears SP - 11:07am - 65°

Rte. 31N►31N/10E►31N (exit 154)

Arrive – Frankfort, MI 12:41pm

Miles traveled -72.1