Joey D
Premium
- 47,257
- Lakes of the North, MI
- GTP_Joey
- GTP Joey
It's the end of summer but Kate and I finally went on a little adventure, this time spanning 937miles, 3 days, 2 big lakes, and one enormous bridge...and everything in between.
Michigan has a tourism ad campaign entitled "Pure Michigan" and it was my goal on this trip to find it. I often say Michigan has no redeeming qualities because our weather is often terrible, the economy sucks, the roads giant holes in them, and we don't really have a major city in which you can go to and not get shot at. I figured there had to be more in this state of ours and I was determined to find it.
A quick note, I did bring my Rebel XS, but I find it easier just to use the pictures that Kate and I took with my point-and-shoot. I will be adding some DSLR shots though, but most will end up in my gallery once I clean them up. Some of them really are very cool.
This is vaguely the route we took:
Day 1
Orion, MI to Rose City, MI via the Huron Coast
Kate and I start our day nice and early Friday morning, we were going to head up I-75 and turn off in Bay City to head up the coast of Huron to Oscoda and the slip west to Rose City, which is were her grandma lives (hey free place to crash for the night!).
I-75 around Saginaw has a pretty impressive piece of road building called the Zilwaukee Bridge (pronounced Zil-Walk-Key). The bridge is 125ft high and 8,000ft long, it spans over the Saginaw River and was built in the late 70's to replace a draw bridge that would back traffic up on 75 for hours if a freighter had to pass.
Once we got through Bay City the map showed the road ran right up the coast, well the only problem with that is you never actually see any water because you are always about a quarter of a mile off of it. This is what you see instead.
But occasionally you'll pop out into an area where you can briefly see the water. The best thing about this picture is that it was only taken about 30 minutes after the one of us crossing the Zilwaukee. If you compare the sky you can really see how Michigan weather changes in a blink of an eye.
I finally found a little road side park where I could sort of get a picture of my car with the lake. It was so freaking cold that I didn't really want to be outside the heated cabin for all that long. It was easily in the low 50's with a good 30 mph wind coming off the lake.
Eventually we turned inland to head for Rose City, which is like every other sleepy little Michigan town. There is a church, a used car dealership, a bar, an antique store, a petrol station and an IGA grocery store. The trees got nicer though!
Oh and apparently people drive golf carts down the road...strange. At first I thought it was an Amish buggy since they tend to populate that area of the state but no it was an old guy cruising in a golf cart down the road doing about 45mph.
Day 2
Rose City to Mackinac City to Traverse City
We awoke early at Kate's grandma's house and had a pretty hardy breakfast. I don't know what it is about older people but us younger people do eat and we do not need a ton of eggs, pounds of bacon, sausage, toast, coffee, tea and freshly squeezed OJ. Seriously I didn't think I was going to need to eat for a week after that breakfast feast.
There was a chance of rain all day which was pretty disappointing, but as you'll see throughout the pictures the rain held off. Although being Michigan the weather will vary quite a bit. As you look at these pictures remember this is all within about 150miles of one another and all done within the same day.
Really Garmin? I need to take I-75 to I-75! Wow I'd be lost without you for sure!
It would not be a Michigan road trip without road works for 15+ miles. At least they were actually working, unlike 95% of the construction projects where they just close the road and do nothing for weeks.
If you'll allow be to be immature for a second, hehehehe Gaylord. It just conjures up images of some old royal British guy prancing around looking like Elton John with a white curly wig.
Ever plagued by the RV'ers...if you have a 300hp turbo diesel then why were you doing 55 mph in the left lane? Oh that's right you're from Indiana where they persecute speeder. Funny thing is I always like to tell people from the surrounding states that they have entered the "free world" when the enter Michigan due to out lack traffic laws.
My car rolled over 36,000 about half way to Mackinac (pronounced Mack-in-naw). That 9 should be a 0 for the purpose of posting on the forum
.
The northern part of Michigan does get pretty hilly and you'll eventually see just how hilly it can get. Obviously this being a motorway there aren't going to be many steep grades.
And here we are, the Mackinac Bridge. The Mighty Mac is the 12th longest span in the world and the 3rd longed in the US only being beat out by Golden Gate Bridge and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The bridge was extremely important to Michigan because up until the time it was built there were only two way to get to the Upper Peninsula, wait in an epic line for a ferry (which couldn't run during the winter) or go through Chicago and up through Wisconsin.
Perhaps one of the most well known tragedies on the bridge was when a women's 1987 Yugo blew off the bridge due to high winds and excess speed...although I have a feeling it was more due to wind then speed. I mean really a Yugo speeding?
Another fun fact is that the bridge is never done being painted, as soon as they finish it, workers have to start right back again.
There is a very annoying centre grating in the bridge to help with drainage, when you drive on it, it produces a humming noise. I had to do it just to say that I did and annoy other motorist around me for good measure.
Ooo doncha noo that we'd be in Upper land there, eh? It's really sooper and dey got goooood passties which are really hearty and everything and it fills you up real good there eh.
People from the lower peninsula are generally referred to as trolls because we live under the bridge, while those who live in the Upper Peninsula are referred to as Yoopers . The best way to describe how they talk is to think about how Sarah Palin talked and then make it way more sing-songy with heavily accented O's.
Once on the other side I wanted some pictures with the bridge and I stumbled down this little street with a cul-de-sac at the end which provided a good photo point.
And here is Kate and I
Now back across the bridge
Coming into Mackinac I saw something that I don't think I've ever seen before in Michigan...wind power generators. I thought this was pretty cool.
Now back on the more normal side of the state we began our trip down the coast of Lake Michigan towards Traverse City via a couple of sleepy little town along the way.
First stop was Petoskey, which in the language of the Odawa Native Americans is said to mean "where the light shines through the clouds". This couldn't have been more true, it was dark and cloudy pretty much the entire way there and as soon as we parked the clouds broke for a brief moment and we were greeted with glorious sunshine.
Petoskey is known for it's Petoskey Stones, which is a form of fossilised coral and is the state stone...despite not being a rock but whatever. They are definitely cool and Kate bought a couple while we were the because neither of us could be bothered to go walking through the cold water to find them.
Oh and here is a fine Michigan northerner, yes that is a Escort wagon covered in complete camouflage.
From the we headed through towns like Charleviox and Elk Rapids. This whole area is full of extremely wealthy people, or at least was until the automotive industry exploded. Right now they are under a huge real estate crunch but there is still quite a bit of money up there. Probably it's most notable resident to the area was Ernest Hemmingway, who spent his boyhood summer's up in the area.
Also, I don't know how many people remember the JonBenét Ramsey murder case, but they had a weekend home in this area too. It seems Michigan gets it's fair share of pretty famous criminals.
Along the way down US-31 I pulled over to stretch my legs and get some apples from a little road side stand. Right across from it was something that inspired a bit of "Pure Michigan" in me, a little dirt road tucked away that probably led to some family farm or even some huge country estate. I don't know what it was but I just thought it was neat, especially with the autumn leaves falling down and covering the road.
Not far from the little fruit stand I came upon this, the 45th parallel which placed me exactly half way between the North Pole and the Equator. I had fun placing one leg on either side of the sign for the sheer novelty of it.
Just to show that it's not all about money up here, here is a guy, carrying a rather shaky looking load of apples into town to sell. Once again bringing out the "Pure Michigan" once again.
Some shots of the the east arm of the Grand Traverse Bay.
We finally reached Traverse City and stopped to eat at the Mackinac Brewing Co., which baffled me why it was in Traverse City. But no bothers, the beer was good, the food was tasty and I was surrounded by about a hundred Michigan fans cheering on the Wolverines to victory. I left the camera in the car when we stopped because it was sort of raining and I didn't want to get it wet so the only pictures I have is from the drive out to the hotel.
I should explain that Traverse City is the Cherry Capital of perhaps the world and is also one of the major centres for wine in the United States outside of California. Once again it's a town with a ton of money and many wealthy people from the area I live in, Grand Rapids and Chicago all have weekend homes up here.
It's pretty much the perfect place in Michigan, during the winter it gets a zillion inches of snow making for some awesome skiing, during the spring and summer the weather is mild enough so you can play some of the best golf courses in the state, not to mention eat fresh cherries, and during the autumn you get all the wonderful colours. We just happened to pick a bad day.
We checked into the hotel and then had nothing else to do, we had pretty much accomplished everything we had set out to do for the day and it was only 4:30-ish or so. I had been up to the area a few times in the past with friends of mine that have a weekend home, but I've never done any real exploring. So armed with a map I bummed from the hotel and the GPS we headed off up Old Mission Peninsula also known as "The Little Finger".
Old Mission Peninsula was where the first European settlers landed and set up shop back in 1839. Their goal was to convert the Native Americans living there to Presbyterianism, which is a pretty common theme throughout Michigan history unfortunately. This is nothing against Presbyterian's of course, but more along the lines of missionary work that wiped out an entire native culture.
The drive out to the end of the point was 18miles of rolling hills and swooping corners, a pretty nice driving road to say the least. Especially with the scenery.
Out on Old Mission Point, where there is a replica of the first building that was built there and a lighthouse (something Michigan has a lot of).
They have got to quit putting these signs up or I'll spend all days amusing myself.
The beach
On the return trip I pulled over as a vista overlooking a vineyard to snag some pretty stunning pictures, this one is from the point and shoot though so nothing that stunning. As I've said SLR photos to come later.
Since the trip up and down Old Mission Peninsula didn't take that long I figured we should head out on to the Leelanau Peninsula along the M-22 which has beautiful scenery, tons of wine and some of the best driving roads in the state.
We drove all the way out to Lighthouse Point, which is at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. We couldn't stop for wine though because most of the vineyards were closed for the night, although I did bring back a couple bottles of wine from the region as it is quite tasty.
Lighthouse Point, obviously is a point out into the water and has a lighthouse on it. It's not much to look at it during the day but it provides some beautiful sunsets.
This was boarding on finding "Pure Michigan" for sure.
This one even shows a storm moving in way off to the west.
With this sunset I think I found a redeeming factor of Michigan, when you get that little sliver of good weather and everything works out right the sunsets are truly awesome. Pictures just don't do it justice and it's one of those you need to see at some point in your life.
Oh and for good measure he's he being cheesy again.
Kate wanted to stay and watch the sunset but the temperature was dropping quickly and we were both cold and bit up from the bugs so we headed back to the hotel. It was to dark to continue taking pictures though.
After all this though my car dawned the M-22 badge of honour:
Day 3
Traverse City to Home via the National Lake Shore
We awoke the next morning and after an awful hotel breakfast and shower from the lamest water pressure I've ever had, we were off. I wasn't really sure what to do and Kate suggested the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Since neither of us had ever been (I've seen the dunes but never went to actual be around them) we sent the GPS and headed off.
For all intensive purposes the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes are just a big ass pile of sand, but a cool big ass pile of sand never the less and its hard to really give the scale of these things.
We took the Piece Stocking Scenic Drive, which cost me ten wing wangs. That right there didn't seem like it was worth it to me but I was soon to be proven wrong. It was totally worth the 10 buckaroos I had to shell out to take the drive. The road was amazing, the scenery was breathtaking and it provided me with a new found appreciation for our state.
There is a Chippewa legend behind the Sleeping Bear Dunes, which you can read with the provide Wikipedia link above.
We were able to get a nice man that looked just like Bill Bryson to take our photo.
This is a 450foot bluff that goes down to Lake Michigan, 450ft may not see that high but standing at the edge really gives you a bit of vertigo. And despite the warning sign a lot of people jump down the thing and then try to climb back up.
There was a bit in marker written on the sign that had extremely underlined and "Dude, seriously, think twice. Prof. J.B. - man confused 9-18-09".
After we left the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, I then realised that combined with the awe inspiring sunset before that I had found the "Pure Michigan" I had set out to find at the beginning of my trip. With that, my quest was complete and I was ready to go home. The only thing that stood in my way was 4 hours of the most boring drive on the planet. 70mph motorway traffic all the way home that looked just like this:
After several hours on the motorway, and a couple of pit stops for lunch, fuel and some Red Bull I pulled into my driveway, exhausted from the drive but happy that I had found what I had gone looking for. Although my poor car might thing otherwise with the amount of dead wildlife stuck to the front of it.
And the sheer amount of miles put on the car throughout the entire trip...yes that's 937.6 miles in three days.
I hope you enjoyed the travel log!
Michigan has a tourism ad campaign entitled "Pure Michigan" and it was my goal on this trip to find it. I often say Michigan has no redeeming qualities because our weather is often terrible, the economy sucks, the roads giant holes in them, and we don't really have a major city in which you can go to and not get shot at. I figured there had to be more in this state of ours and I was determined to find it.
A quick note, I did bring my Rebel XS, but I find it easier just to use the pictures that Kate and I took with my point-and-shoot. I will be adding some DSLR shots though, but most will end up in my gallery once I clean them up. Some of them really are very cool.
This is vaguely the route we took:
Day 1
Orion, MI to Rose City, MI via the Huron Coast
Kate and I start our day nice and early Friday morning, we were going to head up I-75 and turn off in Bay City to head up the coast of Huron to Oscoda and the slip west to Rose City, which is were her grandma lives (hey free place to crash for the night!).
I-75 around Saginaw has a pretty impressive piece of road building called the Zilwaukee Bridge (pronounced Zil-Walk-Key). The bridge is 125ft high and 8,000ft long, it spans over the Saginaw River and was built in the late 70's to replace a draw bridge that would back traffic up on 75 for hours if a freighter had to pass.
Once we got through Bay City the map showed the road ran right up the coast, well the only problem with that is you never actually see any water because you are always about a quarter of a mile off of it. This is what you see instead.
But occasionally you'll pop out into an area where you can briefly see the water. The best thing about this picture is that it was only taken about 30 minutes after the one of us crossing the Zilwaukee. If you compare the sky you can really see how Michigan weather changes in a blink of an eye.
I finally found a little road side park where I could sort of get a picture of my car with the lake. It was so freaking cold that I didn't really want to be outside the heated cabin for all that long. It was easily in the low 50's with a good 30 mph wind coming off the lake.
Eventually we turned inland to head for Rose City, which is like every other sleepy little Michigan town. There is a church, a used car dealership, a bar, an antique store, a petrol station and an IGA grocery store. The trees got nicer though!
Oh and apparently people drive golf carts down the road...strange. At first I thought it was an Amish buggy since they tend to populate that area of the state but no it was an old guy cruising in a golf cart down the road doing about 45mph.
Day 2
Rose City to Mackinac City to Traverse City
We awoke early at Kate's grandma's house and had a pretty hardy breakfast. I don't know what it is about older people but us younger people do eat and we do not need a ton of eggs, pounds of bacon, sausage, toast, coffee, tea and freshly squeezed OJ. Seriously I didn't think I was going to need to eat for a week after that breakfast feast.
There was a chance of rain all day which was pretty disappointing, but as you'll see throughout the pictures the rain held off. Although being Michigan the weather will vary quite a bit. As you look at these pictures remember this is all within about 150miles of one another and all done within the same day.
Really Garmin? I need to take I-75 to I-75! Wow I'd be lost without you for sure!
It would not be a Michigan road trip without road works for 15+ miles. At least they were actually working, unlike 95% of the construction projects where they just close the road and do nothing for weeks.
If you'll allow be to be immature for a second, hehehehe Gaylord. It just conjures up images of some old royal British guy prancing around looking like Elton John with a white curly wig.
Ever plagued by the RV'ers...if you have a 300hp turbo diesel then why were you doing 55 mph in the left lane? Oh that's right you're from Indiana where they persecute speeder. Funny thing is I always like to tell people from the surrounding states that they have entered the "free world" when the enter Michigan due to out lack traffic laws.
My car rolled over 36,000 about half way to Mackinac (pronounced Mack-in-naw). That 9 should be a 0 for the purpose of posting on the forum
.
The northern part of Michigan does get pretty hilly and you'll eventually see just how hilly it can get. Obviously this being a motorway there aren't going to be many steep grades.
And here we are, the Mackinac Bridge. The Mighty Mac is the 12th longest span in the world and the 3rd longed in the US only being beat out by Golden Gate Bridge and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The bridge was extremely important to Michigan because up until the time it was built there were only two way to get to the Upper Peninsula, wait in an epic line for a ferry (which couldn't run during the winter) or go through Chicago and up through Wisconsin.
Perhaps one of the most well known tragedies on the bridge was when a women's 1987 Yugo blew off the bridge due to high winds and excess speed...although I have a feeling it was more due to wind then speed. I mean really a Yugo speeding?
Another fun fact is that the bridge is never done being painted, as soon as they finish it, workers have to start right back again.
There is a very annoying centre grating in the bridge to help with drainage, when you drive on it, it produces a humming noise. I had to do it just to say that I did and annoy other motorist around me for good measure.
Ooo doncha noo that we'd be in Upper land there, eh? It's really sooper and dey got goooood passties which are really hearty and everything and it fills you up real good there eh.
People from the lower peninsula are generally referred to as trolls because we live under the bridge, while those who live in the Upper Peninsula are referred to as Yoopers . The best way to describe how they talk is to think about how Sarah Palin talked and then make it way more sing-songy with heavily accented O's.
Once on the other side I wanted some pictures with the bridge and I stumbled down this little street with a cul-de-sac at the end which provided a good photo point.
And here is Kate and I
Now back across the bridge
Coming into Mackinac I saw something that I don't think I've ever seen before in Michigan...wind power generators. I thought this was pretty cool.
Now back on the more normal side of the state we began our trip down the coast of Lake Michigan towards Traverse City via a couple of sleepy little town along the way.
First stop was Petoskey, which in the language of the Odawa Native Americans is said to mean "where the light shines through the clouds". This couldn't have been more true, it was dark and cloudy pretty much the entire way there and as soon as we parked the clouds broke for a brief moment and we were greeted with glorious sunshine.
Petoskey is known for it's Petoskey Stones, which is a form of fossilised coral and is the state stone...despite not being a rock but whatever. They are definitely cool and Kate bought a couple while we were the because neither of us could be bothered to go walking through the cold water to find them.
Oh and here is a fine Michigan northerner, yes that is a Escort wagon covered in complete camouflage.
From the we headed through towns like Charleviox and Elk Rapids. This whole area is full of extremely wealthy people, or at least was until the automotive industry exploded. Right now they are under a huge real estate crunch but there is still quite a bit of money up there. Probably it's most notable resident to the area was Ernest Hemmingway, who spent his boyhood summer's up in the area.
Also, I don't know how many people remember the JonBenét Ramsey murder case, but they had a weekend home in this area too. It seems Michigan gets it's fair share of pretty famous criminals.
Along the way down US-31 I pulled over to stretch my legs and get some apples from a little road side stand. Right across from it was something that inspired a bit of "Pure Michigan" in me, a little dirt road tucked away that probably led to some family farm or even some huge country estate. I don't know what it was but I just thought it was neat, especially with the autumn leaves falling down and covering the road.
Not far from the little fruit stand I came upon this, the 45th parallel which placed me exactly half way between the North Pole and the Equator. I had fun placing one leg on either side of the sign for the sheer novelty of it.
Just to show that it's not all about money up here, here is a guy, carrying a rather shaky looking load of apples into town to sell. Once again bringing out the "Pure Michigan" once again.
Some shots of the the east arm of the Grand Traverse Bay.
We finally reached Traverse City and stopped to eat at the Mackinac Brewing Co., which baffled me why it was in Traverse City. But no bothers, the beer was good, the food was tasty and I was surrounded by about a hundred Michigan fans cheering on the Wolverines to victory. I left the camera in the car when we stopped because it was sort of raining and I didn't want to get it wet so the only pictures I have is from the drive out to the hotel.
I should explain that Traverse City is the Cherry Capital of perhaps the world and is also one of the major centres for wine in the United States outside of California. Once again it's a town with a ton of money and many wealthy people from the area I live in, Grand Rapids and Chicago all have weekend homes up here.
It's pretty much the perfect place in Michigan, during the winter it gets a zillion inches of snow making for some awesome skiing, during the spring and summer the weather is mild enough so you can play some of the best golf courses in the state, not to mention eat fresh cherries, and during the autumn you get all the wonderful colours. We just happened to pick a bad day.
We checked into the hotel and then had nothing else to do, we had pretty much accomplished everything we had set out to do for the day and it was only 4:30-ish or so. I had been up to the area a few times in the past with friends of mine that have a weekend home, but I've never done any real exploring. So armed with a map I bummed from the hotel and the GPS we headed off up Old Mission Peninsula also known as "The Little Finger".
Old Mission Peninsula was where the first European settlers landed and set up shop back in 1839. Their goal was to convert the Native Americans living there to Presbyterianism, which is a pretty common theme throughout Michigan history unfortunately. This is nothing against Presbyterian's of course, but more along the lines of missionary work that wiped out an entire native culture.
The drive out to the end of the point was 18miles of rolling hills and swooping corners, a pretty nice driving road to say the least. Especially with the scenery.
Out on Old Mission Point, where there is a replica of the first building that was built there and a lighthouse (something Michigan has a lot of).
They have got to quit putting these signs up or I'll spend all days amusing myself.
The beach
On the return trip I pulled over as a vista overlooking a vineyard to snag some pretty stunning pictures, this one is from the point and shoot though so nothing that stunning. As I've said SLR photos to come later.
Since the trip up and down Old Mission Peninsula didn't take that long I figured we should head out on to the Leelanau Peninsula along the M-22 which has beautiful scenery, tons of wine and some of the best driving roads in the state.
We drove all the way out to Lighthouse Point, which is at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. We couldn't stop for wine though because most of the vineyards were closed for the night, although I did bring back a couple bottles of wine from the region as it is quite tasty.
Lighthouse Point, obviously is a point out into the water and has a lighthouse on it. It's not much to look at it during the day but it provides some beautiful sunsets.
This was boarding on finding "Pure Michigan" for sure.
This one even shows a storm moving in way off to the west.
With this sunset I think I found a redeeming factor of Michigan, when you get that little sliver of good weather and everything works out right the sunsets are truly awesome. Pictures just don't do it justice and it's one of those you need to see at some point in your life.
Oh and for good measure he's he being cheesy again.
Kate wanted to stay and watch the sunset but the temperature was dropping quickly and we were both cold and bit up from the bugs so we headed back to the hotel. It was to dark to continue taking pictures though.
After all this though my car dawned the M-22 badge of honour:
Day 3
Traverse City to Home via the National Lake Shore
We awoke the next morning and after an awful hotel breakfast and shower from the lamest water pressure I've ever had, we were off. I wasn't really sure what to do and Kate suggested the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Since neither of us had ever been (I've seen the dunes but never went to actual be around them) we sent the GPS and headed off.
For all intensive purposes the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes are just a big ass pile of sand, but a cool big ass pile of sand never the less and its hard to really give the scale of these things.
We took the Piece Stocking Scenic Drive, which cost me ten wing wangs. That right there didn't seem like it was worth it to me but I was soon to be proven wrong. It was totally worth the 10 buckaroos I had to shell out to take the drive. The road was amazing, the scenery was breathtaking and it provided me with a new found appreciation for our state.
There is a Chippewa legend behind the Sleeping Bear Dunes, which you can read with the provide Wikipedia link above.
We were able to get a nice man that looked just like Bill Bryson to take our photo.
This is a 450foot bluff that goes down to Lake Michigan, 450ft may not see that high but standing at the edge really gives you a bit of vertigo. And despite the warning sign a lot of people jump down the thing and then try to climb back up.
There was a bit in marker written on the sign that had extremely underlined and "Dude, seriously, think twice. Prof. J.B. - man confused 9-18-09".
After we left the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, I then realised that combined with the awe inspiring sunset before that I had found the "Pure Michigan" I had set out to find at the beginning of my trip. With that, my quest was complete and I was ready to go home. The only thing that stood in my way was 4 hours of the most boring drive on the planet. 70mph motorway traffic all the way home that looked just like this:
After several hours on the motorway, and a couple of pit stops for lunch, fuel and some Red Bull I pulled into my driveway, exhausted from the drive but happy that I had found what I had gone looking for. Although my poor car might thing otherwise with the amount of dead wildlife stuck to the front of it.
And the sheer amount of miles put on the car throughout the entire trip...yes that's 937.6 miles in three days.
I hope you enjoyed the travel log!
Again, nice pictures, wash that car hahaha.
But it was just so nice, no chance of being shot like anywhere near Detroit.
I need to get out on a trip around my own state again.
