Nothin' Much - HA!

I’d like to say the reason I haven’t written for over a month is because we’ve been doing “nothin’ much” in that time…but it would be a lie. The truth is we’ve actually visited 8 states and one foreign country, a handful of friends (and one brother), a number of wineries (of course), a national park and 3 national historic parks, museums, and even made time for Ben and Jerry’s and Cape Cod Potato Chips.  I’m just plain tired. I’ll break these adventures down into smaller, more digestible blogs, so be  alert for a succession of posts in the coming days.

                After leaving Michigan, we stopped first at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, south of Cleveland. A mere 50 years ago, the Cuyahoga River was a polluted wasteland. The fact that it was actually on fire became national news and led to the first Earth Day and local and national efforts to clean up the river and surrounding area. Now it is a refuge for native plants and wildlife, protecting 22 miles of river and 33,000 acres of its watershed and filled with the history of the canal. We biked and hiked along the old Erie-Ohio Canal towpath, took a train through the park to Akron, and hiked through some stunning rock formations and waterfalls. 

Hiking with friends at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

                We left there to spend a couple of days with some folks we had met on the trail in Tucson in March. They showed us around Cleveland, explained the history of the settlement of that area of Ohio (it was Connecticut’s Western Reserve), and encouraged us to visit the James Garfield house and museum (and library) nearby (since we were visiting all the presidential libraries). It was surprisingly interesting – we knew nothing about this president and found him to be quite fascinating. He was and is the only sitting member of the House to be elected President, was a real scholar, and had grand plans for his presidency. What a shame he never had the opportunity to complete his progressive agenda for dealing with political corruption and reconstruction.

                At my insistence we took a detour when we left Cleveland so we could stop at the First Ladies Museum in Canton. A National Historic Site, it was seriously disappointing…they seemed to be more interested in what the first ladies wore than in what they accomplished. There was a good video, however, about some of the early 20^th century first ladies and a small section on what the more recent first ladies have done. So much more could and should be done with this museum.

Cathedral of Learning

Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers

                After our short stop in Canton, it was on to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is not a place I would have thought about visiting, but an old friend from Colorado, with whom we had lost contact, lives just outside the city, and she invited us to park our RV on her farm and stay awhile. So we did. 3 days turned into 5 because we had to have some work done on the car, and we were glad for the extra time. Pittsburgh is not the polluted factory town we envisioned; it’s a revitalized city of universities, three rivers, hills, technology, and lots and lots of history. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Marti on her generations-old family farm and our exploration of the city, especially our cruise on the rivers and the Cathedral of Learning, the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Marti's Farm

Biking with Marti

              

Having spent a few extra days with Marti, we were now faced with a decision about where to go next and what route to follow. Since we had no reservations for the next 5 days, we were free to choose. We chose some key spots in New York (not the city) and off we went. That’s the subject of the next blog. Stay tuned.

Surprises: Wisconsin and Michigan

We are two weeks into the second half of our adventure – and we continue to be surprised by and appreciative of all we experience. Most of our time has been spent in northern Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan, beautiful locations along Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

Our first stop after leaving Duluth was Copper Falls State Park in Wisconsin where we enjoyed some lovely waterfalls and relaxing walks and were once again impressed with the beauty of the state. At Copper Falls, the Bad River drops 29 feet through an outcropping of rock it has been eroding for millions of years, creating two miles of steep canyons and rugged splendor. Further down river at Brownstone Falls it plunges over 60 feet down the canyon. The rocks in this area reflect the geologic history of the region – old mountains worn away, ancient seas setting down sediment that turned to sandstone, lava oozing through fissures in the earth’s surface and covering the land, hundreds of feet thick, and then came the glaciers, only 1 million years ago, scraping, flattening, depositing. Red clays, sandstone, greenstone, granite, shale, and more – making this an absolutely gorgeous park in which to spend a few days (while Lew recuperated from an infection).

Copper Falls

Brownstone Falls

Granite Falls

We left this idyllic spot and drove on to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Here we were treated to the “eye candy” that is the UP of Michigan. Pictured Rocks is seen best by boat, so we immediately booked ourselves on a late afternoon cruise – a 2-hour experience that highlighted the rock formations, caves and caverns, and other interesting geological wonders along the steep sandstone cliffs of the south shore of Lake Superior. What was most interesting were the colors in the rock, caused by the mineral enriched waters seeping and cascading down the rocks, year after year after year. Notable formations included Lover’s Leap, Indian Head, and Battleship Rocks, and the Cave of Many Colors was breathtaking in its beauty.

 In addition to the sights on the cruise, we enjoyed a few hikes to waterfalls through mosquito infested forests, explored the 200 ft high sand dunes, and Lew managed to hike to a picturesque lighthouse; the plethora of biting flies, however, sent me screaming back to the safety of the car where I awaited his return.

Dunes on Lake Superior

Too many biting flies for me!

Next stop in the UP was St Ignace (located on the UP side of the Straits of Mackinac), but first we took a 60-mile detour to see Tahquamenon Falls, the biggest waterfall in Michigan. It was well worth the additional few hours of our time! Despite loads of (other) tourists, it was really a beautiful sight to see.

St Ignace was a good jumping off point to see Sault Ste Marie and Mackinac Island. First, we drove north to see the Soo Locks, and would have driven into Canada if the long line at US Customs to get back into the USA hadn’t deterred us. We enjoyed watching a large vessel make its way through the locks and reading about the history of their construction, but our attitude is a bit jaded. In this case, having been through the Panama Canal, these locks were a bit underwhelming. We left Sault Ste Marie and took a significant detour to see another picturesque lighthouse; this time we managed a short hike and a few pictures before the skies opened up and drenched us. We did get back in time to enjoy clear weather in St Ignace and a beautiful walk out to see and learn more about the building of the 5-mile long Mackinac suspension bridge over the straits that connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

The next full day we spent over on Mackinac Island – a park, a fort, and a playground for the rich! No cars are allowed on the island, so, of course, we took a carriage ride around the island. It was a lot of fun and informative. In the afternoon, we hiked up to Fort Mackinac on the bluff – cannons blasted, rifles fired, soldiers marched, and history came alive! This fort was established by the British in 1780 to protect their fur trading interests (during the Revolutionary War). When the Americans won the war, it served the American fur trading interests and later commercial interests, remaining active until 1895. Fort Mackinac is now a World Heritage Site and most of the island is a State Park – but it was once the second National Park, after Yellowstone, before being turned over to the state. We completed our excursion with a relaxing stroll along the waterfront before heading back to St Ignace on the ferry. A delightful day, our last in the UP.

In the morning we crossed the Mackinac Bridge to lower Michigan, on our way to Traverse City. The bridge, truly an architectural and engineering marvel, is Michigan’s single largest asset (dreamed about for over 50 years, it was finally completed in 1957 at a cost of nearly $100 million – a lot of money in those days!) On the ferry to Mackinac Island the day before we were lucky enough to be on a boat that made a detour under the bridge – quite the view, from underneath!

Traverse City presented us with another surprise – wineries! In fact, we parked among the vines for two nights at the Brengman Brothers winery (and bought a couple of bottles for their excellent wine)! We did visit a few other wineries in the area, but our primary purpose in stopping there was to see Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, known for its awesome dunes. Maybe it’s because we’d seen the dunes at Pictured Rocks, Indiana Dunes National Park, White Sands, and the Great Sand Dunes  in Colorado,  but again (jaded that we are), we were not as impressed as we might have been, or should have been. But we still had an excellent day driving through the park, hiking on a few trails, savoring the atmosphere, and finishing up at a cidery. We were ready for something other than dunes on the Great Lakes…

Vineyards north of Traverse City

Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore coastline

A detour to the 45th parallel

So, it was on to Grand Rapids to spend time at the Gerald Ford Museum (the library is in Ann Arbor, but its primary purpose is research). Although he was only president for a few short years, it was clear that he was the right person in the right position at the right time – by happenstance. He was respected and liked on both sides of the political aisle, with unassailable integrity and a willingness to listen to all sides of an issue and then make a definitive decision based on what he thought was best for America, not his political future. Sigh.

We spent our second day enjoying Holland – Michigan, that is. The architecture in this small city founded by Dutch immigrants in 1847 was reminiscent of our time spent living in Europe so we thoroughly enjoyed walking the streets, sipping coffee at a Konditorei, and appreciating the old country, relaxed feel. We particularly liked our visit to Windmill Island Gardens, home to the 250+ year old Windmill DeZwaan, the only “authentic” working Dutch windmill in the United States. Our drive out to see the lighthouse at Holland State Park was not as relaxing – there were hoards of people doing the same thing. Sigh.

Our last stop in Michigan was the Henry Ford Museum outside Detroit. Oh, my. What an experience! The Henry Ford, as it is called, has three parts: A factory tour, Greenfield Village, and the museum itself. Arriving late on day one, we took the Rouge Factory Tour first. This is where they manufacture the F-150 truck, so we got an up-close look at the assembly line process pioneered by Ford. It was pretty cool – with robots doing some of the work and trucks in various stages of completion moving constantly along a gigantic, multistory conveyor belt. We also enjoyed an excellent documentary on Ford, his life and his company.

Greenfield Village

We thought we had enough time the next day for the other two parts of the experience. Ha! Greenfield Village would take days to explore fully – we allowed ourselves 4 hours. The village is a collection of buildings, artifacts, and artisans that conveys the sights, sounds, and sensations of 19^th and early 20^th century America. It includes a working farm, the lab where Edison had his “lightbulb” moment, the workshop where the Wright Brothers invented their first flying machine, a variety of period homes and businesses, and so much more… It would take hours to explain. We needed more hours to see everything, but had to move on to the museum itself.

The Henry Ford Museum is an ode to American Innovation. Here you explore genius in all its forms, immersing yourself in the stories of some of America’s greatest innovators. From automobiles to railroads to airplanes, from agriculture to industry, from the civil rights struggle to innovations in design – it’s all here. And more. You really must see it to believe it. Henry Ford has provided this country with a great legacy – a must-see experience in American history, innovation, and determination to succeed.