Eastbound to Westbound Redux

 Leaving the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca Lake, MN we continued west towards the MN/North Dakota stateline at Grand Forks(GF), ND about a 2 hour drive. We needed to spend a couple of days in GF to take care of some routine vehicle maintenance for both the LD and the Fit and to stock up the larders, so we wanted a campground close to town to make life easier. The Red River State Park located in East Grand Forks(EGF), MN fit the bill perfectly.  EGF is right next to GF and sits right on the north flowing Red River which forms the border between MN and ND. It was the ideal location for us to take care of our to do list. And...it was much, much more! GF and EGF are both very nice places with interesting history, friendly people and a beautiful Greenway park following both river banks. Once we got our chores finished we went about exploring the area on bikes and over the next couple of days covered a good bit of the very well done Red River Greenway corridor. The g...

We pulled up stakes at Birch Grove NF campground outside of Washburn, WI and headed west towards Minnesota (MN). After about 90 minutes or so of driving and looking for a brief breakfast repaste, we spy the Perkins Family Restaurant in Superior, WI about two blocks from the MN State line and a suburb of the Duluth, MN metropolis. Over breakfast we scan the MN highway map and decide to head directly west thru the mid section of MN...but this was not to be. We finish up our meal and start our trek thru Duluth and suddenly find ourselves on Highway 61 heading north along the Lake Superior shoreline, not at all in the desired direction of a mid State, westerly drive thru MN, but as it turned out (by happenstance) we were following the most interesting and scenic westerly route thru MN, although somewhat northerly. I guess go north to go west, OK we're in. Typical view of the MN Lake Superior shoreline looking south. We just kinda went with the flow and as we head north out of Duluth ou...

Last we talked, we were in lower Michigan and now we find ourselves in the UP, the Upper Peninsula of MI, the home of the Youper's. When MI gained statehood back in the day, they claimed the lower glove (check out a map, lower MI looks like a glove) and the UP as part of their magnificent State, but there was no physical connection between the two due to the Straits of Mackinac seperating Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.  So from way back when, there was always a dream to connect the entire State, the glove of lower MI with their northern brothers, the Youpers (UP'ers). What we need my friends is a legit bridge! And in the late 1950's, they built a magnificent bridge to span the 5 mile wide Straits of Mackinac, marking the delineation between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Finally, at long last, this magnicifent State was physically united. I know, I know...another damn bridge Howard? Sorry, but come on, she's a beaut! That's Lake Huron to the left and Lake Michigan to ...

Traveling west from the Thousand Islands, the general plan was to follow the southerly shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie and across northern Ohio and then jut northward thru western Michigan along Lake Michigan. We have always wanted to visit this part of MI as it has some beautiful beaches and pretty countryside. But first we had to get thru the heavy and very busy urban corridor of Buffalo-Cleveland-Toledo-Fort Wayne, IN. When doing large scale planning for the trip back a few months ago, I figured this would probably be the least interesting part of the trip and most likely the toughest driving segment with heavy traffic, crazy Interstate highway truckers and other aggressive drivers. These corridors almost always have traffic slow downs from accidents, construction and just plain too many damn people all trying to get to the same place at the same time. So given all of this, we decided to just bite the bullet and bang it out, in as little time as possible. Instead of our usual and p...