Western Michigan

We left the Upper Peninsula by crossing the Mighty Mackinaw Bridge which is nearly 5 miles long and pretty amazing engineering. The towers are 550 ft. above water and 250 below and there are 42,000 wires bonded together to make the main cable. It came with a cost of $99M back in 1957 so a hefty investment for the time but opened up tons of commerce and recreation for the area. It was a cool looking bridge….

First stop below the bridge was Traverse City and it was a lovely drive heading down HWY 31. Petoskey and Charlesvoix were darling little towns and we loved seeing their beachfronts and beautiful houses along the lake. Headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park just outside Traverse City for a quick peek at the dune. You can make the trek down to the water and then hike back up, but they warn heavily about what it will take to do it. It was a hot, humid day and we were not tempted a bit to take it on….watched others from afar and did a quick scenic tour and then headed back into town.

Traverse City had a great state park which was literally across the street from Lake Michigan and had a fabulous bike path going all the way in town. We took a ride one day to town to explore, do some shopping and see the water. Wonderful shopping on Front Street and great beach vibes with people walking, riding, boating, playing volleyball, everything. Found the Great Traverse Pie company and had to make a stop…..Cherry Crumble this time!

From Traverse City, we continued south and drove to Grand Haven. This state park was right on the beach with a beautiful lighthouse and pier and stretches of beautiful sand, volleyball courts, walkways, etc…We had just missed the 100th Coast Guard festival and the flags and tributes to the Coast Guard around town were very cool. Great walk along pier and into downtown and some wonderful bars and shops to hang in. Watched the US Womens’ semi final soccer match at a great bar in town…Tip A Few Tavern! We were only there a few days but it was an interesting campsite given the beach vibe!

From Grand Haven we made the turn west for the first time in two months and headed back to Osage IA for our nephew Mitch’s wedding. So excited to have all the siblings/cousins together again for a celebration! One of three weddings in the next few months so lots of love in the air! We stopped for the night in an unexpectedly delightful little town called Utica, IL. Had some of the best ice cream ever at Bruce and Ollies and then camped in a cornfield/RV quiet site. Perfect little spot.