Michigan

After a rocky trip east, we arrived on Friday in Ann Arbor to stay with Jenna's friend Sheila. Sheila and the roommates were busy much of the weekend except for some time spent together on Friday and Saturday nights, so we were left to explore mostly on our own. We caught up on a lot of writing, reading, and errands, as well as ate at some very good Ann Arbor restaurants including the Jolly Pumpkin, the Prickly Pear, and Stucchi's Ice Cream. We also walked around part of the University of Michigan's campus; it was interesting to see and, like seeing Ohio State, really put Virginia Tech in perspective nationally.

The Bell Tower at U of M

After leaving Ann Arbor, we camped two nights outside of Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore on the Lake Michigan Coast. I was slightly unsure of what would actually be there; I had pictured the Michigan shores as cold and bland from being so far north. However, I was amazed - our first day took us on the famous "Dune Climb" and hike to the Lake Michigan shore, which is astounding. The hike itself was about 1.5 miles through loose sand over large dunes, so it was a taxing hike. The lake water is clear baby blue; the sand is orange-y, clean, and scattered with light, rounded stones. Even for a cloudy day, it was a very pretty sight to see.

Looking back away from Lake Michigan to Glen Lake

The next day, we hiked the Alligator Hill trail before leaving - the lookout at the top was equally impressive, and the water looked like something I would imagine out of Hawaii. After visiting both Maine and Michigan, it's clear that Northern summers are really beautiful - despite the cold weather than dominates the other 8 months of the year.

Looking across Lake Michigan to the Manitou Islands

We camped once near Mackinaw City en route across the Mackinac Bridge and onto the Upper Peninsula. We stayed two nights in Hiawatha National Forest - it was nothing special, but it allowed us a couple slow days to catch our breath. After staying with people pretty constantly, we took the time to get out and be active as well as plan our next steps: we settled on the path and places that will take us through the upper Midwest to South Dakota and the Black Hills for a few days in the coming week!

One of our 'deluxe' dinners!