Road trip - Ontario to Holland, Michigan

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It all started with a red-eye, overnight flight from Vancouver to Toronto. The plane was full and we were jammed in, sitting bolt upright, for four and a half hours. Needless to say, not much shut eye was to be had. We landed into Toronto at 7am. After collecting our bags, we wearily wandered to the rental car desks to pick up our motor. After collecting the keys we were soon on our merry way. About an hour into the drive we decided that a night of no sleep meant that we were pretty tired. We stopped at the services along the highway and slept for an hour in the car. It was a pretty good nap considering and set us up for some more driving.

We were heading West of Toronto and making our way to the U.S border via the town of Sarnia. From here it was into the state of Michigan and going West until we hit the great lake itself. Our plan was to reach the town of Holland and then rest for the night before driving round to Chicago the next day. We pushed ourselves, knowing that we had a bed in Holland. We made it by 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The area was founded by Dutch Americans, hence the name "Holland". It's well known for it's tulip festival which is held annually in May. This helps to keep some of the Dutch influence alive in the area.

Holland sits on Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan. It's also well known for it's lighthouse or "Big Red". After checking into our room we drove down the Southern side of the lake and had a walk along to the beach and for a visit to "Big Red". We sat for a little while watching the beach lovers playing in the late afternoon sun and boats making their way up the lake to the marina. Feeling rather tired after our long day of traveling, we decided to drive back to our hotel and have dinner in the pub next door. Feeling the need for some comfort food we ordered sloppy joe and fajitas. Yum.

It was a brilliant night's sleep, nearly 11 hours of sweet dreaming. We awoke to a sunny day and we were soon dressed and ready to go. We made a quick stop in downtown Holland for some morning java. Downtown was quite small but nice - neat and tidy and some older architecture. Once fueled, we made our way South following along the shoreline as much as possible. We made a pit stop in the small town of St. Joseph for lunch. We made another stop at Warren Dunes State Park, which is famous for it's huge sand dunes and miles of golden sandy beaches. Mike went for a paddle in the lake and Charlotte scrambled up the dunes making it up Tower Hill, the largest dune. The sand was burning hot and with no shade around, little toes were getting a bit burnt. It was a great view from the top though, so worth while.

Warren Dunes was our last stop until we made it into Chicago. The drive round the lake was pretty effortless and the traffic not to bad. We made it to our hotel "The Silversmith" late afternoon, only to find that we'd crossed a time zone on the way and we had an extra hour to play with. Perfect. That hour will be encapsulated in our next blog.

Until then, take care and lots of love xxx

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