Midland Michigan, to Ohio and Home Again

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Midland to Crown Point, Ohio

Monday August 11 to Wednesday August 13, 2008

Midland Memories

We pulled in to Midland pretty late at night, but it was exciting for Rollie to see the town he had grown up in - trying to remember his way around, noticing how much it had grown in 30 years, and what buildings were still intact, the schools he attended, where he played golf, the old neighborhood. We drove past the house he had lived in, just to get our bearings for the next day, then at a downtown café asked about motels and got a good recommendation. After a good night’s sleep (well, with a little bit of wrestling the boys away from the TV thrown in!) we began our tour in the daylight, looking at all the familiar haunts. At the old house we got out - there were no cars in the cul-de-sac , so we felt OK about looking around the front a bit and taking a few photos of Rollie in the front yard and on the porch. Then a man who lived there drove up and was very friendly, talking about a few changes he had made to the inside, the way the town and neighborhood had changed, a baseball park that Dow had built, and the fortunes of the farm team. After talking for a long time, he suggested we check out two new sights, the Alden Dow house which had been designated a National Historic Landmark, and turned into a museum, and a park with a new greenway (with running and bicycle paths) that straddled the river.

Alden B. Dow House and Studio

We drove over to the Alden B. Dow house, and found that the visiting hours were such that we were not going to be able to get in, but just then a museum staff member drove up, and when she heard Rollie’s story of being a hometown boy, and that we were going to have to get back on the road again that afternoon, she kindly let us in and allowed us to look around the living room, the sunken room (called the Submarine room) that dips below the water level of the pond, giving a view of the fish under the surface, and told us a bit about Dow’s goals and achievements as an architect. Dow had studied under Frank Lloyd Wright, and the museum was just getting ready to host a presentation and book discussion group about Wright’s life and his links with Dow, drawing upon the popularity of a book, Loving Frank, that is a work of fiction based on the biography of Wright and his mistress and second life-partner, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. We hadn’t heard of the book, but later stopped at a bookstore to buy it, as well as to stock up on more reading material for the long drive home, as Max was completely out of books.

But back to the Dow house - it was lovely - woven into the landscape, shaped echoing Japanese design, and using simple, comparatively inexpensive materials like cement block to create spaces that were full of light and color. The very modern colors of the 30’s and 40’s, bright pink, lime green, lemon yellow - were somehow used without being garish - quite a feat!! We progressed on to the park that features a triple walking bridge (the Tridge) over the Chippewa and Tittabawassee rivers (I did NOT make up that name). We didn’t really have much time to explore, but there were nature trails, a rails-to-trails path and lots of other recreational opportunities.

Crown Point Ecology Center

We set off on the next leg of our trip, heading south east to Crown Point Ohio (north of Akron) to visit friends of Rollie’s who were working for the summer at the Crown Point Ecology Center, an organic farm and education center run by nuns. A long drive down through Saginaw, past Flint, to Toledo on the shore of Lake Erie, and along I-80, around Cleveland and south towards Akron to Crown Point in Bath County. We noticed sign for a national park we had never heard of: Cuyahoga National Park. It turns out there is no camping allowed within the 33,000 acres, but an inn and a hotel, both on the National Register of Historic Places, and hiking, biking, canoeing and winter sports available as day activities. We finally arrived at our destination and spent a pleasant day and night, walking around the farm, having a good dinner, and visiting with Rollie's friends. The boys had a chance to run around, play with the soccer ball, and even drive a golf cart (with supervision) to accompany Tom on his evening round of chores.

The next morning we were headed home, down I-77 to I-64, through Charleston, WVa, and home past Seneca Rocks, over the mountains to I-81. We noticed as we got into the mountains in West Virginia, that we were seeing only the second rain of the entire trip since leaving the land east of the Mississippi months earlier (the other occasion was the dramatic storm in Topeka). It seemed odd. Looking up at Seneca Rocks in the misty rain, they looked imposing enough to be a part of Yosemite - and I had a warm feeling about my home mountains and terrain, lovely even in late summer - the kind of place people who like to hike and camp ought to visit - if they are not lucky enough to live here!

Coming back to the house seemed very strange after living out of a tent all summer. I kept thinking “what is all this stuff and why do we need it?” Spurred by this sense I did a kitchen clean-out soon after our return to give away items I never or almost never use. We had a wonderful summer, beset by some stress and strain from traveling, but mainly enjoying the normal ups and downs of family life while seeing some of the most extraordinary landscape the country has to offer, and getting a good sense of the places to which we’d like to return to explore in more depth. We couldn’t have done it without help from the boys' grandparents giving money for some of the special side trips and experiences, help from good housesitters looking after our beloved dog, a manager willing to let me work from the road, and messages from friends touching base as I posted the earlier sections of this blog. Now - when can we do it again?

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Comments

[McCune]

Enjoyed this post
I like reading this post. The projecting windows photo looks intriguing. It was fun seeing that you'd met up with mrTom.