Blogs from Michigan, United States, North America - page 5

Cycling on the I-275 Metro Trail in the Detroit area As the name suggests, this trail runs parallel to Interstate 275. It starts in NOVI at Meadowbrook road in the north near 1-275 and I-696 and goes south to Huron Road near New Boston. It is 32 miles or 52 km. The rail is asphalt, wide and well-marked with “you are here maps” and markers every ¼ mile. It was originally built in 1978 and over recent years bridges and surfaces have been updated. The trail is smooth and flat with a few grades. Most of the time you can see or hear the traffic. There are a few sections that are totally surrounded by trees. There is limited shade. There are no benches, water or toilets, but you can go off on a few side ... read more

Well, when you take the time to look back and tally things up, you realize... It's All Numbers 14 States 3 New States 5382 miles (approx) 104 hours in the car 366 gallons of gas 8 Marriotts 1 House/cabin 7 friends and family 1 Univeristies 15 attractions 16 restaurants 4 Nationalities of foods 82 bottles of water 2 frozen desserts 5 Starbucks 10 pink jeeps 4 parking fees 8 big cities (with high rises) 1 movies 6 bodies of water (including rivers, lakes, oceans) 6 pizzas 1 boat 2 beach 1 pools (they swam in) 3 toll roads 6 capitals 9 different beds 20 sharks 4 starfish 6 bags of chips 7 phone cords 3 surface pros 5 iPhones 1 oil change 3 national parks We didn't keep track of our spending like past years and ... read more

This week has been a crazy one as we head into our next road trip adventure. My dad has been in and out of the hospital and is currently in. We don’t know what is wrong exactly. Ben has had his drivers test (he is an official driver now). Well, he still has to go to the Secretary of State but we don’t have time now. The other two have had drama and baseball after school. Ben has had some AP History test practices in the evenings. I am trying to wrap my mind around this trip and packing. Months ago, I booked all of our hotels being that it is spring break for many. I booked some of our activities like Alcatraz, Warner Brothers and the Pink Jeep tours. We have a house rented near ... read more

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them and I always enjoy your comments) I've been to Big Bay quite a few times, but always on a snowmobile. On snowmobile trails you ride from the town of L'Anse on the Keweenaw Bay in an arc along forest roads through the Huron Mountains direct to Big Bay, which is about a 50 mile ride through the forest with nothing in between. I figured this would be a spectacular ride now with all the color. I started out leaving Copper Harbor on Brockway Mountain road which takes you over Brockway Mountain, the highest point in the Keweenaw Peninsula. What a beautiful vista in all directions. I can only hope the pictures show it decently. The weather was even cooperating. The temperature was around 40 and we even got some ... read more

I waited quite a while this morning for the temperature to get above 32 and by 11:00 AM, I decided I had to get on the road even though the temperature was only 29. It had gone down to 27 last night. There were still some light snow squalls going on, but for the most part, the highway was just wet. I did run into a bit of ice at one point and the Spyder wiggled around a bit which was disconcerting. I also ran into a bit of slush at a couple points in the middle of the lane. Other than that, it was an enjoyable enough ride. All I can say again is thank God I brought my snowmobile bibs. Without them, I would have frozen or I just wouldn't have been able to ... read more