Today we arrived in Michigan, and that completes my goal of visiting all of the contiguous states. Yay!!! Since we have already been to Alaska, the count is now 49. Hawaii, is the only one left. We shall see if it ever makes it onto my bucket list. So far, it has not.

We left Oshkosh at 8:30 AM, 63 degrees and guess what…overcast skies, once again. We headed north. Rather than follow the plan Mapquest wanted us to follow and drive south through Chicago, we decided to see all of Michigan from top to bottom, so we took the scenic route and headed for the top of the lake. The drive began through more green cornfields and farmhouses and barns with lots of silos, and it hit me… we are in dairy country. The silos are for the corn, and the corn is for the cows.   I saw some black and white Holsteins inside a barn by the road. They were all lined up in wooden stalls where, apparently, they are milked regularly. Well, this IS Wisconsin, where they make cheese…lots of it.  

We drove through Green Bay, the city, and then the full length of the bay. I never knew that the finger of Lake Michigan was Green Bay, or, if I ever did, I had long forgotten. I expected to see expensive homes on the water, but this was not the case. We saw a few nice houses, but for the most part, the homes are small and some are very old and dilapidated. Not sure if these are just camps, or full time homes. If this is high-priced water-front property, where are the high-priced homes? We could not get close to the water, but it appeared that the waterfront was marshy and I was not able to see any docks or boats in front of the houses. And the sand bars peeking out of the water tell me that the water is rather shallow along the shore, at least on the west side.

Eventually we found our way to the coast of Lake Michigan and in the State of Michigan. And the sandy beach lots on the lake, in one area that we passed, were being advertised for $335K. We didn't see many homes in that area, but perhaps they were tucked behind the trees, hidden from view. If I paid that much for a lot on the lake, I would want it to be away from the road, too.

At 3 PM (we lost another hour shortly after crossing the state line and we were finally back in the Eastern Time Zone) we began to notice a thickness in the air along the road. And when we got another view of the water, we discovered that a fog had fallen and our view of the water was almost non-existent. Actually, it cast a pleasantly eerie mood along the shore that reminded me of my summers at Popham Beach in Maine. And I remembered a poem by Sandburg…"The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on." (I had to look that up. It’s been too many years since high school American Lit class.) And it did move on. By the time we reached the Mackinac Bridge, it had retreated and we had a full view of the lake. The Mackinac Bridge connects the top of Michigan with the lower part of the state. It crosses over the waterway connecting Lake Michigan to Lake Huron.

Our route took us along the lake into Petoskey Bay, where we stopped for the night. We drove through little touristy villages and towns along the way and it reminded me of the coast of Maine. A lot of things up here remind me of Maine. The trees, the water, the fog, the roadside Colonial and Federal and Victorian houses, and the friendly and always smiling people. I love the people here. In fact, we know a few people from Michigan…all wonderful people. If you are reading this, you know I’m talking about you.

Tomorrow we head for Indiana. Michelle, tell the girls we are on our way. And…Michigan…check!!!!!!!