I love road trips, to travel by car with the ability to stop when the mood hits or there is a sight to see. My husband and I decided to visit some of the states we haven’t seen before. It took us two days to travel from Denver to Detroit. Why Detroit? We were asked this more than a dozen times…The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, of course. I considered this to be my wifely sacrifice, but was pleasantly surprised to find it was not all about cars and would highly recommend it if you are at all interested in history. I have to mention Ann Arbor Michigan. What a beautiful city! We were planning some sightseeing and a nice dinner, however we arrived not only during rush hour, but just as the heavens opened in a downpour, tangling traffic to a complete (five minutes to travel a car length) snarl.
From there we traveled to St. Ignace where we caught a ferry to Mackinac Island located in Lake Huron. The entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark. Since 1898, cars have been prohibited on the island, except for snowmobiles in the winter. Travel on the island is by foot, horse-drawn carriages, or bicycles. If you are a fudge lover, this is the place to visit.
Green Bay, Wisconsin was our next stop, significant to me because I’ve been a Packers fan (unless they’re playing the Broncos) forever. From there we drove through Door County, Wisconsin. I’ve wanted to visit Door County since I read LaVyrle Spencer’s Bitter Sweet. She describes the place so beautifully and it was just as I’d imagined.
Then we followed Lake Michigan shorelines down to Milwaukee (another beautiful city).
We spent three nights in Chicago with my husband’s family (always so welcoming and fun to visit) for a great Fourth of July celebration.
My husband’s husbandly sacrifice was to indulge his wife with several hours at the Mall of America located in Bloomington, Minnesota. While in Minneapolis, I decided we might be trying to visit as many Major League venues as possible (Detroit, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Minneapolis).
The ride through North Dakota was a surprise. I expected endless grasslands, but there were fields green with corn and soybeans. I also recognized canola. Not being an expert in agriculture, I’m only mentioning the crops I recognized.
Mount Rushmore was our last stop and as beautiful as I remembered from a previous vacation.
My husband and I were gone fifteen days, traveled over four thousand miles and were in the car in excess of seventy hours and I’m happy to report we are still married.
I’ve mentioned before that I get my inspiration for stories from travel and was afraid they wouldn’t come this trip. It wasn’t until we passed through the small town of Hot Springs, South Dakota that a character started talking to me. Her name is Eloise and I’m sure she’ll be making an appearance in the near future.