All we have restarted our travels after a couple months off and are excitedly moving towards the Northwest and plan on hitting a lot of the big National Parks along the way.
So our journey started 22 April 2023 and we headed to Toledo to see my childhood friend Grace and her husband Hunter. While in Toledo we enjoyed dinner at Star of India, got beer to go at Harvest, and had breakfast at Fowl & Fodder. We also got Justin some Flying Rhino Coffee beans at Black Kite Coffee. When the weather held we did a short walk at Swan Creek Preserve. Mostly we just chilled and caught up with our friends which was nice.
After leaving Grace and Hunter's (24 April 2023) we attempted to go the Toledo Art Museum but found out it was closed on Mondays :(, so instead we Toledo Botanical Gardens before heading to Monroe, MI. There we visited the River Raisin National Battlefield Park. The visitor center was new and still in the process of being finished, but still a very interesting stop. That evening we stayed at the Flower Market (a harvest host) which specialized in Bonsai trees. They had a cute farm area and we parked next to the chicken/duck coop.
On Tuesday (25Apr2023) we headed to Detroit, where we checked out Third Man Records (picture of manufacturing below), City Bird (gift shop), Shinola (watch shop), Avalon on Canfield (bakery), & the Masonic Temple (picture below). It was rainy so after all this we headed to Wayne County Fairground to camp for the night (just outside of Ann Arbor).
On Wednesday (26Apr2023) we headed into Ann Arbor. We had been previously so we hit a few new things and a few of our favorites from our previous trip. We tried Vertex Coffee Roaster and then headed to the University of Michigan Art Museum. After we did a late lunch at Zingerman's Delicatessen; the sandwiches though pricey, were large and amazing. Then we headed to Argus Museum (old camera manufacturer) before getting some beer at Homes Brewery.
Thursday (27Apr2023) we headed to Kalamazoo stopping at Leila Arboretum Society in Battle Creek which had some interesting art (see weird flat horse sculptor in pictures below). After we headed to Kalamazoo stopping at Bell's Brewery General Store and then talking a walk in the city and chilling at the library until we head to the Air Zoo our Harvest Host site for the night. The Air Zoo was a cool place to park for the night as they also had a number of planes displayed outside.
Friday (28Apr2023) we spend most of the morning and part of the afternoon in the Air Museum. The volunteers at the museum were great and one of them ended up giving us a tour detailing many of the WWII planes and letting us get up close to some of them which was really cool. They also had a building that was mainly for plan restoration of old planes that we checked out as well which had more planes displayed and two active restorations in process.
Afterwards we headed to our friends in St. Joseph's Michigan (Tinoy & Elise). We spent Friday evening and Saturday with them. Checking out downtown St. Joseph's (getting coffee at Forte Coffee, walking to the beach, and checking out the carousel). Mostly we just chilled and hung out with them and there two little ones.
Sunday (30Apr2023) we headed to Indiana Dunes National Park. At the park we hiked the Cowless Bog Trail which took us through a bog, to the beach, and by a steel mill (it was interesting to say the least). Then we checked out the Chellberg Farmstead as they were having an open house. Since the rain wasn't really letting up we opted to just get a campsite at the Dunewood Campgrounds and chill for the evening.
Monday (01May2023) it was suppose to rain most of the day so we packed up and headed to Kankankee River State Park in Illinois to try and out run the rain. Though still overcast and rainy when we got there, it did end up clearing up early evening.
Tuesday (02May2023) was much nicer and we were able to take a morning walk in the park which had some cool spring foliage and lots of birds. We then headed out driving to Hennepin Canal Parkway Lock 21 Campground. There was number of these campgrounds along the canal which also had a nice walking path. We explored the walking path, checking out two of the locks that were in walking distance from our site.
Wednesday (03May2023) we took another walk along the Hennepin Canal Parkway in which we saw a number of birds and other wildlife including blue-winged Teal ducks & spiny softshell turtle. After lunch we headed to Maquoketa Caves State Park (in Iowa), where we hiked around and explored some of the caves in the park. Then we headed to Eden Valley Campground for the night.
Thursday (04May2023) we took a short hike at Eden Valley County Refuge before heading out stopping for lunch at Waspinicon State Park. Then we headed to Hansen's Farm Fresh Diary, our Harvest Host location for the night. We opted to take the farm tour because we wanted to see the kangaroos on the farm. (Yes I know kangaroos on a dairy farm is a bit weird, but one of the owners who lived in Australia for awhile decided it would be a cool mascot for the farm). As part of the tour we got to meet & feed the kangaroos, bottle feed the calves, and at the end we got to make & try butter and sample cheese curds, milk, & ice cream :). It also was a very peaceful setting to stay for the night.
Justin will be dropping some of his photos on the blog tomorrow, if you want to see some of the cool photos he had captured so far.
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