Hi Everyone,
Once again, it's time to plan our overnight trip from Chicago to Michigan, slated for July 16-17. Last year we had a small but enthusiastic group meet and depart early Saturday morning and drove up to Traverse City. We took a lovely sunset (driving) cruise up the Mission Peninsula north of Traverse City, the point splitting Grand Traverse Bay into it's east and west arms. The next morning we had breakfast and, after checking out of the hotel, departed on a group drive around the scenic Leelanau Peninsula, stopping in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (the same one that, several years ago the viewership of "Good Morning America" voted as being the most scenic place in the United States! I don't know that I would go THAT far, but it is nice!). Before we left the area we all went canoeing/kayaking on the Platte River, a crystal-clear waterway and had a lot of fun! There will be more to do than we will have time to do. It's a really nice area, as good as anywhere that I've been in the Midwest. My family has camped in Sleeping Bear Dunes numerous times and have always thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The plan will be, like last year, to meet at the Hinsdale Oasis on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294 southbound) due west of Chicago. We'll leave and take I-294 to I-94 through Indiana to St. Joeseph, Michigan, take I-196 north to Holland, and then join U.S. 31 up to Manistee. Just north of Manistee we'll get on to MI-22 and take that northward into the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. You can frequently spot MI-22 stickers on cars in the Chicago area. It's a very scenic road, and a great driving road, offering curves, hills, some great views of Lake Michigan and inland lakes, and it's in good condition. Finally, at Empire we'll take MI-73 over to Traverse City. We'll return by retracing our route up.
The biggest challenge for us right now is locating a hotel that has rooms, as this a popular area and we're planning on going right in the middle of their "season". Accordingly, I'm trying to assemble a list of people interested and determine approximately how many rooms we'll need. If this is interesting and you are seriously considering joining us, please list your name below.
1. jeffreygebhart (Jeff)
Once again, it's time to plan our overnight trip from Chicago to Michigan, slated for July 16-17. Last year we had a small but enthusiastic group meet and depart early Saturday morning and drove up to Traverse City. We took a lovely sunset (driving) cruise up the Mission Peninsula north of Traverse City, the point splitting Grand Traverse Bay into it's east and west arms. The next morning we had breakfast and, after checking out of the hotel, departed on a group drive around the scenic Leelanau Peninsula, stopping in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (the same one that, several years ago the viewership of "Good Morning America" voted as being the most scenic place in the United States! I don't know that I would go THAT far, but it is nice!). Before we left the area we all went canoeing/kayaking on the Platte River, a crystal-clear waterway and had a lot of fun! There will be more to do than we will have time to do. It's a really nice area, as good as anywhere that I've been in the Midwest. My family has camped in Sleeping Bear Dunes numerous times and have always thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The plan will be, like last year, to meet at the Hinsdale Oasis on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294 southbound) due west of Chicago. We'll leave and take I-294 to I-94 through Indiana to St. Joeseph, Michigan, take I-196 north to Holland, and then join U.S. 31 up to Manistee. Just north of Manistee we'll get on to MI-22 and take that northward into the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. You can frequently spot MI-22 stickers on cars in the Chicago area. It's a very scenic road, and a great driving road, offering curves, hills, some great views of Lake Michigan and inland lakes, and it's in good condition. Finally, at Empire we'll take MI-73 over to Traverse City. We'll return by retracing our route up.
The biggest challenge for us right now is locating a hotel that has rooms, as this a popular area and we're planning on going right in the middle of their "season". Accordingly, I'm trying to assemble a list of people interested and determine approximately how many rooms we'll need. If this is interesting and you are seriously considering joining us, please list your name below.
1. jeffreygebhart (Jeff)
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