6/2-6/5/17
Current Location: Grayson Highlands State Park Campground, Virginia
The drive out of Colorado east was under sunny and much warmer skies than just about all of the 6 and a half months before. Not only was the weather noticeably different. It felt odd to be driving the car. All of the cars around us felt like they were gigantic and going to run us over, meanwhile, the Subie felt like a race car since it’s much lower to the ground. The drive to Omaha was uneventful.
I'm sorry...did you say that button that says "A/C" is not functioning??
We pulled into Kendra and Jeff’s a few minutes before they got home from work, so we did what all house guests should do- crack a beer, hangout on the front porch and wave to the neighbors as they pulled into their driveways. Friday night was spent at the house hanging out with Ace, watching the dogs play in the backyard and sharing stories over a few beverages.
Saturday morning we took the pups out for an urban hike, and then headed into Omaha for some lunch and brews before having a bbq in the back yard. Although it was a quick visit, we had a great time catching up and spending time with some old Colorado friends! It's crazy to see their little man grow up in a few months since we last visited.
I believe you said I could 'make myself at home'.
While chatting about our travels with the Bells, we decided that with only a few states left to hit all 48 on our trip, our route should be to go north and hit Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan on our route east to NJ.
Sunday we awoke and got into interstate travel mode once again. We headed across the rolling hills of Iowa before turning north at Des Moines. After a few hours our first stop to check off another state was Great River Bluffs State Park in Minnesota. We went for a quick hike through the woods with some views over the Mississippi River. This far north the Mississippi was still a force to be reckoned with and the views across into Wisconsin were laden with green leaves and humidity.
As we returned to the parking lot, we passed a bunch of college students and then noticed the emblem on the 15 passenger vans. Turns out, these students were part of the Lehigh University Geology summer class, which includes a trip around different parts of the country to study their respective geologic histories. This was a trip Eric had actually heard a lot about taking a geology elective at Lehigh. He remembers seeing all these far off places in class that we have now seen almost all. It was kind of fitting to run into this same group on our little adventure.
Real tough life this guy has.
After Rooney got his fair share of scratches from a group of about 10 students all eager to pet him…at the same time, we hopped back in the car and continued on our way to Madison, Wisconsin. Armed with a bunch of recommendations from Kendra and Jeff who lived there for a few years, we checked into our hotel and made a quick turn around to check out Madison. After dinner and a few stops to try the local beer, we walked around downtown and the capitol building before calling it a night.
We were in full drive mode on Monday with our sights on a campground along Lake Erie.We hung around the outskirts of Chicago and dipped under Lake Michigan before making our way across far southern Michigan. We watched the clouds race over us as they made their way off the lake. As the sun was starting to set, we pulled into Sterling State Park and set up camp. We had an unobstructed view of the beach and about 20 miles out along the shore line. The sun lit up storm clouds to our west and the fair-weather wisps of clouds over us in shades of red and purple.We fell asleep listening to the distant thunder that threatened, but never made it to us. Night 1 back in the tent.
