Headed to northern Michigan with my new (2001) Euri, caravanning with Neil in his 2002 Rialto.
Day 1
Leaving the desert heat headed east on I-10 the landscape is dry, parched, in need of summer rain. At Alamogordo we ditch the expressway, head north on highway 54 to wide open, easy driving, Billy the Kid country. Our first night camp lands us in the lava fields at the Valley of Fire National Recreational area near Corrizozo, New Mexico, a boom town, when the railroad was built here in 1899. Dark sky territory and a whole lot of nothing but high desert vistas and a sky full of stars.
Day 2
Buzzed though the northwest corner of New Mexico, the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma and into Kansas. Constant railroad container cars and semi-trucks hauling the nation’s goods along with Loves gas or whatever you need – not to be confused with Lauve’s.
Night two we camped at Meade State Park, Meade, Kansas – home of the Dalton Gang. A small fishing reservoir (they call them lakes around these parts), fresh mowed grass, a green oasis campsite in the middle of BIG AG country. And I mean big AG country – massive feed lots (makes me want to forgo that burger) and Herefords for sale. Wind farms and a few oil rigs dot fields of alfalfa, wheat and soybeans that stretch to the horizon.
Passing through small towns, some mostly deserted, others hanging on with a bustling main street. What do people do here? Agriculture, oil, petro chemicals, fertilizers, farm machinery (John Deere), semi-truck service industries, maintenance and mechanics.
Day 3
Kansas had recent rain and is verdant green – greener than I have ever seen Kansas. Oh, Dorothy are we still in Kansas? 400 miles of traversing Kansas, we camped just over the border in Missouri at Pomme de Terre State Park. A refreshing dip (along with a lone water snake) in the morning is a perfect weay to start the day along with a strong cup of outdoor percolated coffee that Neil brewed up.
Day 4
Still on highway 54 we traversed through Lake of the Ozarks country and small Midwest Missouri towns, crossing the mighty Mississippi into Illinois. Silaom Springs State Park was our next camp (seriously in the middle of nowhere…). These campgrounds are not tourist destinations, with camp areas less than half filled on a Saturday night by locals and a few cross-country travelers who savor exploring the back roads of America. A mama deer with little bambis in camp this evening.
Day 5
Neil and I split company at the intersection Highway 24 and 136, along the Illinois River. He headed onwards to Chicago and I towards of Michigan passing through Indiana – more Big Ag, but working my way into Big tree country – Michigan.
Day 6
A 4hr drive to the northern tip of the lower peninsula of Michigan. Oh I could smell the big water, cedar, pines and earthy forests. and finally – I have arrived.
