Ohio to Michigan

We started our morning out by driving to a park near our hotel. From there we walked on a bike path until we came to a beach on Lake Erie. It was a beautiful park and beach. It's amazing what you find in the daylight. When we pulled off the interstate late the night before we had no idea we'd find such a beautiful place in the morning.


We had a snack of pistachio and bananas on the beach. Sirhc enjoyed a Chunky bar and some water.




We did have to smuggled little Sirhc onto the beach, as beach regulations didn't allow pets.




So, Lake Erie was the highlight of the day. Downhill from there. We went looking for the some archipelago islands in Ohio on Lake Erie where there is a really tall Doric Column, and after much driving through trailer parks, we found the whole thing to be rather trashy and commercial. We took a picture of the Doric column from the ferry landing, and hopped in the car to get back on the road with a renewed focus on keeping the trip about the non-man-made natural aspects of the country. But of course, we still had to make it through Chicago.

Neither of us are fans of cities, so Chicago was a miserable and smelly experience. I think all cities smell. Why would people want to live, and in fact PAY to live in a place where there isn't even fresh air or grass or trees? Love Vermont. No cities for me. The highlight of Chicago was talking to Lisa on the phone. And escaping.

We made it through Chicago (after 2 hours of sitting in traffic), got rained on for much of the drive, and didn't cover as many miles as we'd hoped for. We stopped for the night in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Exhausted.

It looks like we're going to have a nice, sunny day today. Our goal for tonight is the be pulling into the Badlands, South Dakota by 10 pm where we will meet up with Mary Ellen and Karen. Excited to be a long days drive (11 hours) from our first National Park!