Off the Interstate

09/16/2015

Interstates are great for getting where you're going as quickly as possible, but when we aren't on a timetable Kim and I love to get off the interstate and onto the country roads. And that's just what we did on our Michigan weekend getaway.

We would never have seen (let alone be able to stop for a photo!) these sandhill cranes in a hay field zooming down an interstate at 70 mph.

You don't share the road with Amish wagons on an interstate...

We like to stop at local restaurants and steer clear of the big chains, which is nearly impossible unless we get off the interstate.

Small towns are fun to cruise through. This sign's been around for a very long time...

Is it just me, or does anyone else think these folks should have traded in their white kayak for another orange one?

Wild swans...too bad they were so far away....

We pulled off for this scenic view and I swore I kept hearing a GIANT BEE buzzing nearby. Or maybe it was a weed-eater.

Or a camera drone...flying back and forth along the edge of Lake Michigan.

Pretty spectacular views!

We parked right beside this fella on our way to a small town ice cream shop. Nice....

Are you SURE we aren't at the ocean??? Sure looks like it...

Kim's childhood summer vacations were spent at his family's cabin on Manistee Lake, so we decided to drive through his old stomping grounds.

As best he can figure out, their cabin was where this house is...don't know if the new owners remodeled/built on or demolished the old cabin (completely primitive in every way!) and started over.

Just across the lake is what they always referred to as "The Point"...where they often would wet a line.

Of course, a lot has changed in the 50 years that have passed. Manistee Lake had only a few very small cabins on it then...now the lake is totally surrounded by homes, many of them very nice.

In true Kim fashion, he "had to go"...and pulled off onto this logging road to find a tree to squat behind. (Beware the poison ivy, Kimmie!) Luckily I found some Pizza King napkins to help his cause...you sure can't do this if you're traveling on an interstate!