(Editors note from Sept 2025:
This is a series of blog posts for a trip we took in 1994, created in 2025 from our notes and pictures.
It will mostly be of interest to us and our family. Still pics were digitized from original slides and analog video shot in 1994! Video snippets will be inserted periodically, usually severely shortened to keep the size down. All the originals are long gone, so what we have is what we have. It was a memorable trip for us though, thus the blog series.)
Overview:
Cath and I went West again, almost exactly 20 years from the first time. Hopefully it won’t be another 20 years before we go again! Just the two of us, in our 1986 Chevy Van. The van was our “motorhome” for the trip. We slept in it every night, no tenting or motels, and considered it our steel tent on wheels. Nothing fancy.
We were gone almost 4 ½ weeks, could have stayed at least 8, and were still speaking to each other when we got home. Cath wrote most of the trip log, and Gord transcribed them. First person means Gord.
Starting out on Tuesday May 31
An unusual start for us, as we didn’t leave until about noon (not sure why, now). Took the 401 highway from Kitchener to 402, crossing at Sarnia/Port Huron in the rain. In the pm we stopped at Birch Run for gas, 6 Frankenmuth Dark beer, and I seem to remember a plastic coffee mug. Good supper in Frankenmuth MI.
West Branch Michigan looks like a great place to visit. Advertised as a Victorian town. Also has a new Outlet mall right beside I75 that looked very interesting, if you like shopping. Lots of little lakes along the highway - they look man-made. Saw some wild turkeys somewhere along I75.
Pulled in to Otsego State Park just after 7 pm. It’s in self-serve mode, so we helped ourselves to a nice site by the lake, and signed in with $10 in the envelope provided. Had a nice walk. It’s cooled off, and is nice and sunny. Watched the sunset over the lake, and took some videos. Supper was Frankenmuth beer and fat German pretzels.
A snippet of Otsego park video:
