A tour of the Industrial Mid-West. Not the most romantic starting point.

So, you think it’s easy, don’t you?  All the pieces are in place to start a new and exciting semi-nomadic life.  We have dipped our toes into the RV lifestyle, and we want more.  So much more that we have pledged to join the ranks of RV nirvana and committed to the idea of becoming citizens of these United States.  Glorious! ?

Where in the hell are we going to go? There’s a lot of stuff to see and it’s a bit overwhelming.  No, no, for this trip we needed to dig deep and come up with something truly exciting and unique.  We needed to think outside the box, to harness that creative energy, and stretch our imagination.  We needed a great idea, and I had it!

“We would visit my brother Paul, and sister-in-law Jen, who lived in St Louis, Missouri!” 

Yeah, honestly not the spark I was looking for, but it would do.  I say, “If all fails, go visit somebody.”  Start there and let the RV-Life trip planning tool do the rest.  We are scheduled to leave just after the July 4^th holiday and, if all goes well, return the 3^rd week in September.  So here goes:

• First stop, Syracuse, NY.  More precisely we are staying in the driveway of my cousin Beth.  Honestly, this is just one step from camping in my own back yard.  

• On to Erie, PA, to Lampe Marina Campground, right out on the Presque Bay peninsula of Lake Erie.  

• Then our first stop at a KOA, about 40 minutes outside of Clevland, OH.  We already have our tickets at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

• Next stop is Charlston, OH, halfway between Columbus OH & Dayton, OH.  We plan on stretching our walking legs as we tour the Columbus Zoo, at 580 acres and more than 7000 animals, the largest zoo in America.  In Dayton, OH we will visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  

• After being on the road just about a month, we will stop for two weeks in St. Louis, MO. And visit with my ever re-locating brother & sister-in-law, Paul and Jen.

OK, so I admit it, not the most glamorous, romantic, or even nostalgic first month.  There’s no sunny beach, picturesque ocean front, sparkling lakeside, or tall pine tree forest campground detailed in the above itinerary.  But come on, the zoos, museums, arcades, walking trails, and attractions associated with the Midwest are interesting & noteworthy.  Nay, nay I say, maybe not the most stylish, but much better than working!  Throw in family, some golf, a couple of Walmart parking lots, and we’re off to a great start.

Wait, wait, stop, timeout!  This just in, Paul & Jen are moving to Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg.  Paul’s taken a new job in PA, and the company is moving them both as soon as possible.  So, by the time July 4^th rolls around, there will be no brother & sister-in-law to visit.  Nope, by August 1^st, at best, all we’ll be able to do is drive by the empty, and for sale house.  Something tells me, Judy and I will just have to make the best of it.  Haven’t figured out exactly what we’re going to do for 14 days in St. Louis / St. Charles, MO.  Anybody got any suggestions?

• We head north from St. Louis, on to Wabasha, MN on the banks of the Mississippi River.  We will actually be camping riverside in this park.

• From MN, we turn our “home on wheels” due east as we make a bee line run to Suamico, WI – which is just a 15-minute drive north of Green Bay, WI, the heart of “Cheese Head” country, and, of course, there’s another zoo to visit.

• Pack your bags as the next stop sees us driving north along Lake Michigan up into the Michigan Upper Peninsula.  Over the 8-mile Mackinaw suspension bridge into Mackinaw City.   We’ll probably take the ferry to Mackinaw Island.  The second US national park after Yellowstone.

• We will head due south toward Detroit, MI.  Notice I said towards Detroit, yeah, we’re not visiting Detroit.  Instead, we will be staying in Kimball, MI, 5 miles outside of Port Huron, and directly across the border from Port Edward, Ontario, Canada.  

And that, my friends, is what we have for booked stays and already scheduled attractions.  We are currently investigating the possibilities of these final stops on our trip.  

     >   On over to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, just south of Toronto, Canada.

     >   Then onto Kingston, Ontario, Canada. 

     >   Our final stop will inevitably have to be Burlington, VT, to visit with our son Josh.

Back to Massachusetts, around the 3^rd week of September.  All told, the trip statistics are impressive: 

                 ü       There are 12 stops             ü      More than 53 hours of travel time

ü     Over 3,350 miles         ü     Nine States          ü    Two countries

Look at the map!  What an extraordinary first expedition.  What started as a small spark of an idea to go and visit family in St. Louis, Missouri, and our inaugural trip has morphed into an extraordinary tour of the Industrial Midwest and Great Lakes region of both US and Canada.  And we still have much to investigate and book.  So stay with us as we continue our planning, as we tell… the Rest of the Story.