Exploring Under the Bridge Rally, MI

[Mellen60]

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[goshawks00]

Those are great day trips you've strung together!! You are capturing some of the most popular eastern UP tourist stops and I can assure those taking them will see a good sample of the UP, or at least the flat land part of it.. Like many states the farther you go the more there is to see. If you are spending more time, then a trip to the west side of the UP will show you just how diverse and spectacular the UP really is. Other places would be a trip down the Lake Huron shore line to those towns mentioned before, along with a must see in Hardwick Pines ..You really can't even begin to get an idea of how great Mich is on a 3-4 day pass, but these listed by Mellon are a great day trip experiences for sure..

[DanB]

Thanks a ton for those ideas! Wine. yummmmmm

I live in Lorain Ohio and grew up watching many Lake freighters being built, including the 1,000 footers. I look forward to seeing them again!

[drew05]

I would like to thank everyone for their ideas of 'must see' things in MI, and please keep them coming We too are planning on some stops along the way. We will be leaving Kansas City going up to Iowa to the Hoover Presidential Library. Our next planned stop will be the Ford Library, and the Henry Ford Museum, then we will go north to Mackinac.

Drew

[Mellen60]

Originally Posted by drew05

I would like to thank everyone for their ideas of 'must see' things in MI, and please keep them coming We too are planning on some stops along the way. We will be leaving Kansas City going up to Iowa to the Hoover Presidential Library. Our next planned stop will be the Ford Library, and the Henry Ford Museum, then we will go north to Mackinac.

Drew

I recently stopped at the Gerald Ford Library in Grand Rapids and it is nice! Good pick. Holland, MI is a nice town to make a pit stop in for a meal.

Have you ever stopped at the I-80 Truck Stop in Iowa? (Largest one in the U.S.) You can get lost in there. Attached is a wall of truck lights for sale in there.

If you are anywhere near Moline, IL, I whole heartedly recommend stopping at the John Deere World Headquarters and Museum. Shucks, this farm wife gets all teary-eyed just thinking about it. Lookie what I was doing last night. We were harvesting wheat and getting it loaded into BIG NASTY. Nast will head on down to the grain elevator and dump her load. Then we get to do it all over again. Can't wait to flop under the bridge with everyone!

Kelly

[maccamper]

Originally Posted by maccamper

Thanks for the post. Earlier this evening I sent an e-mail to Hidden Ridge asking about a reservation. Their web site indicates they don't take reservations for RVs older than 10 years without contacting them first. We have a 1974 fully renovated Airstream so we'll see what they say. We've only run up against this one other time and it wasn't a problem for us once they knew we had a renovated Airstream. We're looking forward to our trip to Michigan.

Nancy Mac

Just confirmed our reservation with Hidden Ridge RV Resort. Super nice folks. They asked for a couple of pictures of our Airstream which we sent. They said they have many Airstreams come through and that Airstreams are really nice units.

We're staying at Hidden Ridge two nights on our way up and one night on our way back home.

Nancy Mac

[Hibby]

Originally Posted by maccamper

Just confirmed our reservation with Hidden Ridge RV Resort. Super nice folks. They asked for a couple of pictures of our Airstream which we sent. They said they have many Airstreams come through and that Airstreams are really nice units.

We're staying at Hidden Ridge two nights on our way up and one night on our way back home.

Nancy Mac

I'll be very interested to hear how your experience is with Hidden Ridge. It's about 25 minutes, maybe 30 from our home and we have considered it for those quick weekend runs but just haven't had the opportunity yet.

I hope it is a great experience!

[drew05]

Kelly, my son and I stopped by the I-80 Truck Stop, and it was awesome don't know if she will be as easily entertained I'm not sure if my wife will like the Deere museum... she's more interested in chickens, and antique shopping...

[Mellen60]

Originally Posted by drew05

Kelly, my son and I stopped by the I-80 Truck Stop, and it was awesome don't know if she will be as easily entertained I'm not sure if my wife will like the Deere museum... she's more interested in chickens, and antique shopping...

Easy-Peasy, Drew--

Just tell her they have the world's oldest chicken there and it tap dances.

[Mellen60]

100 Year Anniversary this year (sank 4/15/1912)
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
Henry Ford Museum
March 31- September 30

Located at 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48124

• 300 artifacts, 250 of which have never been displayed in MI
• 10,000 square foot exhibition
• Extensive room re-creations
• Photos near full-scale replica of the Grand Staircase
• Passenger information

[CampingCarol]

Mellen60,
Looking forward to seeing that tap dancing chicken!

[oh2bcarefree]

Kelly,

Once we arrive at the campground, what is the procedure for those of us that made our reservations with you?

I am so excited - can't wait - trying to decide what our potluck dinner contribution is going to be :-)

Tina

[Gatward]

Unfortunately we are unable to attend this rally. I spoke with Sandy at the campground to let her know of the cancellation.

[TinLoaf]

This thread is awfully boring considering there are only 11 days before the rally! One thing I've learned about rally threads is that talk of FOOD always livens them up.

St. Louis has is currently in our 22nd day with temperatures above 90 degrees. The record of 26 consecutive days was set in the Dust Bowl year of 1936 and is about to get blown away. Yesterday it was 106 and today should be about the same.

The only crop benefiting from the heat is the peaches. The lack of water is making the fruits smaller, but they have just as much sugar making them sweeter. They're fantastic.

So for the potluck I'm going to make a peach cobbler. I haven't decided if I'm going to haul the Dutch oven 1,500 miles just to make the cobbler yet, but it will be good either way.

[Ed rottinger]

Is There a sign-up sheet for the Pot-Luck dinner???

[DanB]

OK, so an issue has come up!

I really really really like camping (go figure). I want to leave my office at 5:00.01 on Friday and hit the road. I'm actually trying to decide if I want to drive 4 hours or 8 before we boondock.

Now I see that someone had the nerve to schedule the Olympic opening ceremony during my drive time! This is planning problem #1.

This morning I just rec'd an offer of free Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw Concert tickets. Of course the concert is Sunday. This is problem #2.

So whats the answer? Easy. Camp! Airstream trumps everything.

Heres my potential pre-rally stops:

1. Thunder Bay -Alpena NOAA center and shipwreck tours
2. Soo Locks
3. Tahquamenon Falls
4. Whitefish Point

This is a tight schedule to fit in and still arrive on Wendsday. I see freighters everyday, so I might drop the locks this time.

As far as foods, don't know yet! But, we will be sure to bring extra wine from the Lake Erie Islands to share! Sure would be neat to trade bottles of wine with others for their local favorites.

[maccamper]

As far as foods, don't know yet! But, we will be sure to bring extra wine from the Lake Erie Islands to share! Sure would be neat to trade bottles of wine with others for their local favorites.

So glad that camp and Airstream trump your other options.

We'll follow suit and bring some wine to share from our favorite Southern Illinois wineries. We'll likely do a platter of grilled veggies for the potluck.

We are so very much looking forward to the cooler weather in Michigan!

Nancy mac

[WineStream]

Originally Posted by TinLoaf

The only crop benefiting from the heat is the peaches. The lack of water is making the fruits smaller, but they have just as much sugar making them sweeter. They're fantastic.

So for the potluck I'm going to make a peach cobbler. I haven't decided if I'm going to haul the Dutch oven 1,500 miles just to make the cobbler yet, but it will be good either way.

How about just bringing some of the peaches for eating plain in addition to the cobbler? I'm not much for cobbler, but super sweet peaches sound great!

[Mellen60]

Check this out! Ed Rottinger created this Pure Michigan fish filet knife especially for us. It features U of M colors and is accented in copper, reminiscent of the Upper Peninsula mines. Whoops...that just made me think of pasties. The craftsmanship of his knives is first class. Win this knife, and you'll never need another. Thank you Ed & Kay Rottinger from Iron River Knife Works.

For the three big raffle items, listed below, we are selling cards.
Here is how it works:

• You buy one card for $5 or three cards for $10.
• The playing card is ripped in half.
• You keep one half and the other half is put in a bowl JUST FOR THAT ITEM.
• We draw a winner from each bowl.

RAFFLE ITEMS

Filet Knife Raffle is a Red Card
Crossbow Raffle is a Blue Card
Free Airline Ticket is a Picture Card


NOTE:

We have lots of other items that will be raffled off too.
Thank you everyone for offering to donate some practical, fun items!

• We will sell carnival tickets for these items.
• $1 for three tickets, $3 for ten tickets.
• The stubs will be placed in a drawing bowl.
• The prizes will be placed on a table.
• We will draw a ticket at the Saturday night pot luck dinner.
• Each winner gets first pick of whatever is on the table.

Tickets will be for sale at registration, at the group campfires each night, and several volunteers will be have supplies on hand each day. All proceeds will be donated to Captain Adam to offset his transport and fuel costs so we can cruise and fish the Great Lakes and EXPLORE UNDER THE BRIDGE!

The raffle is intended for entertainment and offered in good will. Please know that no one is expected to buy tickets or cards and we certainly don't want folks to feel obligated or pressured. Lets keep it fun! Participate if you like, watch if you prefer.

The only thing that is required during this rally
is that you make lasting memories and friends!

[Mellen60]

Originally Posted by Gatward

Unfortunately we are unable to attend this rally. I spoke with Sandy at the campground to let her know of the cancellation.

Thank you for letting us know. You will be missed. Let's hope our paths cross in the not too distant future! Keep 'er rolling, Kelly