"Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice"

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It's the Michigan motto: "if you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you".

OK, this is the Michigan/Family portion of the trip (July 1-29 in MI).  I was born in Sault St. Marie in 1952.  Actually, I spent the years 1952-1979 and 1985-1988 living in Michigan, so I'm in for 30 years.  Just about the same amount of time living in Washington State, with 5 years in Maine.  So I'm not really a Michigander, I'm a Michimaine-Washwanderer right now.  Holy cow!  

Our trip up to Michigan from New Orleans took us thru Montgomery AL, Nashville TN, Lexington KT, and Fort Wayne IN. In this blog, I plan to reflect back at times, so not all posts will be in chronological order. 

 Nashville, June 22-25.  A bike path called the Music City Bikeway is an east-west corridor, and Carol and I used that to get from our KOA in northeast Nashville to the Country Music Hall of Fame downtown.  The path is notable for a wonderful bridge across the Cumberland river. The Hall is featuring an exhibit called Outlaws and Armadillos: Country's Roaring '70's.  Artists that were profiled included Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Jessi Colter, Bobby Bare, Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allen Coe, Cowboy Jack Clement, Tom T. Hall, Billy Joe Shaver, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Tompall Glaser.  
Me and the Cumberland River
I didn't know much about Armadillos in country music, but there was a legendary Austin venue called Armadillo World Headquarters, a converted warehouse.  Legend has it that at the Armadillo, hippies and rednecks would dance together, united in musical enjoyment.  
Outlaws

Nashville offered what we have come to expect from all cities now: interesting  craft beer breweries and tap rooms with a wide variety of styles and tastes.  We've found our conversations in these places to be great fun.

Lexington for us was about horses (especially Man O' War) and writers.  Wendell Berry, Hunter S. Thompson, Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Penn Warren and 31 other writers were featured in Book Benches, a Tribute to Kentucky Authors that was on display in town.
The Peace of Wild Things (1990) by Wendell Berry.  Artist: Blake Eames


Grand Rapids is always a good visit for Carol and I, because my wonderful sister Janine lives there and we have fun doing whatever we want together for a couple days.  This visit, with Carol being susceptible to World Cup Fever, we watched 2 soccer games and a You Tube video of the shoot-out win by the Women's National Team at the world cup in 1999.  (Janine had never heard of a shoot-out victory, so we used this as an instructional video. Indeed.) Janine's son Jessie and his girlfriend Elaine joined us at the Green Well Gastropub for a brief  (neither of them are retired...) but very fine visit. We loved that they chose to come and hang with us!
Alpen-glow on the red oak with rider, Grand Rapids 2018


We were hosted by my cousin and his wife, in the little town of Alden on the southeast shore of Torch Lake.  We got a grand tour of their super cool place, pontoon boated, and shared our impressions of this old/new world, it's problems and challenges.  We all felt that our time together helped us to see more of the twists and turns on the path to understanding diverse viewpoints.  It was very good.

My sister Cindy has a home on 1.15 acres of land in Kewadin.  Our Airstream is leveled out and plugged in, with excellent mooch-docking amenities (shower access and a raid-able fridge). We decided to go into Traverse City on July 3 to see Buddy Guy.  Most interesting and enjoyable feature was hearing the opening act, Quinn Sullivan fronting Buddy's band.  He's been on the road recently as lead guitarist for the first set, without Buddy.  Since the age of 11 (he's 19 now), Quinn has been mentored by Mr. Guy.  His ability to shred on the electric guitar is unquestioned.  I will be following his career to see if he will continue to be a leader.
Cherry Festival stage in Traverse City, 2018
A trip over to Glen Arbor to visit friends who will be living there in retirement (% to be determined) was unmatched for Michigan beauty. In the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, we were able to ride a great bike trail, catch the sunset over N. Manitou Island, and meet once again with great friends and their daughter and 2 grandsons!
View from Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail

9:29 PM, looking at N. Manitou Island and Lake Michigan

Little pieces come loose or break on our Lodge (the Airstream trailer), and today I found the correct replacement at a local hardware store.  Also, my air pump was delivered today and I'm excited to pump our trailer tires (now at 70 psi), all the way up to 80!  We know how to have a good time.




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