Ann Arbor, MI: 8 - 15 September 2019



The hurricane that moved up the east coast resulted in the closing of James Island Recreational Park in Charleston, SC so our reservations got cancelled.  We made a last minute decision to find another location.  The unusually hot weather in KY definitely influenced our decision.  The coolest area at the time was in Michigan.  We found a campground, Holiday RV Campground, in Grass Lakes, MI.  This small quaint town is within minutes of Ann Arbor and is geographically located about 1 1/2 hours west of Detroit and Lake Erie.  The drive took about 5 1/2 hours up I-75.  The weather there was in the mid 70s and had a nice fall feel.  We really did not have any specific plan on what we wanted to do other than get somewhere that had cooler weather.

Most of the residents in the campground were from down south who spend their entire summer in Michigan then head back to Florida for the winter.  The campground offers full hookups with chargeable wi-fi.  We used a hotspot so not sure how dependable it is.  No firewood can be brought in, but can be bought on site.  The bathrooms were clean but quite old.  Easy access from the highway did allow for quite a bit of road noise.  The further up the hill in the campground the father away you get from the road noise

Ann Arbor is a typical northern college town with a lot of college sports history.  This area of Michigan is beautifuly covered in mature forests and farmlands.  The townships are all quaint and very clean and well kept houses and property.  There are many parks and recreational areas as lakes are spread out all over the area.  Fishing, boating and hunting are hobbies found everywhere.  We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of patriotism displayed in flags lining the streets of many of the townships and residences with multiple flags displayed.  There is evidence of segregated European immigrant populations of Russian, Polish, and German spread throughout the Ann Arbor suburbs and rural areas.

We did make a trip to the Canadian border that runs parallel to downtown Detroit.  Had we brought out passports we would have explored some of Canada, but maybe another time.  Downtown Detroit was an experience.  They were hit really hard back in 2008 with the housing market crash.  For years they were known for all the decrepit houses and run down property.  Since then most of the run down houses have been torn down.  This creates a downtown with many vacant grassy lots.  Seems strange to see all those vacant lots so close to the downtown area, almost eerie.

On Friday, 13th we had to make a trip to Hell, Michigan.  A really small town whose claim to fame of course is their name.  We had some fun visiting their tourist attractions.

We took many day trips exploring all parks, lakes and towns.  A really nice getaway.  Not much to do for the kids so I probably would not recommend it as a family destination.




Grass Lake

Dundee, MI

Park downtown Ann Arbor

Small pond at campground

Lake Erie


Belle Isle, downtown Detroit











Jennifer breaking a mirror in Hell, MI

Dundee, MI

Coming home we were in Corinth KY when the inevitable happened.  We had a blowout of my back passenger truck tire.  We were in the center lane and luckily able to work our way over to the emergency lane.  What a mess.  The tire failed and exploded damaging the fender well of the truck.  Emergency roadside service changed the tire and we got home no worse for the wear.  However the truck suffered about $5000 in damages.  I knew breaking that mirror on Friday 13th in Hell was a bad idea...



Next stop Lansing, WV for white water rafting.



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