The Great Lakes: Lake Huron Road Trip
The Lake Huron Road Trip has convinced me that Lake Huron may be my favorite great lake right now. In my entire life, I have always lived in a state that borders a Great Lake and yet I have forgotten how amazing these bodies of water are and how lucky we are to have them in our back yards.
On very short notice with only a little less than a 3-week planning window. I decided that a trip around Lake Huron with my mom and my dog would be a great way to start my very first summer of being a lunch lady and having the summer free.
It was one of the best spontaneous somewhat crazy ideas I have decided to make. If you have a parent you love and are close to who is getting older I cannot tell you what a great way it is to connect and be closer as adults than to do a road trip together. This Lake Huron Road Trip was our chance to connect.
The logistics were more than I let myself see so there are some great lessons I learned.
- Driving makes you tired and you get even more tired if you stop and get in and out of the car. Which you should absolutely do on a road trip. If you don’t just fly.
- Realistically 150 miles a day is max. You miss way too much if you do more than that. I have a lot more to say about this so follow along.
- The idea of just stopping when you are tired is nice but because of factors like having a dog, the seasonal businesses, and businesses closed after covid(this will be a whole post). This is nearly impossible.
- Google is not the end-all, be-all for info. I have suggestions to use and incorporate resources you would think were gone but are not. This too will be its own post.
- We rely too much on the internet and when you want to escape that means no internet. So enjoy the experience and write about it when you get home. Snap a million photos. your camera phone still works.
- Invest in some things that make life easy or help the trip. The below links show my top 5 best purchases for the trip and why I found them useful. I also will admit there were one or two we bought on the road. I hope this saves you that trouble.
An awesome cooler. There are good coolers and there are great coolers. Buy a great one. Why? Because it is amazing not to have to find ice every 12 hours when you are out where you go a day or several hours not seeing another human being. There are several brands you all know Yeti, this is the RTIC there is also Coho and I am sure others. This was worth every penny.
If you are young this will mean nothing but if you have reached the age of needing reading glasses they are a must. Especially when you see number three on the list. I don’t want you to spend a bunch of money on reading glasses though because on a road trip you will invariably break a pair lose a pair or drop a pair in the lake. So a five-pack that comes in its own box is perfect!
Maps. They don’t make them like they used to. It was hard to find a comprehensive off-the-beaten-path map of the areas we went to. We came across these maps from National Geographic and they ended up being very helpful. They make them for many parts of the united states and this is the Canadia Pack we got. I would also suggest a good atlas and taking time to stop at information centers.
You will probably say Whaaaaattttt?? but hear me out. I have started carrying in my car a portable cutlery set. It became invaluable when stopping at roadside food trucks, and getting to-go food from stands, markets, and gas stations. I cannot stand the little plastic utensils for reasons ranging from the environment to they are little and cheap. This makes dining on the road a joy.
This last one turned out to save us many a night. I suggest carrying one for each person or bed in the group. This is a sleeping bag that can open to cover a bed. If you are tent camping you are already prepared but we stayed in cabins and it got very cold a few nights when the quilt provided was not enough. Pull out the stuff sack zip this open and lay across the top of the bed and bingo you are warm in a few minutes. It also makes a great sleeping bag if you are tent camping though this is not designed for backpacking.
We had a truly wonderful adventure on our Lake Huron Road Trip and I cannot wait to get into the details of the trip with you. I intend to share it from beginning to end and highlight some really special spots. Michigan, Lake Huron, and Canada were incredibly beautiful and fun road trip! I hope this encourages you to plan your own adventure.
#lakehuron #roadtrip #puremichigan #canada #trippingvittlesadventure