Mel

May 2023 First of all, don’t go to the lakes when the bugs are hatching.  The front of my car looked like I had fought a flying bug army and won.  To get into some places, there are two sets of doors so that the bugs hopefully only make it through the first set.  I […]

May 2023 At some point this post will be updated as I still intend to visit Door County and the Dells.  With all the traveling I was not up for driving up and down another state so decided to pick one area and since I was already as far north as Pictured Rocks, the choice

May 2023 Western Michigan, the part I visited, is beautiful, well that is until you get into the very northern parts which felt a bit scary – machine gun signs advertising ammunition and the people I saw looked a bit off grid and not in a good way.  I understand this is the land of

May 2023 When asking some folks from Indiana where to go, the universal response was don’t.  I of course could not skip a state, so I needed to find something to see other than the many windmills along the highway.  What I found was not much, but a few things.  Just over the bridge from

Over and Over again in the 90s and 2000s I did not go to Illinois this go around as I have spent more than adequate time to get a feel for the state.  I first went in 1990 to Bloomington which is the headquarters of State Farm Insurance, my former employer.  Upon arrival they told

KENTUCKY: REASONS TO GO; WHAT TO DO May 2023 My trip here was limited.  The two main draws did not appeal to me.  I don’t drink whiskey so did not see reason to tour the whiskey trail and I am not a fan of horse racing finding it inhumane so skipped Churchill Downs.  There is

May 2023 Ohio surprised me.  I thought it would be a drive through state but I was wrong.  I think Ohioans have intentionally undersold their state to keep out the tourists.  It is lovely with cute towns and fantastic hiking in rainforest like conditions.  They even have skiing though I would certainly not make it

May 2023 This was my third trip to Vermont.  A beautiful state and has that crunchy granola feel I love, and of course a gun store as you enter.  The food is wonderful and we learned on a cider donut with maple creemee (soft serve ice cream, a must to pair with the otherwise bland

April and May 2023 (and 2003) New York is such a wonderful state in so many ways.  Beautiful, varied, and so many wonderful people.  I skipped New York City this trip since I have been many times and lived there for a short stint in 2003/2004.  I lived in the financial district where in the

April 2023 I had fond memories of my past overnight trip to Maine 15 or so years ago which included a memorable day in Portland.  So, I returned there this go around only to be greeted by pelting rain and mid 40’s temps.  Unsurprisingly, the only folks out walking were a few stray tourists and