FIFTY STATES AWAYA mammoth day was in store for us today, not only did we have a long drive but a pretty awesome activity planned in the evening. When I say we have an activity planned it’s usually something we decided to do that very morning. We’ve been pretty spontaneous on this trip and I feel it’s been a great way to approach it, leaving us open to try new things as and when they pop up.
Let’s wind back to this morning, where we woke in Indiana after a fabulous day at the races! Our next state is Michigan, one that we’ve both been looking forward to visiting and the drive was nothing short of fantastic. Michigan is very green with copious perfectly manicured lawns, the grasses have burst into life with beautiful bright yellow wild flowers. The intermittent tall pine trees that line the roadsides really remind me of Alaska, it’s so beautiful here.
It was a whopper of a 365 mile drive before arriving at our lodge, aptly named Big Bear Lodge, inside the reception area the walls were covered in mounted deer and bears, a rather unsettling sight, it feels like they are watching you as you walk around. Our room was nice and cosy and we set about getting dinner on the go, having a quick sit down and enjoying a cup of tea, we have just a few more miles planned today!
Heading back out at around 9pm we drove through the town of Alpena, for 14 miles to Rockport State Park to what’s known as the dark zone. Light pollution has been kept to a minimum making sure that this area has been reserved for viewing the skies at night. On clear days you can see an arm of the galaxy so this was definitely a spot I couldn’t resist checking out. This late at night we are able to drive right to the rivers edge catching a beautiful sunset as the light spews up over the water parting the clouds. I’ve brought a mini Dobsonian telescope along with me, my intentions were to use it in hawaii but there was just too much cloud cover at night, so Michigan has come to the rescue.
Initially seeing the cloud I was worried we wouldn’t be able to see anything but as the sky dimmed above us those sparkly stars and the bright full moon revield itself. After gazing around the stars and trying to get a good look at Mars, which is currently in the perfect position for viewing, the light from the full moon also helps with this. I couldn’t resist snapping some shots of the moon. I really like this telescope it’s not quite got the power my big dob at home does but I felt it did a respectable job! After a good few hours of stargazing we grew cold and tired and headed back along the 14 miles back to the lodge, this brings today’s miles to a astounding total of 393!
