July 26, 2026
Day 3 – Lake Huron Lighthouses
Bon Bon Chocolates As soon as we left the hotel, I broke out the twelve-pack…
July 25, 2026
Day 2 – Detroit
Morning Walk I made the most of my early awakening by exploring downtown Detroit and…
July 24, 2026
Day 1 – Drive to Detroit
We left Ankeny a shade before 7:00 to begin the 9-hour trek to Detroit, where…
June 16, 2019
Michigan 2019 Recap
We checked out of the Westin Chicago Lombard at 10:00 a.m. with a 4-and-a-half hour…
June 15, 2019
Day 7 – Last Day in Michigan
With a cold day of rain in the forecast for Saturday, in an unprecedented move,…
June 14, 2019
Day 6 – Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids was the destination on Friday. Without any set-in-stone plans until 1:00 p.m., brunch…
June 13, 2019
Day 5 – Alpacas, BBQ, Coaster, Driving, and More
Thursday's itinerary had a lot of driving, as we worked our way more than 120…
June 12, 2019
Day 4 – Cows and Horses
Today's activities are described by Noah and Emmie, excerpts from the daily journals they've been…
June 11, 2019
Day 3 – Michigan’s Adventure
The third day of our vacation was dedicated to Michigan's Adventure, the largest amusement park…
June 10, 2019
Day 2 – Silver Lake
After two days of driving, we'd intentionally planned for a lazy start to our Monday,…
June 9, 2019
Days 0 and 1 – From Iowa to Michigan
Saturday, June 8 Our vacation officially began at 7:00 p.m. in Ames, when Emmie's second…
March 10, 2019
Michigan 2019
Saturday, June 8 Stay: Marriott Suites (Downers Grove, IL) Sunday, June 9 Portillo's Hot Dogs (Downers Grove,…