The G Drive Episode 3

M-13 and M-15: Bay City and Saginaw

It was our first venture into long, flat, monotonous stretches of farmland. It was also our first day-trip in Eastern Standard Time. We knew we had to get moving, and keep moving, before the sun got too low. We combined our two longest drives so far, each about 75 miles long, into one single outing. And . . . it was our first time out in chilly conditions. All of these factors combined to make a trip that was perhaps a little too rushed, with not enough time to stop and explore. But there were some very cool highlights. We saw enough to get ideas for future drives along intersecting east-west routes . . . and we crossed plenty of them! We also confirmed that Karla and I can drive for hours and not get on each other's nerves. This is a huge prerequisite moving forward. Each trip develops it's own theme. And this one turned out to be: convenience stores . We found ourselves touching on topics that were a little more heated, a little more exercised, than ever before. But tha...

M-18: Winter's Dying Gasps (Gladwin and Roscommon)

The timing of my M-18 drive was due to my proximity to the area, on a wintry early Spring day. I also had to make the undesired decision to go solo. We've got a lot of ground to cover . . . so it was "Make it so!" when the opportunity presented itself. This 77-mile highway begins, on the southern end, in the orbit of the rural area surrounding Midland and Mount Pleasant. It goes the entire north-south length of two counties. The southern half is dominated by farms and farming communities. By the time you get to the northern end, the farms are gone and it's all national forest. The weather mostly cooperated, with the occasional squall that severely limited visibility. I had hoped to make a couple of lengthy stops, perhaps have lunch in Roscommon. But the three or four towns along the way seemed mostly "closed for the season." With the weather being uncertain, I opted to focus on completing the drive, and spending a little more time when I come bac...

Michigan by the Numbers

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