Exploring Motor City.

I spend the morning exploring Detroit. The city seems to have huge latent potential lurking close to the surface. The building stock is exquisite, yet underutilized and the urban fabric consists of many ingredients more contemporary cities have worked hard to inject. It’s an ethnically diverse place, with authenticity and history. The revitalization is already palpable based not on cranes erecting new buildings, but on construction projects underway on existing structures. If the winters were 60 degrees warmer, it would be a place I’d be interested in living.

[The Qube – 1959 left, Guardian building – 1928 right]

[Wayne County Building – 1897]

[Merchants Row – late 1900s]

After many entertaining laps around Motor City, I traverse the state of Michigan to find a place to camp on the lake. My friend Chris from LA, who hails from MI, recommended a place called Sleeping Bear Dunes. The ride across the state is beautiful. The two-lane roads through the woods are very fun to ride on and the highlight of the day was riding lockstep with a huge bald eagle overhead. It’s pretty stunning to see one in flight about 20 feet overhead.

[central Michigan]

The dunes on Lake Michigan are very surprising. I didn’t expect this much powdery sand in MI. Even more shocking, was the beach right next to my campsite.

[Sleeping Bear Dunes]

[path to the beach]

[Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore]

While I was in Oneonta, I picked up a camping hammock. My campsite is conveniently surrounded by trees, so I figure I’ll give it a try. I cook dinner and read for a while in the extremely comfortable hammock before passing out early.

[hoping the bears stay asleep]