[ManoftheNorth]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Hey. Your first pictures shows my first room! Neat. I love that building. What is also neat is that it just does not change. I left there in 1988. It is still the same. I liek whn things stay the same sometimes (I guess that means I am old now).

I am extremely jealous :-). WMU didn't have any buildings that look like that!

Oh. If you can afford it, plan to take the Ferry frm Michigan to Wisconsin. It is rpetty neat. It is expensive, but you can avoid going through Chicago that way (unless you want to go through Chicago).

Spend some time in Milwaulkee. It is pretty neat to just walk around. Lunch suggestion - Rocky Bottom - right on the river. Good food. Right downtown.

Personally I wouldn't skip an opportunity to visit Chicago, but that is of course personal preference. It is a gigantic city, and traffic can be insane.

[ManoftheNorth]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Went ot he zoo on Wednesday. It was nice. the Plar bears were all outside. Gorillas appeared to be away on vacation. The Tiger was either bored or hungry and told us all about it when we approached. Lions were sleeping. Our favorites were the Giraffe exhibit and the Kagaroos and Wallabies that you walk right thorugh their pen. No fence, no wall. You are right in there with them. Neat!

I visited the Detroit zoo when I was very little, but we moved to the Upper Peninsula not soon after and I didn't have an opportunity to visit any zoos again until last year. Went to Binder Park after graduation last April, but we were pretty rushed so I didn't have as much fun as I could have. But in August I had a job interview in Novi, so I took the opportunity to go to the Detroit zoo with my cousin and her baby afterwords. Absolutely loved it. My favorites were the lions, gorillas and the polar bear. The reptile house was pretty cool too. I had quite a time trying to get a picture of the tiger; he was hiding behind a bush when we got to his exhibit. We left and came back later, at which point he was giving himself a bath. It took awhile, but I finally got this picture:


tiger bath | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aeverett55/6150954613/ - broken link)

[Sgt. Buzzcut]

Originally Posted by KLBFL50

Sounds like great suggestions. This will help us get started on our planning. My husband loves sports so we will look into anything related. When we decide on what to see we will plan our route to get there. We will probably drive into Michigan from Ohio/Toledo I-75. Thank you for the info!

Living in Central FL and having made the the MI drive several times myself, I don't care fot that route. I usually take 75 to 24 near Chattanooga then a couple hours west to Nashville, get on 65 then go around Indy on the bypass and head into MI on I-69. Louisville is a little nerve racking but I'd rather do that than deal with Cincinatti and all the 18 wheeler freight coming in and out of Detroit in between. I think Indiana is a more peacefull, scenic drive and it puts you just about right in the center of MI.

Just my 2 cents but I prefer the West side on Lake MI and all the cool little towns like South Haven, Holland, Ludington, Pentwater, etc.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by ManoftheNorth

I visited the Detroit zoo when I was very little, but we moved to the Upper Peninsula not soon after and I didn't have an opportunity to visit any zoos again until last year. Went to Binder Park after graduation last April, but we were pretty rushed so I didn't have as much fun as I could have. But in August I had a job interview in Novi, so I took the opportunity to go to the Detroit zoo with my cousin and her baby afterwords. Absolutely loved it. My favorites were the lions, gorillas and the polar bear. The reptile house was pretty cool too. I had quite a time trying to get a picture of the tiger; he was hiding behind a bush when we got to his exhibit. We left and came back later, at which point he was giving himself a bath. It took awhile, but I finally got this picture:


tiger bath | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aeverett55/6150954613/ - broken link)

You would have loved it on Wednesday. He walked right over to us, stood on the edge of the pit and yowled at us for a long time. Pe woudl pace for a bit and then turn back to us and yowl some more. Not sure what he wanted, but he clearly expected us to provide it. I considered thrying to catch a squirrel and fling it to him to chase and eat, that woudl certainly alieviate both hunger and boredom (plus I hate squirrels), but they are hard to catch.


BTW a "yowl" is a plaintive roar - simlar to a housecat that wants food, ut much lower, louder, and more intimidating