June 28th to July 19th, 2025
We had a lovely time in Iowa and Margot had more time to recuperate, but we were excited to get our summer going. We were going to get back on schedule while we were in Michigan, a state neither of us had been to before. Our first travel day would be going through Illinois and Indiana on the southern end of Lake Michigan.
We were almost to the suburbs of Chicago, really not enjoying the road construction. We usually travel on interstates so we can count on at least two lanes in the same direction and a divided highway, but it means a lot of road work. We came to a spot that was especially rough, where the lanes shifted quickly to the left. A cement barrier was on our right while a semi-trailer truck passed us. We were going less than 40mph.
Suddenly, things got crazy. The road made things noisy and jumbled while the trailer of the semi knocked our big sideview mirror off. Then the truck came into our lane instead of veering to the left. We made contact with the cement barrier on our right as the truck kept going. It took a few cautious seconds to realize we were still traveling and nothing felt wrong.
We tried to flag the truck down, but we couldn't get him to pay attention to us. We got the information off of the truck, took photos of the dent our mirror probably made, and then got off the highway. We just knew we had a ton of damage, so we were very surprised to find out we were still road worthy.
The sideview mirror was long gone, but it looked like it didn't rip out wiring (at first glance). There was a bit of fiberglass damage near where the mirror used to be, but otherwise the motorhome wasn't damaged. We had hit the barrier with the rim of one motorhome tire and the front corner of the trailer. The trailer was still functional though the parts to hold the door open were crushed. All cosmetic damage. So, we could keep going and sort it all out later at our destination.
We made it to South Haven and a perfectly lovely spot at a resort. We had to disconnect the trailer and put it in their overflow storage area, so it was a long day. When we took the car out of the trailer, we discovered it had been shoved a couple inches to the side and some things strapped to the inner walls had made contact. Everything was still functional with the car, but it had cosmetic damage along one side. After a chat with our insurance company, we learned it would be three, separate claims with three deductibles. We save money for the deductibles for incidents like these, but it was a bummer. At least everyone was okay (though Lacey was pretty anxious for a while). And we were at a fabulous location for our first night in Michigan.
We had a big day planned for the 4th of July. We booked a sunset cruise on Lake Michigan so we could watch the fireworks over South Haven. First, we explored the Michigan Maritime Museum. Margot used her wheelchair so she could save her legs for later. The museum was really cool because we didn't realize cruising on the lakes was a big deal back in the day. There are still big cruises on the lake, and we talked about how awesome one would be. The lakes feel like oceans when you're on them.
The fireworks show ended up being a big one, and it was pretty nice to sit out on the water with other boats around us just enjoying everything. It ended up being a great idea to get out there for the festivities.
We spent our weekend day in Grand Rapids not too far from South Haven. We like learning about our country's history, so we visited the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. We learned he was the only one to be Vice President and President without winning either election. Crazy! It was a good museum, and it was nice to get out of the humid heat of Michigan.
We also spent time enjoying Monica's belated birthday, about two months late. Monica's birthday was during a busy time in Carlsbad when Margot was recovering, so we planned to celebrate later. We went to a good restaurant and enjoyed the amazing food in Michigan.
Unfortunately, we only had a week in South Haven. We both were bummed to be leaving so soon, but we had a lot of Michigan and the Great Lakes to see. Off to our next adventure, using the sideview cameras as a mirror while we waited for our actual mirror to show up at the next spot. We make it work!
