A Northern RV Road Trip in December- Pennsylvania & Michigan

People said we were crazy…here we were in Florida, where it’s warm and sunny, but we were heading north where it’s cold and snowy…in the RV. Admittedly, we had several motivating factors; spending Thanksgiving with my children and grandkids as well as having a farm show to attend to promote our book, the Produce Safety Plan, the Organizational Tool for Small Farmers.

So off we headed through Georgia, the Carolinas, West Virginia and landed in Pennsylvania to spend the holidays with family.

While we were in Pittsburgh, (which by the way is a cool city to visit should you have a chance, so much to see and do….) we had a chance to visit the Phipps Conservatory. I’d been to Pittsburgh many times but had not visited Phipps before.

It was gorgeous. I can imagine how much more beautiful it would be in the spring and summer, but even in the winter it was spectacular. Plus it was all dressed up for Christmas which was a nice bonus. Filled with room after room of flowers, trees, rare and not so rare, and designed with such thought and elegance.

I think our favorite was the orchid room. There were so many colors and strange, other-worldly shapes….just stunning.

While in Pennsylvania, we visited a couple wineries. One would expect the wine to be more on the sweeter side, but we were pleasantly surprised by some pretty decent reds. We especially appreciated some of the reds at Laurel Mountain Vineyard & Winery, particularly the Leon Millot and the Marechal Foch. The very nice folks at Laurel Mountain are Harvest Hosts as well, so we also got to spend the night in this lovely place.

After Pennsylvania, we headed towards Michigan, passing through Ohio. We stayed one night at another Harvest Host winery, Maize Valley Winery near Akron, Ohio. Wow! was this place cool! Not only did they have some wonderful wine, dry and bold the way we like it, but also had some great craft beer, which Eric enjoyed although beer is not my thing.

They also had a decent food menu (we had the baked brie..yum!) But even better, as we happened to be there on a Friday night, there was live music which brought in lots of locals.

We stayed to listen to the music, enjoyed some good Zin and some fresh fudge and danced a few songs with the crowd. Fun night!

Our next stop was Monroe, Michigan on our way to Grand Rapids. We found an RV park for the night and the next day did a little exploring of the small town. Monroe was quaint with quite a bit of history for this small northern town. We visited a battlefield from the War of 1812; drove by some cool old brick houses; and stopped to see La Plaisance Bay in Lake Erie, which was an important shipping port since 1679 but is now a recreational area. I’m still overwhelmed by the size of the Great Lakes….water and horizon as far as you can see.

We had made it to Grand Rapids, Michigan and the cold, snowy weather. Thankfully we had done our research on cold weather RVing, so we came prepared with heaters, insulated covering for the windows and skirting for the bottom of the RV to keep the pipes and tanks from freezing. Definitely did not want a ‘poopsicle’ to deal with. 😉

We arrived in Grand Rapids a day early before the Fruit and Veggie show we were exhibiting at so we could take in the city and some of its sights. We wish we had more time to experience more of Grand Rapids, but our visit to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park and the La Grande Vitesse sculpture by Alexander Calder was a feast for the eyes.

The Sculpture park was amazing…a bit cold wandering around the outdoor gardens where the sculptures were, but well worth it. Intermixed between meandering walkways, gardens (many which were dormant for the winter, but I can imagine are stunning in the spring and summer) lawns and natural settings were sculptures and

significant works of art from artists from all over the world including masters such as Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Louise Bourgeois, Mark di Suvero, Richard Serra, Roxy Paine, and Ai Weiwei. It was such a grand experience and we would highly recommend visiting if you have a chance.

On to more adventures as we continue to travel through the North and South. Thanks for reading and remember, ‘Someday….is today.’