I've been talking about doing this for a while, but now it's actually going to happen. I'm graduating and leaving the midwest, likely not to ever return for any period of time save for visits, so I figured it had to happen now. May 10-16, roughly, I want to take as many of you assholes and our friends as possible up to my family's cabin in Michigan. It's an amazing and beautiful place that many of you have heard me rant about, and those who haven't will right now-

The cabin is on a 15,000 hunting and fishing ranch, and only about a tenth of that is the cabin area which is still pretty wild. We live across the dirt road from the major lake in the area, and have a our own dock complete with a canoe, rowboat, sailboat, and a neighbor’s paddleboat. The cabin is quite large, with 7 beds and two couches, two floors, and a large backyard for car parking and tents if people want to camp. My aunt has a cabin nearby that we also might be able to use, which has around the same number of beds and a jacuzzi. There’s tons of wildlife in the area including plenty of fish to catch in the lake, deer everywhere, turkey, eagles, herons, and the occasional bear or coyote. There’s a beach on the other side of the lake from us (about a 10 minute canoe trip across, 5 minute drive around, or 30 minute walk around) and a club house with hotel rooms, paddleboat rental, decent food, and a game room. There are also archery, rifle, and shotgun ranges in the backcountry. The backcountry is wild as shit, with some rough dirt roads and trails- a gorgeous area for hiking, camping, and whatever else you might want to do in the woods in the middle of nowhere. It’s also pretty hard to get competely lost if you wander through the woods because the whole area is surrounded and permeated by dirt roads so if you walk in one direction long enough you’ll find one. There are a number of smaller rivers that are great for tubing down or fishing in as well. The nearest civilization is a tiny town called Atlanta, about a half hour away, but outside the ranch by the highway there’s a gas station and a restaurant that sells one pound burgers. Basically, this place is the shit and you want to come.

Here’s the website
http://www.canadacreekranch.com/

Google maps location
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=can ... a=N&tab=wl

And google directions from Bloomington. The only drawback is that it’s quite a drive, sadly. It usually took my family about 7 hours of driving from Chicago to get there.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=can ... a=N&tab=wl

So once I get an idea of who is interested in making this trip I can start putting together details. My plan is to go straight down from the ranch to my parents current home in Ohio after the week is up, either with a ride if it’s possible or taking a bus part of the way. From there I’m going to drive across the country with my father to my internship out in California for the summer.

O.O Holy crap...that sounds like paradise!

Damn straight. It's worth the drive- I used to do it twice a year as a kid with no complaints.

Fishing, gun/bow ranges, woods....Ill see what my finals are like if its not bad, ill so be there

Alright, so this trip will have to wait for some other time since not many people are going to be able to do it. I'll plan tentatively for this same time next year? I've been promising to come back into town when Dre and Zo graduate and pick them up for a road trip anyway.

So yeah, May 2011 after ISU graduation, probably the 9th through the 16th, plan on experiencing the awesomeness.

I'm down, I also agree that this sounds like paradise. Now that it is further away I'll be able to plan for it better also...