Gee Farms Michigan barn entrance with the Gee Farms sign, red siding, and fall mums — our first Rooted on the Road stop in Michigan.

🌱 Rooted on the Road: Gee Farms Michigan

Gee Farms Michigan kicks off this new series — Rooted on the Road — part travel, part plant therapy, and entirely our kind of chaos. It’s for the plant-obsessed, tiny-living crowd chasing greenery wherever the road takes us. Every visit starts with “we’ll just look” and ends with us making space in the bus for …

Entrance to the corn maze at Johnson’s Pumpkin Farm in Michigan, with the admission sign and the cornfield visible behind the small maze building.

Johnson’s Pumpkin Farm: Corn Maze, Hay Sculptures & Fall Fun in Michigan

Where the Hot Cocoa Rating System Was Born We rolled up to Johnson’s Pumpkin Farm around 3pm on one of those perfect overcast fall days where the sky is doing that moody gray thing and everything feels very atmospheric. The map at the entrance showed us everything this place had to offer—corn maze, soybean maze, …

Holly Michigan water tower with green leaf logo and ‘1864’ text, photographed at sunrise with power lines and trees in foreground

Holly Michigan Water Towers

Three Historic Landmarks & A Breakfast Adventure The Holly Michigan water towers aren’t your typical roadside attraction—this small town has THREE distinct historic water towers, each with its own character. We headed into Holly early on a crisp fall morning with one mission: photograph all three. We expected fog, quiet streets, and maybe a few …

Michigan Bus Break & Our Towed Car Fire Story: An Update

In the last three months, we’ve done our fair share of traveling, but two months ago we officially landed for a Michigan Bus Break. So while we’re stationary, the journey continues — just a little more locally flavored! Michigan is one of our Home Bases, so we came up to soak in the summer, reconnect …

Oversized wooden chair outside Gustafson’s Smoked Fish in Moran, Michigan, part of a playful roadside photo tradition.

Gustafson’s Smoked Fish | Brevort’s Smoked Seafood

Some stops are about the food, some are about the photo ops — and Gustafson’s Smoked Fish in Moran, Michigan manages to be both. Known since 1978 for smoking Michigan fish to perfection, they also stock jerky in every flavor imaginable, plus a mix of snacks, souvenirs, and “just passing through” essentials. On our visit, …

Call of the Wild – Gaylord, Michigan

Sometimes the best travel discoveries are the ones you stumble into without much of a plan. That’s exactly what happened when we found ourselves at Call of the Wild in Gaylord, Michigan, located at 850 South Wisconsin Avenue. Now, I’ll be honest – this was one of those stops where we wandered through, enjoyed ourselves, …

Entrance to Garlyn Zoo in Naubinway, Michigan, showing a rustic wooden building with “Entrance” and “Gifts & Souvenirs” signs, surrounded by trees and an elephant sculpture.

GarLyn Zoo | Exotic Animals & Nature Trails on US-2

Garlyn Zoo | Naubinway, Michigan We stopped at the Garlyn Zoo and Wildlife Park during one of our Upper Peninsula drives a few years back — one of those spontaneous “why not?” detours that ends up being a highlight. I didn’t write about it at the time (rookie mistake), but I’m fixing that now so …

Group of elk resting behind chain-link fence at Elk View Park in Gaylord, Michigan. Foreground elk lies on grass with large, branched antlers; others visible in background. Trees, dirt path, and cloudy sky frame the outdoor enclosure next to the Elk's Lodge Gaylord Michigan elk viewing site.

Elk’s Lodge Gaylord Michigan Elk Viewing

🦌✨Where roadside randomness meets actual elk We weren’t planning to see elk, Zach was just trying to find a decent parking spot. But Gaylord, Michigan had other plans. Turns out, the Elk’s Lodge Gaylord Michigan elk viewing setup is not just a fluke — it’s a full-on roadside jackpot. You park once, and boom: lodge …