Day 27 -- Yipsilani, Michigan to Swanton, Ohio -- 76 Miles

This past weekend, having been a real energy-drainer, we took our time this morning having breakfast, packing up, and getting on the road. Normally we try to get rolling by 9:00 a.m., but today it was every bit of 10:30 before we cranked up the V-10 and eased out of camp.

Our plans contained nothing special. We knew I wanted to head toward Detroit from our camp in Yipsilanti using Interstate 94. Along the way we knew we'd encounter Route 275 south toward Toledo, Ohio. And we knew we wanted to break away from Route 275 (which becomes Interstate 75) and head west to Monroe, Michigan, so we could photograph a larger-than-life statue of George Armstrong Custer, who called Monroe home. We also knew we wanted to continue south and west from Monroe on Route 24 so that we could stop, perhaps for lunch, at the post Revolution "Fallen Timbers" battlefield site in Ohio.

Turned out that our somewhat brief time on the Interstate went as smooth as pie. A lot of 18-wheelers as usual, but no real problems. The GPS got us a little off track as we left Interstate 75 and headed west on Michigan Route 50. As reached the outskirts of Monroe, the GPS suddenly decided we should veer to the north and bypass the town. At that point we turned off the silly computer, and I took over and headed back to the town's main street.

Concetta soon found the address of a church which is across the street from the statue, and before we knew it, we had found a large parking lot next to the Raisin River and parked. Then it was a simple matter to walk a hundred yards and start snapping our photos. Only problem we encountered was that the sun kept going behind clouds, which made it extremely difficult to get a decent shot of the very dark statue.

This is what wikipedia has to say about the statue: "the George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument, also known as Sighting the Enemy, is an equestrian statue of General George Armstrong Custer by Edward Clark Potter, located in Monroe, Michigan. The statue was designated as a Michigan Historic Site on June 15, 1992, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 9, 1994."

"While Custer was not born in Monroe, he lived much of his early childhood there with relatives and attended the schools in Monroe. During his youth, he met his future wife Elizabeth Bacon, whom he returned to marry in 1864. Custer left Monroe to attend the United States Military Academy and fight in the Civil War."

"Because of his hard work and success during the war, as well as the Union's need for officers, he was promoted to the rank of Major General and became a very well-known military figure. After the Civil War, he fought in the Indian Wars in the West. His previous accomplishments in the Civil War, however, were overshadowed by his catastrophic defeat and death at the Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876."

"To honor him, a $24,000, 14-foot bronze equestrian statue, sculpted by Edward Clark Potter, was unveiled in Monroe in June 1910 by President William Howard Taft and the widowed Elizabeth Bacon Custer. The statue commemorates his successful actions during the Civil War and not his more well-known defeat in 1876."

Once we had satisfied our need to pay our respects to General Custer, we jumpted back on Ohio Route 24 and let the not-always-trustworthy GPS take us to our next destination, that of the Fallen Timbers battlefield site. I know I must have encountered the subject of Fallen Timbers sometime in my studies of the Old Northwest in the 19th Century, but I don't nearly enough to relate it to you.

The National Park Service website has this to say about Fallen Timbers: "On August 20, 1794, Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne led troops of the Legion of the United States from their fort at Roche de Bout. The left wing and flanking militia from Kentucky crossed level but poorly-drained land containing dense forest and underbrush. After a 5-mile march, the mounted volunteers came upon a line of 1,100 Indian warriors from a confederation of Ohio and Great Lakes Indian tribes."

"The militia volunteers retreated around the legion's front guard. The front guard returned fire while retreating but eventually fled. The warriors closely pursued the soldiers of the front guard until a light infantry skirmish line forced the Indians to seek shelter amid timbers that had been felled a few years before by a tornado."

"The legion's right wing was under heavy fire from the concealed warriors, who broke down an effort to flank them from the river. The left flank of soldiers charged, inflicting heavy casualties on the Indians and driving them from the field. Wayne's scouts tracked the Indians to the mouth of Swan Creek, but they were not engaged. After regrouping his troops, Wayne held his position into the afternoon. With no Indian counter-attack, Wayne set up camp on high ground overlooking the foot of the rapids, within sight of Fort Miamis."

"In the following days Wayne's men returned to the battlefield to collect the wounded and equipment. Two officers and 15 to 17 soldiers were buried, but hard-soil conditions deterred soldiers from burying more men. The entire legion marched back through the battlefield on August 23 as they returned to Roche de Bout."

"The Battle of Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794, has been called the “last battle of the American Revolution” and one of the three most important battles in the development of our nation. The decisive victory by the Legion of the United States over a confederacy of Indian tribes opened the Northwest Territory, a five-state region unceeded by the native inhabitants, for westward expansion and led to Ohio’s statehood in 1803."

Of course there is nothing to see at Fallen Timbers today. However, the Park Service has done an excellent job of laying out a circular trail system encompassing the park that is complete with informational signs every hundred feet or so. These signs are very, very informative detailing every aspect of the battle. In addition, the very forest in which you're walking is hushed with just a bit of filtered light coming through the trees making it easy to visualize the opposing forces firing on each other in the gloom.

In a moment of exuberance, Concetta and I decided to walk the entire trail that probably is between 1.5 and 2 miles long. Much is in the cool of the forest, but a significant portion is out in the hot sunshine. So if you go, be prepared with a hat and a bottle of water.

One of the great things about today's hike was the variety of the local flora, which included quite a variety of trees and bushy undergrowth when we were in the forest, and a huge variety of weeds and wildflowers when we emerged into the sunlight. Many of the weeds were extraordinarily colorful and interesting. I tried to take photos of everything, but naturally there is only so much room to show you here.

When we had made it back to the rig from our hike, we set off in search of a local campsite. There didn't seem to be too many, especially ones with full hookups. When we arrived at the closest camp, a shady spot in the world called Big Sandy, we discovered that they, too, lacked full hookups. But we went ahead and paid our fee, selected a site, and settled in for the night. Unfortunately, the electrics here at Big Sandy are marginal at best.

Ours seemed to work fine until another camper came in and hooked up to the same electric tree that we were using. Once he ran the cable to his rig and powered up, our electric quit working and I had to get out my extension cable and run our cable to a post forty feet away before we had power. I'm not going to leave ours there as someone might come in tonight and need it. So now we're on battery power and contemplating going to bed so we can get up early and hit the road.

And when you set out on the two-lanes to pursue your dream vacation, the Happy Wanderers wish you happy travels and exciting destinations AND an abundance of electric power.