Thursday, June 29, 2023
The day began in an ordinary sort of way with breakfast and coffee at the motel in Kalamazoo. With plenty of time to the day, I was looking for someplace interesting to get some walking in before leaving town. How could I pass up a place called the Asylum Lake Preserve.
In 1887, the Michigan Asylum for the Insane purchased the land and home. It was abandoned n 1969 with all the buildings demolished two years later. The state turned the property over to Western Michigan University under the provision it remain a public park.
If you do all the trails within the preserve, it's about five miles. I chose a loop that would hit all the highlights and run about 2.9 miles. The park maps were well marked as to what was a paved or gravel trail and what was more of a forest floor.
The first thing I saw as I started up the trail.
Loved the lighting on this as I approached the trees. One of those rare times the smoke actually adds to the atmosphere.
Little Asylum Lake is tucked away back in the trees.
Eventually, the trail looped back to Asylum Lake. This is where I met two photographers with really big lenses on their cameras. They were all excited about a bird they saw that's rare in these parts of Michigan.
Someone's been busy.
From the park, I drove west, eventually stopping in the town of Cassopolis. On the edge of town is a memorial to their favorite son, Captain Iven Kincheloe. You've probably never heard of him. During the Korean War, he flew a hundred and thirty combat missions. He's credited with shooting down five MIG-15's making him an Ace. But, his story doesn't end there.
After the war, he returned home and flew as a test pilot. One of the experimental planes was known as the X-2. They were designed to go faster and higher than anything else in the air. He was the first pilot to hit 100,000 feet, and the first to fly to what was considered at the time the threshold of space. For that, he was nicknamed the "America's First Spaceman."
Downtown Cassopolis is only a few blocks. This mural was directly across the street...
Two blocks down is this mural dedicated to the town's part in the Underground Railroad.
Wright Modin and William Holden were what was called Slave Runners. They would travel south into Kentucky and bring slaves back with them. From there, they would be sent further north to their freedom.
By the summer of 1847, slave owners decided to put a stop to what they considered theft of their property. They sent a spy who went by the name Carpenter. Pretending to be working for an abolitionist newspaper, he gained the confidence of the locals and reported back the names of the families hiding slaves.
In August, a group of thirteen slave catchers arrived in Cass County. When word spread of raids on farms and the kidnapping of nine freed slaves, Three hundred people confronted them demanding their arrest and the freedom of the kidnapped slaves.
Being vastly outnumbered and believing the Fugitive Slave Act protected them, they agreed to stand trial. The thirteen men were given three days to produce proper documentation of ownership. When they couldn't, the court ruled against them. The freed slaves were sent north. The Kentuckians were sent home empty handed.
They didn't go quietly. Two years later, ten of the slave catchers sued Cass County for the "value of their property." The case dragged on for two years. Eventually, the case was dismissed due to the filing being based on the 1793 Fugitive Slave Law, not the updated 1850 version. Once again they were sent home empty handed.
It was late morning when I drove out of Michigan. Next stop, Indiana.
The only stop for the afternoon, Indiana Sand Dunes National Park.
Outside the visitors center...
After hitting the visitor center and getting oriented, I decided to tackle something called the Cowles Bog Trail. If you do the whole thing, it's 4.7 miles and includes "steep climbs on dunes." Instead, I did the 3.4 mile loop. Besides, the weather guessers were calling for rain.
The trail began with a .8 mile walk through a nice wide wooded path.
I'd eventually go past the bog, but it didn't look like much, just more green.
Throughout this hike, I was hearing one train horn after another. There were times I could even hear the engines and the bells at the crossings. This would happen throughout the day. But alas, I was denied every time and never saw an actual train.
On the home stretch back to the car, I could tell the sky was darkening, even with the ever present smoky haze. I met another hiker in the parking lot. She had been a bit ahead of me. I told her I had a half day in the park and she gave me some suggestions for the morning.
With the first hint of thunder in the distance, I decided to go find some lunch. Naturally, this included a brewery. The Chesterton Brewery's slogan is "By Veterans, For Veterans."
Every chair and stool had one of these remembrance plaques on the back.
My timing was excellent. When I walked back out to the car, it was clear it had been raining. The sky even had that look of more to come. It was just sprinkling when I arrived at the Fairbridge Motel.
I try to find the silver lining in every place I stay. This one was tough. I got to the room and dumped the cooler into the bathroom sink. Immediately I heard a familiar dripping sound. Not only was the outflow pipe leaking, it wasn't even attached to the elbow joint. There was an inch gap. I did what I could with it and shoved a garbage can under it to catch the drip.
Most places these days have wifi. Some places you need to hang out in the lobby to get any decent signal. I was above the lobby. Neither the phone nor the laptop would register ANY wifi at all. None. Not even one bar.
I wound up at a certain national coffee chain simply for the wifi. As for the plumbing issue, it was fixed by the time I got back. Thirty-two nights in motels so far without any bad complaints, so I shouldn't let this one get to me.
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