Day 6

Today was a day full of many memories, and many boring moments. We drove over 400 miles for the day, and during the day we stopped at the Hardwood Forest Nature center where we learned a lot about Outdoor Education and Interpretation. Our last stop for the night was the Gate’s residence in Rockford, Michigan, which is located outside the town of Grand Rapids, MI. While at the Gate’s we got the opportunity to meet Jeff’s parents, and one of Jeff’s close friends Gator and his wife. They cooked us a fantastic dinner when we got there the night before, and we really appreciate their generosity for letting us stay there for the night, and cooking for us. Before departing on Thursday we were able to talk to Gator about what he does when working at a nearby University as a professor. He talked to us about a lot of tree and tree identification for some of the trees from his backyard, and many stories of Jeff and him were passed onto to us. After talking to gator I couldn’t be any more excited to learn more about the surrounding areas we are going to. That night we stopped at Wilderness State Park for the night. Where we saw an absolutely beautiful sunset and some of us were able to go down by the water and watch it! As we wrap up the day we will be heading over to Canada the next morning, and I couldn’t be anymore excited for the journey we have ahead of us, and all the memories that will be made.

-Vickey Benhart